March 2017 | Kentucky Monthly Magazine

ATHLETE TURNED ARTIST Richard Sullivan MARCH 2017

Man o’ War’s 100th Birthday Kentucky-born Virgil Earp

Display until 4/11/2017

www.kentuckymonthly.com

Morehead Conference Center is Great for Work and Leisure Morehead Conference Center is conveniently located on I-64 only an hour east of Central Kentucky. The scenic outdoors provide endless options after a day of meetings. Enjoy Cave Run Lake, Eagle Trace Golf Course or one of the many hiking trails to unplug and reconnect.

For more information about scheduling your next conference, meeting or special event call (606) 780-9694 or visit www.moreheadconferencecenter.com

In This Issue 12

38 Departments 2 Kentucky Kwiz 4 Mag on the Move 6 Across Kentucky 8 Cooking 12 24 Hours in … Danville 50 Off The Shelf 52 Field Notes 53 Gardening 55 Kentucky Travel Industry Association’s Signature Spring Events 56 Calendar

Voices 3 Readers Write 54 Past Tense/ Present Tense

Featured Fare 18 Keeping the Flame Alive

Kentucky celebrates the 100th birthday of the great Man o’ War

24 Law, Order and an Inside Straight The life and times of Virgil Earp

30 New Brews

The Commonwealth’s blossoming craft brewing industry taps community spirit

34 Reel-y Delicious

Louisville-based Shuckman’s Fish Co. & Smokery is always looking for what’s next

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38 Pitch-Perfect Paintings

Former pro pitcher Richard Sullivan combines a love of baseball with artistic talent

46 A Tale of Two Doctors

For physicians Nick Dedman and Jack Hamman, retirement is not on the horizon

64 Vested Interest

ON THE COVER

Painting by Richard Sullivan

KENTUCKY

Kwiz

Test your knowledge of our beloved Commonwealth. To find out how you fared, see the bottom of Vested Interest or take the Kwiz online at kentuckymonthly.com.

1. What do Hall of Fame football coach

Roy Kidd, NFL quarterbacks Brian Brohm and Tim Couch, and NFL running back Michael Bush have in common?

A. All played for the Green Bay Packers B. All majored in communications in college C. All played in Kentucky’s Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament 2. Louisville and Lexington have hosted all but two state championship basketball games. Those two—the first two—were held in which other city?

6. William and Esther Whitley built Kentucky’s first brick house, located on Sportsman’s Hill near Crab Orchard in Lincoln County, but Esther is better known as an accomplished: B. Opera singer C. Markswoman

A. Treating the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln B. Creating the mountain dulcimer C. Being the great-grandfather of broadcasting legend Roger Mudd

A. Frankfort B. Danville

A. Franklin

C. Bowling Green

B. Simpson C. Shelby

B. Ashland C. Carr’s Creek

A. The Thoroughbred Special B. The Redleg Streak

4. Outside of schools in Jefferson and Fayette counties, the most girls state basketball championships have been won by: A. Marshall County B. Laurel County C. Rockcastle County 5. Women did not have the right to vote until 1920, after which Pike County’s Katherine G. Langley wasted little time being elected to Congress.

Serving from 1927 to 1931, she later served Pikeville as: A. Judge-executive B. Postmistress C. Animal warden

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

Editorial PATRICIA RANFT, Associate Editor DEBORAH KOHL KREMER, Assistant Editor MADELYNN COLDIRON and TED SLOAN, Contributing Editors REBECCA REDDING, Art Director JESSICA PATTON, Graphic Designer Senior Kentributors JACKIE HOLLENKAMP BENTLEY, ANNETTE CABLE, BILL ELLIS, STEVE FLAIRTY, GARY GARTH, CYNTHIA GRISOLIA, RACHAEL GUADAGNI, JESSE HENDRIX-INMAN, ABBY LAUG, WALT REICHERT, KRISTY ROBINSON HORINE, GARY P. WEST

Marketing and Circulation TRICIA FOX, General Manager BARBARA KAY VEST, Business Manager

Advertising JULIE MOORE, Senior Account Executive MISTEE BROWNING, Account Manager

9. The Kentucky Cardinal, a passenger train on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, ran from Bardstown to Cincinnati with stops in Frankfort and Paris, earning its trek which nickname?

A. Owensboro

© 2017, Vested Interest Publications Volume Twenty, Issue 2, March 2017 STEPHEN M. VEST, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

7. Mordecai Lincoln, the older brother of Abraham Lincoln’s father, Thomas, was married to Mary Mudd, whose first cousin was famous for what?

8. The birthplace of civil rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr. is in which central Kentucky county?

3. Outside of schools in Jefferson and Fayette counties, the most boys state basketball championships have been won by:

Celebrating the best of our Commonwealth

A. Seamstress

C. The Whiskey Route 10. While Seth Gilliam, known to Walking Dead fans as Father Gabriel Stokes, is a confirmed guest at the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention (March 10-12), in-the-know fans might have expected a visit from which other character?

A. Lauren Cohan (Maggie) B. Danai Gurira (Michonne) C. Melissa McBride (Carol)

For advertising information, call (888) 329-0053 or (502) 227-0053 KENTUCKY MONTHLY (ISSN 1542-0507) is published 10 times per year (monthly with combined December/ January and June/July issues) for $20 per year by Vested Interest Publications, Inc., 100 Consumer Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601. Periodicals Postage Paid at Frankfort, KY and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KENTUCKY MONTHLY, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602-0559. Vested Interest Publications: Stephen M. Vest, president; Patricia Ranft, vice president; Barbara Kay Vest, secretary/treasurer. Board of directors: James W. Adams Jr., Dr. Gene Burch, Kim Butterweck, Gregory N. Carnes, Barbara and Pete Chiericozzi, Kellee Dicks, Maj. Jack E. Dixon, Mary and Michael Embry, Frank Martin, Lori Hahn, Thomas L. Hall, Judy M. Harris, Greg and Carrie Hawkins, Jan and John Higginbotham, Dr. A. Bennett Jenson, Walter B. Norris, Kasia Pater, Dr. Mary Jo Ratliff, Barry A. Royalty, Randy and Rebecca Sandell, Kelli Schreiber, Christopher E. and Marie Shake, Kendall Carr Shelton, Ted M. Sloan and Marjorie D. Vest.

Kentucky Monthly invites queries but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material; submissions will not be returned.

Kentucky Monthly is printed and distributed by Publishers Press, Shepherdsville, Ky.

www.kentuckymonthly.com (888) 329-0053 P.O. Box 559 100 Consumer Lane Frankfort, KY 40601

VOICES ANOTHER 9/11 REMEMBRANCE

Enjoyed reading Bill Ellis’ article on 9/11 (September 2016 issue, page 49) And yes, history is very personal.

I was stationed at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, on 9/11. I was the deputy senior chaplain and chaplain resource manager. I was to go to the Pentagon with the senior chaplain for a strategy meeting with other chaplains. We never got there. The unfolding events of that morning saw us return to Ft. Belvoir shortly after the crash into the Pentagon. We were sent back to prepare for potential wounded at Dewitt Army Community Hospital.

The anticipated casualties never arrived. We were prepared. While waiting, we watched TV in horror as events unfolded. Several staff members and others of the garrison headquarters had spouses or friends at the Pentagon.

All were worried and most relieved when they finally got a call. But others were not so lucky. Our garrison command sergeant major’s husband died on that day. Deborah was devastated. We rallied around her in the days ahead. While grieving, she anchored many others who awaited the long ordeal of positive identification.

Final grief was on hold.

For chaplains and families, this was not a “day of infamy,” but a long season of waiting, wondering, worrying, praying and contemplation.

I will always remember those days for the gracious hospitality and care rendered by the people in the area. That day pulled communities together and bonded us. Perhaps our memories can yet provide a renewed commitment to one another. May the partitions that separate us be torn down and the bridges of hope be built to join us again as one. This is how personal history shapes us and, in turn, shapes our communities, our state, our nation and inevitably our world.

Mickey Foxworth, Chaplain, USA (Ret.), via email ELLIS-INSPIRED MUSINGS

Playing high school football back in the 1940s was not for sissies (referencing Bill Ellis’ October 2016 article, page 49). We played both offense and defense, usually the whole game. We wore leather helmets without face guards and played on dusty fields that had most of the grass worn off.

I was fortunate to be the starting left tackle for Lexinton’s Lafayette High School football team for its first season in 1946. The school did not have its own stadium till 1958, so we played all games away from home that first year.

We had a great coach, James

Readers Write

Ishmael, who later became principal at Lafayette. He had been a physical education instructor at Great Lakes Naval Training Center during World War II, so he pushed us to become a tough football team. He could find only five high schools that would play us, as the only other high school in Lexington, Henry Clay, already had games scheduled. Lacking experience, we fought to achieve a 4–1 season.

While all of us on that starting team went on to college, Madison Pryor became a distinguished professor at Morehead State University. Following two 15-month scientific tours near the South Pole, Pryor had an Antarctic glacier named after him.

Jim Humphrey, Lexington

potential. After about two years, I was offered a job at WSTM-FM in St. Matthews, worked on the air, and eventually became operations manager.

Then I got a job at WAVE working on air, TV announcing and as radio production manager.

The station was sold in 1980, and I got into advertising, working at agencies until I opened my own agency about eight years ago and, at 71, I’m still going strong. Over the years, I have voiced hundreds of commercials, produced hundreds of TV and radio spots, and written numerous scripts.

Keep writing those columns and reminiscing about my old home town. I truly enjoy it.

Joel Sonnheim, Louisville

I never miss reading Bill Ellis’ musings in Kentucky Monthly about various topics, including Shelbyville. It always makes me think back to the many good times I had. I lived there from 1945-1962, attended Shelbvyille Elementary and one year of Shelbyville High School before moving to Louisville. I grew upon on Walnut Street, and my parents owned Brazin’s on Main Street, which was open from 1945 until 1990, when they retired. I helped them in the store and loved waiting on the customers.

We had a large garden in the back of the house, growing corn, tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes, onions and beans. I had a dog named Ike (born the same day Eisenhower was elected the first time), who was smart and feisty.

We had to get rid of him when he ran down the street and killed some kittens of Mayor Saunders. Broke my heart, but my parents promised to get me another dog, which they did—Frisky, who was just a lovable mutt. Two weeks before we moved to Louisville, he was run over and killed in front of our house.

The whole family was so upset. I never had another dog after that.

After attending the University of Louisville, I was offered a job at WCND

by Dean Harden. I was terrible when I started, but he must have seen some

MISSING THE JSF As a native Kentuckian now living in Florida, I so enjoy Kentucky Monthly. The magazine is a great steward for our great state. However, I was disappointed by your recent article on Ashland (October 2016 issue, page 10).

I lived in Ashland for many years, and you neglected one of the area’s gems— The Jesse Stuart Foundation. The JSF has been in Ashland for years, attracting visitors from all over the nation. The Foundation does much more than preserve the legacy of Jesse Stuart; it remains a bastion for learning and literacy reaching far beyond the city/ county/state boundaries. I also found it ironic that there was an advertisement for the JSF in that article. Confirms what my grandfather (quoting some famous book) said: That a prophet in his own land is seldom heard.

Diane Blankenship, Ft. Myers, Florida

We Love to Hear from You! Kentucky Monthly welcomes letters from all readers. Email us your comments at editor@ kentuckymonthly.com, send a letter through our website at kentuckymonthly.com, or message us on Facebook. Letters may be edited for clarification and brevity.

Counties featured in this issue n

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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MAG

ON THE

MOVE

Even when you’re far away, you can take the spirit of your Kentucky home with you.

And when you do, we want to see it!

Take a copy of the magazine with you and get snapping. Send your highresolution photos (usually 1 MB or higher) to editor@kentuckymonthly.com.

Family Gathering

Manhattan, Kansas Kelly Vowels Hall (standing, far left) of Henderson County, along with family members, attended the funeral of her beloved greatuncle Bernard Ryan Head, a World War II veteran who passed away at the age of 102.

Joni and Kelly Burke French Polynesia

The Ward Girls, Plus One Royal Gorge, Colorado

Herb and Marcheta Sparrow Fairbanks, Alaska

The Burkes, of Louisville, visited the idyllic island of Moorea.

Three sisters and one husband, all Inez natives, toured the West. Pictured are Betty Ward Allen of Michigan, Charlotte Ward Castle (Illinois), Donna Ward Bragg (Florida) and Eddie Allen.

The Frankfort couple prepared for a dog-sled ride at Chena Hot Springs Resort.

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

JOIN OUR TEAM

KING’S DAUGHTERS

Joe Arthur, R.N. Heart & Vascular Step Down

Cathy Epperson Vacherie, Louisiana

Michelle Tedrick, R.N. Heart & Vascular Step Down

Epperson and husband Greg, of Somerset, took in some sightseeing at Oak Alley Plantation, while attending a business meeting in New Orleans.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN

HEALTHCARE King’s Daughters Health System has career opportunities throughout eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio.

We care for a wide range of patients, from newborns to elderly, and have a number of nursing positions open now.

Linda Hawkins Hawaii The Morgantown resident is pictured with the Ko’Olau Mountains. She mentioned that she also visited a macadamia nut farm and, being a nut herself, she was surprised “they didn’t keep me! Haha!”

Teams provide holistic, individualized and comprehensive care while continually seeking ways to improve patient outcomes, all working toward a single mission:

Opportunities in: • Nursing • Critical Care • EMT • Patient Care Technician • Allied Health Professions

To Care. To Serve.

To Heal.

kdmc.com/careers

(606) 408-0051

BRIEFS

Across Kentucky

BOBBLES IN DEMAND

I

t’s not uncommon for outsiders to underestimate the love Kentuckians have for their basketball teams. Case in point: When the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum issued a limited-edition series for 12 of the 15 schools that have won multiple men’s NCAA basketball championships, those dedicated to the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville sold out before the release could be shared in the media.

“We thought bobbleheads for Kansas, UConn and some of the other powerhouse schools would sell out quickly, but we still have a lot of those left,” said Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the Milwaukee-based museum. “Kentucky and Louisville both sold out within hours of being released, and we’re glad to be able to offer a second version so more Kentucky fans are able to commemorate the school’s eight national championships. We’re working on something similar for Louisville and will be sure to keep fans posted.”

The UK bobblehead features the

Wildcat mascot surrounded by eight replica trophies and a banner with the years of the championships.

The NCAA has crowned a men’s champion since 1939, with only 15 teams winning multiple championships.

The schools produced in this series include: UK (eight championships), North Carolina (five), Connecticut (four), Louisville and Kansas (three), and Villanova, North Carolina State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Florida with two. The only schools with multiple championships not produced in this series were Indiana, which doesn’t have a mascot, and UCLA and Duke, due to licensing issues.

“We designed these to be the ultimate memento for each of the schools’ biggest fans,” said Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum President Brad Novak. “These will be cherished collectibles that bring back great memories of championship seasons.”

For more information, visit BobbleheadHall.com.

CREATIVE TRIO

T

First-year student Deeya Patel of Hopkinsville received Silver Key awards for her poetry “Ephemeral Beauty,” “Stellar,” “This Place” and “Vernal,” along with an honorable mention for her poem “Supernova.”

Central City first-year student Evan “Van” Poole was awarded an honorable mention for his fiction piece “Mirrors.”

“While students at The Gatton Academy are selected for admission based on their interests and abilities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, many of our students are passionate about the arts and humanities, as well,” said Dr. Lynette Breedlove, director of The Gatton Academy.

“It is very exciting for these students to be recognized for their creative Rhiannon Connor, Deeya Patel and Evan “Van” Poole writing.”

hree students from The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Bowling Green have been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition for their entries in poetry and fiction.

A Silver Key award was presented to Rhiannon Connor, a second-year student from Berea, for her essay “Prestige in Higher Education and Its Effects on Students.” She also received a Silver Key for her writing portfolio and honorable mentions for her essays “Love in Wuthering Heights” and “Veganism: A Lifestyle through the Lens of Activism and Identity.”

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

B I R T H DAYS 2 Denny Crum (1937), former basketball coach who led the University of Louisville to NCAA championships in 1980 and 1986 3 Larry Stewart (1959), Paducah-born musician and singer, best known as a member of Restless Heart 3 Tom Leach (1961), sportscaster, voice of the University of Kentucky Wildcats Tori Murden 6 Tori Murden McClure McClure (1963), president of Spalding University and rowing explorer 9 Danny Sullivan (1950), retired Louisville-born racecar driver and winner of the 1985 Indianapolis 500 9 Eric Gregory (1967), executive director of the Kentucky Distillers Association 10 Lance Burton (1960), Columbiaborn, Shively-raised Las Vegas magician 10 Angela Correll (1966), author of Grounded and Guarded, and preservationist from Stanford 14 Wes Unseld (1946), Louisvilleborn member of the Basketball Hall of Fame 14 Rick Dees (1950), Harrodsburg resident and radio announcer best known for the 1970s song “Disco Duck” 16 Chuck Woolery (1941), Ashlandborn game show host, best known for the 1980s hit Love Connection 17 William Stamps Farish (1939), former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and owner of Lane’s End Farm near Versailles 18 Ciara Bravo (1994), Alexandriaborn actress best known as Gracie Pritchard on the sci-fi drama Second Chance 18 Tim Farmer (1964), host of the KET program Tim Farmer’s Country Kitchen 22 William Shatner (1931), actor and horseman best known for Star Trek, and his Priceline.com commercials 24 Emma Talley (1994), NCAA Women’s Golf Champion from Princeton 29 Ferrell Wellman (1948), host of Comment William Shatner on Kentucky on KET 31 Greg Martin (1953), lead and slide guitarist with the Kentucky Headhunters, from Metcalfe County

MAGNIFICENT METAL

M

etalcrafters Karine and Matthew Maynard added more metal to their Lawrenceburg studio when they took home five awards for outstanding craftsmanship from the National Ornamental and Miscellaneous Metals Association.

The presentations were made at NOMMA’s national convention in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 5. The international competition had drawn more than 530 entries from a dozen countries in addition to the United States.

The Maynards received gold awards in the Furniture & Accessories, Art/Sculpture and Interior Railings–Forged divisions; a silver award in the Gates/Doors–Nonforged division; and a People’s Choice award for an artistic balustrade interior hand-forged railing. Their award-winning entries had been created for Apiary’s Fine Catering in Lexington and private clients.

For consideration for these awards, metalcrafters must submit photos and descriptions of their work. The entries are then judged by NOMMA member firms, giving the awards special significance as they are determined by the artisans’ peers.

To view more of the couple’s work, visit maynardstudios. com or check out the Maynards’ Facebook page.

MINING FOR IDEAS

I

n 2015, the Historical Society of Hopkins County started developing a museum to document the history of coal mining in the region. As it moved one step closer to completion, a group of members visited other museums in the state that pay homage to the profession. A few members recently journeyed 955 miles through 22 Kentucky counties, taking note of how three museums offer a glimpse into the history of a black, dusty underworld.

Historical Society Vice President Randy Teague said the tour provided ideas on how to best utilize available museum space. “We needed to get an idea of what we could do with ours compared to the others,” said Teague, who also visited one in Owensboro. “They have the basement of the old Anderson’s Department Store. It’s really quite a good little museum with a guided tour a couple of times a day.”

Teague said the Owensboro Museum of Science and History also has a simulated mine, where visitors get a glimpse of what it was like to work in the industry in the 1930s.

“On our tour, we went to Frankfort to the Kentucky State Historical Museum and saw their exhibit,” he continued.

“It’s a good example of what you can do in a really small space like we have.”

The group, which included Historical Society President Bob Adkins and members Peyton Adams and Steven Ray, ventured to Loretta Lynn’s hometown of Van Lear and Benham, home to the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, which boasts four floors of exhibits on mining history and the life of the coal miner.

Benham School House Inn

The group stayed at the Benham School House Inn, a converted bed-and-breakfast.

Adkins said he was fascinated by the advancements that have been made in mining since its inception.

“Over time, technology really had an effect in the mines,” Adkins said. “From the bird cage with the canary in it to detect gas, to the modern devices, as well as continuous miners.”

Adkins said plans for the Hopkins County museum include displays on both underground and surface mining. “We can also focus on union and non-union to tell the story of mining in the county,” he said. “I don’t know which direction we’re going to go, or if we want to present those aspects or not.”

The museum will be housed on the third floor of the former county courthouse in downtown Madisonville.

Teague is seeking historic artifacts for display. To donate, call (270) 821-3986.

— Jenny Smith, The (Madisonville) Messenger

MERGING SPIRITS

B

ardstown Bourbon Company may be a relatively new company in Kentucky, but it continues to grow since it launched commercial production in September 2016.

The BBCo and Bowling Green-based Western Spirits Beverage Company have begun a new partnership that will result in even more custom whiskeys.

Western Spirits produces Bird Dog Whiskey, Lexington Bourbon and Calumet Farm Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey.

With this new partnership, Western Spirits will be afforded top-quality distillery equipment, along with the consultation of Steve Nally, a Bourbon Hall of Fame master distiller.

“We are so excited about the opportunity to partner with

the great team at the Bardstown Bourbon Company,” said Tim Livesay, president of Western Spirits. “With their vision for a Napa Valley-type experience, a state-of-the-art whiskey distillery and Steve Nally’s Hall of Fame bourbon-making experience, we are enthusiastic about making the Bardstown Bourbon Company the home of Western Spirits’ bourbon portfolio.”

BBCo also is planning to open its new visitors and events center this summer. Company officials say the center will house one of the largest collections of whiskey in the Commonwealth, offering tours, educational programs, event space, a restaurant and a boutique hotel.

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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FOOD

Cooking

Award-Winning

CUISINE

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

Chef Dean Corbett has been a fixture on the Louisville cuisine scene for more than 30 years, opening his Equus restaurant in 1985 and expanding it to include Jack’s Lounge—named for his late father—in 2000.

Seven years later, he added Corbett’s: An American Place, which has since earned national acclaim and most recently received the AAA Four Diamond award for the ninth consecutive year.

Chef Dean’s Mom’s Meatloaf 1 loaf white bread, cut into small squares 1 cup milk 1 cup evaporated PET milk 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 cup diced yellow onion 1 cup diced carrot 1 cup diced celery 1 cup diced red pepper ½ cup tomato paste ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce ½ cup ketchup 4 pounds ground chuck Seasonings: 3 tablespoons salt 2 teaspoons white pepper 1 tablespoon cumin 1 tablespoon coriander 2 tablespoons paprika 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon cinnamon Please feel free to add or subtract seasonings to your taste 1. In a medium bowl, combine the bread, milk and evaporated PET milk. Allow bread to soak for one hour.

2. In a very large skillet, heat the oil, then sauté all of the vegetables on high heat until tender. Set aside to cool.

3. In small bowl, combine the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup.

4. In large bowl, fold together beef, vegetables, bread mixture and seasonings. Mix well.

5. Shape loaves into two large pans and cover tops with ketchup mixture. Cook at 350 degrees for 1½ hours or until internal temperature is 150 degrees. Allow meatloaf to rest for 20-30 minutes before slicing.

Equus & Jack’s Lounge Mushroom Fumé 1 pound yellow onions, diced 1 pound cremini mushrooms, diced ¼ cup canola oil 2 cups red wine, preferably cabernet, for deglazing 1 gallon beef stock 1 quart heavy whipping cream 2 cups arrowroot 2 cups red wine 1. Purée the onions and mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Sauté the onions and mushrooms in a medium saucepan in canola oil on high heat until the onions are translucent, about five minutes.

2. Deglaze the pan with red wine, then turn down the heat and reduce the entire mixture by one-half. Add the beef stock. This will be the basis for the soup and this entire mixture needs to be reduced over low heat until reduced by one-fourth.

3. Add the heavy cream and reduce again by one-fourth.

4. Whip together the red wine and arrowroot, then add to the soup and stir until mixture thickens.

5. Strain and discard the solids before serving.

Photos by Jesse Hendrix-Inman. Recipes provided by Chef Dean Corbett of Corbett’s restaurant and Equus & Jack’s Lounge in Louisville, and prepared at Sullivan University by Ann Currie.

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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FOOD

Cooking

Rock Shrimp Jenkins 1 pound fresh Carolina rock shrimp or other fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks ¼ cup light brown sugar 1 teaspoon minced shallots ½ teaspoon minced fresh garlic ½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary ¼ cup white wine Juice of 1 lemon ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce ½ cup Lemon Piccate Sauce (see recipe at right) 2 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon Pinch of cayenne Salt and pepper Chopped chives For sauce: 1. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add ¼ cup butter and the brown sugar, then cook until caramelized. Add shallots, garlic and rosemary and continue to sauté for one minute on medium heat, being careful not to burn the sugar.

2. Deglaze the pan with white wine, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, then reduce heat to low for two minutes to reduce volume by one-fourth.

3. Add lemon piccate sauce. Next, add cayenne and then flame off with the bourbon.

4. Whisk in remaining ¼ cup butter and the chives.

5. Add shrimp on low heat and simmer, turning frequently so the shrimp absorb the flavors of the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until the shrimp turns pink. Do not overcook them.

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • MARCH 2 0 1 7

Lemon Piccate Sauce ¼ cup white wine 1 shallot, roughly chopped 1 bay leaf 5 whole peppercorns 2 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon 2 cups chicken stock ¼ cup lemon juice Salt and pepper 1 tablespoon cornstarch, whisked together with 1 tablespoon water ¼ cup cold butter, cut into chunks

1. In a large pan over medium heat, reduce wine, shallots, bay leaf and peppercorns for four minutes, then flame off with bourbon.

2. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice and reduce by one fourth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and return liquid to the pot over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir in cornstarch mixture and whisk until incorporated.

Finish by gently whisking in chunks of butter.

This dish is traditionally served in fried potato basket with a fried leek garnish. However, any complementary starch and vegetable accompaniment would work well.

Grilled Asparagus with Country Ham Juliennes, Spicy Pecans and Maple Bourbon Vinaigrette 1 pound asparagus spears cut into 6-inch pieces (blanch in boiling water for less than one minute; quickly shock the spears in lightly salted cold water, drain and reserve) 3 tablespoons olive oil ½ teaspoon fresh blanched garlic, chopped (before chopping, place in boiling water for 15 seconds, then shock in cold water, drain and reserve) 1 teaspoon fresh minced rosemary Kosher salt and fresh pepper 1 pound country ham, fully cooked and thinly julienned For nuts: ¼ pound pecans 2 teaspoons unsalted butter 2 teaspoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce Pinch of cayenne 1. In a sauté pan, melt the butter, add pecans and sugar. Caramelize over low heat.

2. Deglaze with Worcestershire sauce and season with cayenne. Reserve and keep warm.

For vinaigrette: ¼ cup Woodford Reserve bourbon ¼ cup Vermont maple syrup ¼ cup sherry wine vinegar ¼ teaspoon fresh minced rosemary ½ teaspoon fresh minced shallot 1 egg yolk Salt and pepper ½ cup olive oil ½ cup canola oil Mix together all ingredients with a wire whisk until emulsified.

To assemble: 1. Marinate the asparagus in the vinaigrette for 10 minutes, then grill it in a skillet over medium heat. Set aside to cool.

2. Place asparagus spears on four salad-size plates. Sprinkle julienned country ham on top, followed by nuts and a tablespoon of the vinaigrette.

TRAVEL

Explore

In this installment of “24 Hours in …” our writer visits Danville and gives you the scoop on what to do, where to eat, what to see and where to stay.

You’ll discover that you don’t have to travel far to have an awesome mini vacation in our great Commonwealth.

BY LINDSEY McCLAVE

I

t’s amazing what a vote regarding the sale of alcohol can do. Those who encountered the central Kentucky city of Danville a mere decade ago found a quaint town with much to offer in the way of charm but little in terms of local food, drink and general entertainment.

Fast forward to the present day, and visitors to the place where Kentucky’s Constitution was signed will find more than enough to keep their days busy and their belly full.

With the vote to lift all restrictions on alcohol sales ratified in 2010, a crop of new restaurants began to bloom along historic Main Street, enlivening Danville and drawing attention from travelers looking for an authentic, small-town experience. From a café committed to combating hunger, to a craft beer bar boasting some of the best brews in the state, to one of the newest bourbon distilleries to join the Bourbon Trail, spending 24 hours in the city of Danville is nonstop fun.

•••

Danville is called the “birthplace of the Bluegrass” because of its Constitution connection, a historic event now commemorated at the corner of Main and Second streets in Constitution Square. Founded in 1785, Danville was conveniently located along the Wilderness Road, attracting the settlers making the long and treacherous journey west. It wasn’t long before Danville became 12

K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

a government hub—with the first courthouse, meeting house and jail established—making this growing town the natural choice as the center for negotiations as Kentucky became the 15th state in the Union.

Danville is now home to more than 16,000 residents and Centre College, a small liberal arts school established in 1819 that is widely considered to be one of the best in the South. The historic nature of Danville is woven into the fabric of the city and is expressed in the beautiful old homes, quaint storefronts and impressive sites where our state’s history was made.

•••

There is no better way to kick off a day in Danville than by giving back to the community, and your first stop will allow you to do just that while you enjoy a delicious breakfast made from healthy, locally sourced ingredients. Make your way to Grace Café on 4th Street, just a block and a half off Main. With a “pay-what-youcan” philosophy, the good folks behind this breakfast and lunch spot firmly believe “that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy food while being treated with dignity,” according to the café’s website.

In lieu of firm prices, Grace Café’s menu items have suggested donation amounts, allowing those with full pockets to pay a bit more, those with

light pockets to pay what they are able, and those with empty pockets to give an hour of their time in exchange for their home-style meal. Lunch is offered Monday through Friday, and weekends are reserved for hearty breakfasts, boasting delicious menu items like Greek frittatas and biscuits smothered in gravy made with sausage from nearby Wholesome Living Farm.

•••

Fortified with breakfast, you can venture just a few miles outside of downtown to Wilderness Trail Distillery, Danville’s oldest distillery— legal distillery, that is! Tours are offered on the hour, and cocktails crafted from the distillery’s signature vodka and rum are available for those arriving a few minutes ahead of schedule. If you’re lucky, Jerod Smith will be your guide and will walk you through the fascinating and detailed process of turning corn, wheat and barley into Kentucky’s native spirit, bourbon. Wilderness Trail’s bourbon is still in the barrel and won’t be available for sipping until December of this year. However, that doesn’t mean the distillery is sitting quietly.

The tour takes guests through the heart of its production center, massive fermentation tanks bubbling and

coming to life as special yeast strains are activated and alcohol begins to develop. Beautiful column and pot stills also are on display and in action, the scenic farmland of Boyle County visible through small windows dotting the expansive space.

Just because the bourbon is lying in wait doesn’t mean you will be deprived of a taste of handcrafted spirits, though. Taking inspiration from its bourbon mash bill, Wilderness Trail has created its own vodka, coined Blüe Heron, as well as a signature rum made with Kentucky sorghum molasses. Every tour ends with a sample of vodka and rum, whetting guests’ palates for the bourbon that is to come.

and signature entrées coming out of the kitchen. A lengthy list of martinis is on offer, along with several craft brews and signature cocktails. The bar menu makes for a great lunch, with the burger and blue lump crab cakes high on the list of recommendations.

The owners of Nellie Burton’s also operate the popular Cue on Main restaurant, located in a historical building once home to the oldestrunning pool hall in the region. Salads and sandwiches are the name of the game at this lunch and dinner spot, along with daily specials and a fully stocked bar. If pizza is what you crave, you’ll be happy to pull up a chair at Bluegrass Pizza and Pub, also on Main Street and a local favorite.

•••

•••

At this point, you’ve managed to work up an appetite again, so head back to historic downtown Danville and pull up a chair at Nellie Burton’s, a relatively new sports bar and steakhouse. Half of Nellie Burton’s dining space is dedicated to its bar with multiple televisions—including a large projection screen—decorating the exposed brick walls, making this an ideal spot to catch the day’s big games.

Just next door is a more formal dining space, befitting the various steaks

Regardless of where you choose to dine, you are sure to be full and happy and in need of a post-lunch stroll.

Look to the corner of Fourth and Main streets and make your way toward the century-old, stately building that was once home to the post office and later served as the city’s federal building.

This Main Street landmark became the Community Arts Center in 2004 and boasts rotating art exhibitions featuring works from local and international artists. Pay the suggested

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TRAVEL

Explore

Wilderness Trail Distillery (originally known as Wilderness Trace Distillery) $5 per person donation and tour the various galleries.

Feeling crafty? Take an art-themed break and paint your own pottery.

Drop-in pottery painting sessions are available on Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m., with pottery pieces starting at just $6.

•••

Now that you’ve experienced a bit of Danville’s artistic side, head back down Main Street, dropping into the various shops and specialty stores occupying the two-block stretch from Fourth to Second streets. Don’t pass up a chance to indulge in some healthful fuel at Plank, Danville’s new boutique fitness studio, juice bar and café.

Select one of the signature “no junk” smoothies or handcrafted cold-pressed juices and order it to go, giving you something to sip as you stroll through Constitution Square. There, you will discover a treasure trove of history, from the first post office (built pre1792) and schoolhouse (1820) west of the Allegheny Mountains to beautifully constructed replicas of the courthouse where Kentucky’s Constitution was ratified, the jail and the meetinghouse.

A tribute to all of the governors who have served Kentucky encircles a bronze statue of two men shaking hands, an image you may recognize from the Kentucky state seal and flag.

•••

Continue your dive into Danville’s history with a visit to the Ephraim 14

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Downtown Danville at dusk

McDowell House on Second Street, just across from Constitution Square.

This beautifully preserved Georgianstyle house was once home to Dr. Ephraim McDowell and his wife, Sarah Shelby, daughter of Kentucky’s first governor, Isaac Shelby.

McDowell gained fame in the medical world when he successfully removed a 22-pound ovarian tumor from Jane Crawford, considered the world’s first abdominal surgery. Even if medical history isn’t your cup of tea, the historic home offers a glimpse into how life was once lived, with a replica of the apothecary shop next door.

signature cocktails (Might we suggest the establishment’s take on a Manhattan?). Snack on the mainstay Brussels sprouts appetizer while perusing the rest of the ever-changing menu. Still thirsty? The wine selection at Jane Barleycorn’s is boutique and spot on, with a highlighted selection of bottles for $25 for those looking for a particularly good value.

After you finish dinner, give Jane Barleycorn’s your regards but don’t call it a night just yet. Make your way a half-mile south on Fourth Street to Brothers’ BBQ, where beer is flowing and live music playing on weekend nights.

••• •••

The sun is beginning to set, and it’s time for a drink! The Beer Engine is a worthy spot to settle in and kick off the evening portion of your Danville adventure. Tucked away just off Third Street behind the Chase Bank drive-thru, the Beer Engine offers up a constantly changing array of taps, pouring regional craft brews alongside its own signature creations. Enjoy a flight of whatever strikes your fancy before making your way back to Fourth Street for dinner at Jane Barleycorn’s.

Part restaurant and part wine market, Jane Barleycorn’s is cozy and dimly lit, with a mishmash of local art decorating the walls and a collection of old wine and bourbon bottles repurposed as light fixtures hanging from the ceiling at random.

Locals abound in this eclectic space, and you’ll want to take their lead by ordering one of the restaurant’s 14

When it comes to overnight accommodations in Danville, there is an array of limited-service hotel options, the majority within a few miles’ drive of the heart of the city.

However, we recommend forgoing these typical spots and opting for an Airbnb. To truly relax and live like a local, you’ll want to seek out the Bowman Bungalow, an adorable three-bedroom, two-bath home just steps from Main Street. If the Bowman Bungalow is booked, check in with Stay Over Danville, a well-appointed urban loft space located right on Main Street.

•••

After a peaceful night’s rest, your 24 hours in Danville are nearly up.

However, you’d be remiss if you

A couple enjoys beverages at The Hub Coffee House & Cafe

A Main Street stroll didn’t make a stop at The Hub Coffee House & Café. True to its name, The Hub is where Danville locals gather to meet, greet and simply enjoy a cup of joe. Breakfast is available, but you may prefer to save room for a sweet treat from Burke’s Bakery just across Main Street, opposite Constitution Square. This decades-old delicatessen is known for its salt-rising bread and

made-from-scratch doughnuts, and is a Danville institution.

Order one of Burke’s signature pies to go and treat yourself to a slice of when you arrive home, savoring a final taste of Danville while you pull out your calendar and pick a date for your return visit. We have little doubt you’ll want to relive the past 24 hours sooner rather than later! Q M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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TRAVEL

Explore

IF YOU GO: Beer Engine 107 Larrimore Lane (859) 209-4211, facebook.com/beerenginedanville Bluegrass Pizza and Pub 314 West Main Street (859) 236-7737, bluegrasspizzaandpub.com Bowman Bungalow 223 North 5th Street (859) 583-5733, bowmanbungalow.com Brothers’ BBQ 464 South 4th Street (859) 236-3600 Burke’s Bakery & Delicatessen 121 West Main Street (859) 236-5661 Community Arts Center 401 West Main Street (859) 236-4054, communityartscenter.net Constitution Square Historic Site 105 East Walnut Street (859) 236-2361 Cue on Main 303 West Main Street (859) 236-2400, facebook.com/CueOnMain

10 MILES SOUTH OF DANVILLE Farm-to-Table Dining | Luxury Lodging | Handcrafted Gifts

STANFORD

Ephraim McDowell House Museum 125 South 2nd Street (859) 236-2804, mcdowellhouse.com Grace Café 219 South 4th Street (859) 209-2529, gracecafeky.org Great American Dollhouse Museum 344 Swope Drive (859) 236-1883, thedollhousemuseum.com

S T E W ARDS HIP G ROUP stanford, kentucky

The Bluebird Café — Wilderness Road Guest Houses & Rooms — Kentucky Soaps & Such

The Hub Coffee House & Café 236 West Main Street (859) 936-0001, thehubcoffeehousencafe.com Jane Barleycorn’s 128 South 4th Street (859) 236-9774, janebarleycorn.com Nellie Burton’s Steakhouse and Sports Bar 120 South 4th Street (859) 209-5151, facebook.com/nellieburtons Plank on Main 219 West Main Street (859) 209-2013, plankonmain.com Stay Over Danville 235 West Main Street, #200 (859) 339-9279, stayoverdanville.com

bluebirdnatural.com | kentuckysoapsandsuch.com | wildernessroadguest.com

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Wilderness Trail Distillery 4095 Lebanon Road (859) 402-8707, wildernesstrailky.com

“ We are not interested in making the most, just the best.”

Master Distiller Shane Baker

Tiny Houses T

he No. 1 Danville destination according to Trip Advisor is the Great American Dollhouse Museum, which showcases more than 200 dollhouses and miniature buildings populated with tiny people at work and play.

“Unlike traditional museum displays in which each artifact stands isolated in its case, our exhibits are interconnected both physically and by the stories they tell,” said owner-operator Lori Kagan-Moore. “Our timeline winds its way through United States history from Native American, Colonial, Old West, Southwest and Victorian eras through the decades of the 20th century, ending in a modern scene that includes a hot tub, cellphones and an exhausted babysitter.”

Located in a one-of-a-kind building at 344 Swope Drive, the museum has easy access parking off the 300 block of North 6th Street.

The museum and its adjoining shop are wheelchair friendly.

Above, visitors explore diaromas at the Great American Dollhouse Museum in Danville

This is not your Grandmother’s Cup of Tea... unless your Granny was from Kentucky!

ELMWOOD INN FINE TEAS Visit our Danville Tasting Bar 135 North Second Street 859.236.6641 www.elmwoodinn.com

4095 Lebanon Rd • Danville, KY 859.402.8707 • WildernessTrailKy.com M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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Keeping the Flame Alive “He was as near to a living flame as horses ever get, and horses get closer to this than anything else.” — Racing writer Joe H. Palmer

I

n the Bluegrass State, the name Man o’ War connotes greatness, and rightly so, as the racehorse given that name is considered to be one of the best—if not the best—of all time. Among his central Kentucky namesakes are a car dealership, golf driving range, church, gym, Harley-Davidson dealer and, perhaps most fittingly, a broad boulevard that forms a half-circle on the south side of Lexington, ending—or beginning, depending on your route—at the entrance to historic Keeneland Race Course.

As testament to Man o’ War’s heritage, the Kentucky Horse Park and those of us who have a passion for Thoroughbreds are celebrating his 100th birthday this year.

Foaled on March 29, 1917, at Nursery Stud near Lexington, he was the son of stakes winner and prominent stallion Fair Play and Mahubah, a winning daughter of English Triple Crown victor Rock Sand. He was bred by August Belmont II, a name well-known in the upper echelons of racing. The Belmont Stakes, the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown dubbed “The Test of the Champion,” was named in honor of August Belmont I. As a founding member of the Westchester Racing Association, the younger Belmont was involved in the construction of Belmont Park on Long Island, New York.

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But perhaps August Belmont II’s most enduring legacy is a remarkable chestnut colt foaled on an early spring morning. Belmont owned both Man o’ War’s sire and dam, and if not for a twist of fate, he might have retained ownership of the future star. On April 6, 1917, the U.S. entered World War I, joining allies Great Britain, France and Russia. At age 64, Belmont valiantly volunteered to serve his country and was commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army Air Service. While he was stationed in France, his wife, Eleanor, named the young colt Man o’ War to honor her husband.

The following year saw Belmont still overseas, and he decided to sell the majority of his yearling crop, retaining only several fillies to enhance his broodmare band. Man o’ War was among those sold at the Saratoga (New York) yearling sale in August 1918. He was purchased for $5,000

by Pennsylvania businessman Samuel D. Riddle. The price was neither overly high nor low for the sale. Conflicting reports list the average price for the sale as $1,107 and $1,038, with the sale topper bringing a hefty $15,600.

Man o’ War was turned over to Riddle’s trainer, Louis Feustel, following his purchase. There are varying accounts

Kentucky celebrates the 100th birthday of the great Man o’ War

Courtesy of Keeneland Library/Burt Thayer

BY PAT R I C I A R AN FT

Man o’ War with his longtime groom, Will Harbut

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of the colt’s temperament as a youngster, but in general, it seems he was spirited. In The Jockey Club’s Racing in America (1866-1921), historian Walter Vosburgh quoted Riddle on breaking the yearling: “Man o’ War fought like a tiger. He screamed with rage, and fought us so hard that it took several days before he could be handled with safety.”

Another account, a John Hervey manuscript cited in Edward L. Bowen’s book Man o’ War, quoted Riddle similarly: “No wild animal ever fought its captors more desperately … Once or twice, I really began to wonder just when and how it was going to end … What made him finally submit? Brains.”

As a 2-year-old, Man o’ War quickly demonstrated dominance over his contemporaries, winning his maiden race on June 6, 1919, at Belmont Park by 6 lengths. He then trounced his peers in five consecutive races before famously finishing second to the aptly named Upset in the Aug. 13 Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse. It was the first—and last—loss of his racing career.

Owner Riddle held a strong belief that the 1¼-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby was too demanding for a 3-year-old so early in the year, so Man o’ War made his seasonal debut in the Preakness Stakes on May 18, 1920. The Preakness, today run at 13/16 miles, was a 11/8-mile race when Man o’ War romped to a win over Upset and seven others. Man o’ War so dominated his races in the late spring and summer— including the Belmont, Dwyer and Travers Stakes—that by the time the 15/8-mile Lawrence Realization Stakes rolled around on Sept. 4, horsemen were fully aware of the futility of their charges competing against him. The Lawrence Realization attracted only one other starter, Hoodwink, who was defeated by an incredible 100 lengths as the brilliant Man o’ War destroyed the world-record time for that distance by more than four seconds.

He came to be known as “Big Red,” as did another flashy, reddish chestnut colt much later—1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Man o’ War closed out his 3-year-old season with three more wins, including the Potomac

Handicap under 138 pounds, a staggering weight compared with the 126 pounds carried by male competitors in today’s Triple Crown races. His final contest on the racetrack was at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario, in a match race against Sir Barton, the previous year’s Triple Crown winner.

(The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, collectively, were not to be known as the Triple Crown until 1930, when Gallant Fox swept the three races and Daily Racing Form columnist Charles Hatton coined the term.

Sir Barton wasn’t officially recognized as the first American Triple Crown winner until 1948.) Man o’ War prevailed by 7 lengths over Sir Barton and ended his racing career with 20 wins and one second-place finish from 21 starts, with earnings of $249,645.

After pondering various options for Man o’ War, who is cited along with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey as athletic stars who kicked off the 1920s with flair, Riddle opted to retire him to stud in Kentucky. However, he first showed off Big Red to visitors to the Rose Tree Hunt Club in Media, Pennsylvania, close to Riddle’s hometown of Glen Riddle. In their book Man o’ War, Page Cooper and Roger L. Treat recounted how the beloved racehorse was received by the public: “Man o’ War’s immediate destination was Glen Riddle … but it was a slow journey south, for it had no sooner started than it was transformed into a triumphant procession. At every stop along the way, crowds gathered to see the champion, and he obligingly stuck his proud head out of the van door in answer to their cheers. At last, the caravan reached Pennsylvania. Before going to Glen Riddle, Red and the former show horse, Major Treat, stopped at the Rose Tree Hunt Club in Media, where Mr. Riddle’s neighbors and friends had planned a welcome befitting royalty. As the van drew up to the club track, the thousands of people who had been waiting ringed around.” Among those fans was Dempsey himself.

Man o’ War’s first season at stud was at Hinata Farm near Lexington. The following year, he was relocated to nearby Faraway Farm. Owned by Riddle; his wife’s niece,

CELEBRATING BIG RED T

o commemorate the 100th birthday of Man o’ War, the Kentucky Horse Park has scheduled a yearlong celebration of the life of one of our Commonwealth’s greatest sports heroes.

The festivities kick off on March 29, Big Red’s birthdate, with the opening of an exhibit at the park titled Man o’ War: The Mostest Horse That Ever Was. “We took the name of the exhibit from Will Harbut, the man who took care of him most of his life here in Kentucky,” said International Museum of the Horse Director Bill Cooke. “There are so many pieces of history with the Man o’ War exhibit that racing fans will be thrilled to see.” The exhibit continues through Nov. 1, the date of Man o’ War’s death in 1947.

“Man o’ War is a true American icon … smashing records and setting the bar that all other Thoroughbreds are measured by,” said Kentucky Horse Park Executive Director Laura Prewitt. “We are excited to announce not only an amazing exhibit but also numerous events that will be held here at his final resting place, the Kentucky Horse Park, and throughout central Kentucky.”

In addition to the activities at the Horse Park, area horse farms will offer Man o’ War-themed tours, and a mural of Man o’ War will be painted in downtown Lexington.

“The story of Man o’ War is truly a remarkable one,” said Prewitt.

“Our goal is to celebrate his life.”

For information on the birthday celebration activities, visit kyhorsepark.com.

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Clockwise from top left, explorer Adm. Richard Evelyn Byrd poses with Man o’ War in 1932 at Faraway Farm (Lafayette Studios photo); Big Red with Harbut (courtesy of Keeneland Library, J.C. “Skeets” Meadors photo); Man o’ War demonstrating his tremendous stride on the track (James Edwin “Ed” Weddle Photographic Collection); the racing legend as a foal (James Edwin “Ed” Weddle Photographic Collection); Man o’ War strikes a regal pose (Frank Jaubert photo)

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Courtesy of the Kentucky Horse Park

The extensive repatina process of the Man o’ War statue at the Kentucky Horse Park

Kathleen Jeffords; and her husband, Walter Jeffords, Faraway was off Huffman Mill Pike just outside of Lexington.

Big Red stood at Faraway from 1921 until 1943, when he was pensioned from stud duty due to a heart condition. He lived out the remainder of his years at the farm, dying in 1947. As a sire, he produced 64 stakes winners from 386 registered foals, and his progeny included such notable runners as Kentucky Derby winner Clyde Van Dusen, English Grand National Steeplechase winner Battleship and Triple Crown winner War Admiral, who lost a match race in 1938 to the popular Seabiscuit, himself the son of Man o’ War-sired Hard Tack.

Throughout his life on Faraway Farm, Man o’ War enjoyed the adulation of what has been estimated to be more than 1.5 million visitors. He had been at stud around 10 years when Will Harbut entered his life as his new groom and became his best friend. The two were remarkably close, and Harbut was Big Red’s most enthusiastic promoter, introducing him as “the mostest hoss that ever was.” Harbut thrilled Man o’ War’s admirers with stories of his famous charge, and reportedly, when a visitor

inquired about the horse’s only defeat, the groom replied that he hadn’t seen the race, and the story of his loss “must’ve been a lie.”

Harbut suffered a stroke in 1946 and died on Oct. 3, 1947. The bond between Harbut and Man o’ War was so close that in Harbut’s obituary, The Blood-Horse magazine listed among his survivors his wife, six sons, three daughters and Man o’ War. Big Red died less than a month later of a heart attack—or perhaps, as some say, a broken heart.

Man o’ War was celebrated in death as he was in life: in grand fashion. His body was embalmed and placed in an enormous casket. More than 2,000 mourners paid their last respects as he lay in state within the open casket. His funeral, which was broadcast over national radio, included nine eulogies.

Man o’ War was buried at Faraway Farm, and a regal bronze sculpture of the beloved horse, created by Herbert Haseltine, stood above his grave. In 1977, the great horse’s body was exhumed and, along with the impressive statue, moved to the Kentucky Horse Park, where yet many more thousands pay tribute to him each year. Q

MAN O’ WAR’S MAKEOVER I

Courtesy of James Shambhu/Kentucky Horse Park

n preparation for Man o’ War’s centennial birthday celebration, his iconic statue at the Kentucky Horse Park was given an extensive overhaul planned years in advance. The sculpture had been exposed to the elements since 1947, which had greatly affected its original patina.

“The first step in the process is basically to remove all of the old finish on the sculpture,” explained John Cline, in a Kentucky Horse Park video. Cline took on the project with his team from Cincinnati’s Casting Arts and Technology. “The process is fairly time-consuming and actually a rather delicate process, sort of like trying to clean a battleship with a Q-tip.”

The crew used a pressurized pot with a cleaning medium and needed to pay careful attention to every square inch of the sculpture, with the only thing removed being layers of wax that had been applied over the years to protect the sculpture, plus the original patina beneath.

“One of the unique features of the sculpture of Man o’ War—his eyes are made of glass—so we had a certain amount of trepidation, if not fear, of working around those glass eyes because we’re using these large propane

torches and putting out 500,000 BTUs of heat,” Cline said. “If we overheated the eyes or heated them and then inadvertently quenched them, it was a very high likelihood that they could shatter.

“Once we had Man o’ War stripped of the old finish, it became clear that a couple of extra steps would be needed in order to achieve that reddish tone. The first step was to take him from a relatively bright, clean bronze finish and turn him green.” This was achieved by using propane torches to heat the casting and applying cupric nitrate.

“At some stage, Man o’ War was actually completely green,” he continued. “We then applied a second chemical, which was known as ferric nitrate.” They once again heated the surface of the casting and applied multiple layers of the ferric nitrate to achieve the color of the final product.

“The final step was to apply a layer of synthetic wax,” Cline said. “And so the wax layer that we apply is a blend of two synthetic waxes that are designed to resist the ongoing reaction of the bronze with the atmosphere.”

The result is a rich, deeply saturated reddish-brown that should retain its color for years to come.

Before and after shots of Man o’ War’s statue transformation M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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Law, Order and an

Inside Straight:

The Life and Times of

Virgil Earp

is name was Earp, and he stood 6 feet 2 inches, with a sweeping mustache and a piercing stare. His imposing stature, skill with firearms, and farreaching reputation as a lawman and gunfighter could calm a rowdy crowd and cause evildoers to quake. And by the end of the 19th century, his name was known throughout the country: Virgil W. Earp.

Thanks to Hollywood and the writings of several Western historians, younger sibling Wyatt has attained legendary status, while Virgil is generally relegated to the role of supportive older brother. Yet, during his adventurefilled lifetime, Virgil Earp was a true Man of the West— career lawman, gambler, rancher, prospector, speculator, entrepreneur. And he accomplished it all despite crippling gunshot wounds and mine cave-ins.

H

Beginnings

Virgil Walter Earp was born in Hartford, in Ohio County, Kentucky, in July 1843. His father, Nicholas, a frontier patriarch with an itchy foot, moved his large family so often that Virgil had lived in five different homes in Kentucky, Iowa and Illinois by his 15th birthday. Along the way, Virgil managed to acquire a decent common school education.

At 17, he became infatuated with Ellen Rysdam, a young girl living in Pella, Iowa’s Dutch community. Both families objected to the match—Nicholas Earp, because his son was too young, and Ellen’s father, because Virgil wasn’t Dutch. In September 1861, the pair eloped, and by the following summer, they had produced a daughter, Nellie Jane.

For reasons that remain vague, Virgil left home two weeks after his daughter’s birth and joined the Union Army. The Civil War was raging, and the young man enlisted for a three-year stint in the 83rd Illinois Volunteer 24

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Regiment. Ellen’s father took advantage of Virgil’s absence to inform his daughter that her husband had been killed in battle. Shortly thereafter, the Rysdam family, including Ellen and Nellie Jane, moved to Oregon. Once settled, Ellen—an unwitting bigamist—remarried. It would be 35 years before Virgil received word of his wife and daughter.

Heading West

By the time of his discharge in 1865, Virgil had grown into a rugged and adventurous young man, with the whole of the raw Western frontier sprawling before him. He had inherited his peripatetic father’s wandering spirit as well as his conviction that something better always lay over the horizon. Over the next few years, Virgil roamed the West, working at various jobs—stagecoach driver in Nebraska, Arizona Territory and California; railroad grader for the Union Pacific in Wyoming Territory; freighter and sawmill operator in Arizona; and, according to his own account, peace officer in Wichita and Dodge City, Kansas.

At times, he would reconnect with his two closest siblings, Wyatt and young Morgan. The three brothers were fiercely devoted to each other. Physically, the resemblance was striking: Each stood over 6 feet and—with their auburn hair, light eyes and thick, drooping mustaches—were frequently mistaken for one another. Yet, they could not have possessed more distinct personalities.

Wyatt was miserly with his words, somber and stern, with a deadly temper—traits shared by the adulatory young Morgan. Virgil was, in the words of biographer Don Chaput, “smiling and pleasant … with a keen sense of humor, afraid of nothing, eager to help, and all-around good company, for campfire, fence mending, and chewing the fat … In gambling halls there [was] bound to be

By Ron Soodalter Illustrations by Jessica Patton M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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“he was not averse to cracking skulls or using firearms if necessary.”

laughter, fair play, and a good time if he [was] present.” As a peace officer, he preferred to resolve volatile situations genially, but, states Chaput, “he was not averse to cracking skulls or using firearms if necessary.” Whereas Wyatt was quick to use his fists, adds chronicler Jeff Guinn, “instead of punching someone, [Virgil] would rather drink with him, or diffuse tension with a joke. But when pushed too far, he was just as tough as Wyatt.”

In his travels, Virgil met Alvira “Allie” Sullivan—a young woman as feisty and diminutive as he was big and amiable.

The daughter of Irish immigrants, she was waiting tables in Council Bluffs, Iowa, when she and Virgil first saw each other. The attraction was immediate, and the two remained together until Virgil’s death 30 years later. Common-law marriages were accepted during these times, and as they traveled the West together, no one ever questioned the legitimacy of their relationship.

In 1877, they found themselves in Prescott, the capital of Arizona Territory. The city was built in the midst of a silver strike, and Virgil saw possibilities for advancement. He and Allie occupied an abandoned sawmill, which he put into operation, as well as taking on a freighting route to the mines. One October day, two desperadoes shot up the town and attempted to ride away, whereupon Virgil grabbed his rifle and joined the lawmen in pursuit. The culprits made a stand, and both died of gunshot wounds.

Virgil’s performance that day did not go unremarked.

The Arizona Weekly Miner carried this comment in its next issue: “Earp, who appears to have been playing a lone hand with a Winchester rifle, was doing good service …”

Through a combination of grit and a winning personality, the affable Virgil had made a positive impression on the city officials, as well as the populace, and in the next election he won the constable’s position by 26

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a significant margin. Finally, through a combination of his salary, licensing and collecting fees, and the revenues from his business practices, Virgil was making a decent living, while maintaining the respect of the general public. Of all the places he lived throughout his life—and they were many—Prescott remained his favorite.

By this time, the brothers were scattered throughout the West. Wyatt was gambling and serving as assistant marshal in Dodge City, Kansas, while Morgan was living in Montana. No one knows who first suggested coming together and traveling to the silver-rich area of southeast Arizona. In November 1879, Wyatt, along with his consumptive, ill-tempered friend John H. “Doc” Holliday and their respective mates, swung by Prescott and convinced Virgil that the riches that had always eluded them awaited in the rawboned boomtown ominously dubbed Tombstone. Had he known what lay ahead for him, Virgil likely would have stayed in Prescott.

A Bad Decision

Tombstone was flourishing, and there was money to be had for those savvy enough to spot the right opportunities.

Arriving in three wagons, the Earps immediately set about buying into mining claims in the hope of selling or leasing those that “showed color.” Their success over the coming months was negligible. Wealth and social prominence were again just beyond their reach. James, the eldest Earp brother, took a job in a saloon; Morgan had not yet arrived; and Wyatt preferred gambling and unemployment to another law enforcement position. Virgil, who had no problem seeing himself as a lawman, landed on his feet.

In Prescott, he had made the acquaintance of Crawley Dake, the U.S. marshal for Arizona Territory, and Dake had appointed Virgil a U.S. deputy marshal. When Tombstone’s

incumbent city marshal took an unscheduled leave, taking with him some of the town’s money, Virgil was appointed as his replacement. He now wore two badges—one local, the other federal. Meanwhile, Wyatt, despite his earlier protestations, accepted an appointment as deputy sheriff in the hope that he could parlay it into the sheriff’s job, the most profitable public office in Tombstone.

Virgil was diligent in executing his duties.

Unfortunately, there was an element in and around Tombstone calling themselves the Cowboys who indulged in cattle rustling and highway robbery. It did not take long for hard feelings to grow between the Cowboys and the so-called Earp Faction. By 1881, many saw the deteriorating situation as a feud between in-town and external opportunists, and chose to stay clear of it. The following year, however, in a San Francisco Daily Examiner interview, Virgil made his feelings clear: “Concerning the fights between the cowboys and myself and brothers, it has been stated over and over again that there was an old feud between us and some of our enemies, and that we were fighting only to revenge personal wrongs and gratify personal hatred. All such statements are false.

We went into Tombstone to do our duty as officers. To do that we were put in conflict with a band of desperadoes, and it resolved itself into a question of which side could first drive the other out of the country, or kill them in it.”

The trouble came to a head on a blustery Oct. 26, 1881. It was Virgil, not Wyatt, as the movies would have us believe, who initiated the so-called “walk-down” to a vacant lot near the OK Corral, wherein five of the Cowboys had gathered, wearing guns in violation of the city ordinance.

One of them had been making threats against the Earps’ lives, and there had been altercations earlier in the day.

Perhaps Virgil’s choice of Doc Holliday and brothers Morgan and Wyatt as his deputies was ill-advised, but

these were the men whom he could trust absolutely in a life-or-death situation.

It is significant that when the two groups braced each other, Virgil was carrying a cane in his gun hand, indicating to the Cowboys that he was not a threat to them. He stated, “Throw up your hands, boys. I intend to disarm you.” And when one or more of the participants reached for his weapon, Virgil waved both arms, shouting, “Hold, I don’t want that!” Neither side was listening.

No one knows for certain who fired the first shot. As the firing commenced, Virgil switched hands, drew his pistol, and joined the melee. It was over in less than a minute.

Three Cowboys lay dead or dying, Morgan was shot across the back, Doc was grazed, and Virgil lay on the ground, shot through the right calf. Wyatt alone was untouched.

Conflicting stories were told at the inquest and subsequent hearing, and for a brief moment, it appeared as though the Earps and Holliday would face capital charges and possibly the gallows. They were exonerated; however, although he still held his appointment as U.S. deputy marshal, Virgil was suspended from the city marshal’s position.

As his leg wound slowly healed, Virgil had no idea that the street fight was only the first of the catastrophic events that would soon affect the Earps and him specifically. At around midnight on Dec. 28, as Virgil walked the block from the Oriental Saloon to his hotel, three men hidden in the dark opened fire on him with shotguns. Buckshot tore through his thigh, back and left arm, and one charge ripped through his body. He staggered back toward the Oriental, where Wyatt and a handful of onlookers, alarmed at the sound of gunfire, met him and carried him to his room.

In addition to the seriousness of his other wounds, Virgil’s left arm was ruined, the elbow and bones above and below it shattered beyond repair. When the doctors suggested amputating the useless limb, Virgil refused. They

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subsequently removed some 6 inches of bone from what was left of his arm.

Meanwhile, Wyatt brought a friend of the Earps, George W. Parsons, into the room. Later that day, Parsons wrote in his journal of Virgil’s presence of mind: “He was easy. Told him I was sorry for him. ‘It’s Hell, isn’t it!’ said he. His wife was troubled. ‘Never mind, I’ve got one arm left to hug you with,’ he said.”

For a time, it appeared the wounds would be mortal, but Virgil slowly began to recover. However, due to a wellexecuted P.R. campaign by their opponents, public opinion had begun to turn against the Earps, as the Cowboys stepped up their depredations. Then on March 18, 1882, a hidden gunman shot Morgan Earp in the back as he played billiards. A second shot narrowly missed Wyatt, who was seated against the wall. Morgan, the youngest of the three brothers, died within the hour.

A vengeful Wyatt, who had requested and received a U.S. deputy marshal’s commission from Crawley Dake, set off on what has been called his Vendetta Ride. A train carried Morgan’s body to Colton, California, where his parents had finally settled, and the next day, Virgil—still recovering and in tremendous pain—followed, Allie ever by his side. It was the last he would see of Tombstone.

Wanderings

Although his left arm would, as the doctors had predicted, prove a functionless appendage, it did not seriously impede Virgil’s activities. The following year, a heated railroad conflict broke out in the Colton area between the Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. The Southern Pacific hired Virgil as a “special railroad agent”—essentially, a gunfighter—to ride beside the engineer and discourage interference from the rival line.

In 1887, after briefly running his own detective agency, Virgil was elected to a one-year term as Colton’s first city marshal by a vote of 109 to 61 and was re-elected the following year. Then, the old wanderlust took hold once again. Virgil turned in his badge, and he and Allie moved to the larger city of San Bernardino, where he ran a gambling hall. Four years later, they relocated to the nearby gold camp of Vanderbilt, where he opened Earp’s Hall, an impressive saloon and gambling den that also featured prizefights, dances and Sunday church services.

In a few years, the ever-restless couple sold their hall and home, and traveled from gold camp to gold camp, always looking for the big bonanza. Virgil was working a claim outside of Prescott in 1896 when the mine caved in, crushing his feet and ankles. When he recovered, he decided to give the ranching life a try, and bought a ranch in the Kirkland Valley, south of the city. It was a small operation, and he and Allie would spend the winters in Prescott, where Virgil served as a special deputy.

It was while living in the Kirkland Valley that Virgil received a letter from a woman living in Portland, Oregon.

She had read an article about him (not surprisingly, relating to the OK Corral fight), and informed him that she was his daughter, Nellie Jane, now 36 and the mother of two children of her own.

Virgil was thrilled to hear from her, and he and Allie paid an extended visit to Nellie, his grandchildren and his first (and, technically, only) wife, Ellen. It proved a warm and satisfying time, and Nellie reciprocated, visiting her father the following winter. They remained in close contact until his death.

Virgil was not meant for ranching, and once again, he and Allie roamed the diggings of Arizona and California.

In 1904, they landed in Goldfield, Nevada, site of one of

the state’s biggest strikes. He arrived too late, however, and with too little money to become a force in the boomtown. So he did what he had always done when money grew tight: He wore a badge. In January 1905, Virgil took the oath for Esmeralda County deputy sheriff.

At the same time, he accepted the job of “special officer” for the National Club, one of Goldfield’s more impressive saloons. The title notwithstanding, he was basically a glorified bouncer.

Virgil was now 62 and had suffered crippling gunshot wounds as well as several debilitating injuries that would have permanently disabled other men. Incredibly, he was still a powerful man, capable of ejecting troublemakers with little effort. One contemporary described him as a “quiet man who wouldn’t talk much about himself, but who, despite his injured left arm, could handle cards, drinks and hard cases.” Often, his presence was enough to quieten a troublemaker. It galled both him and Wyatt that their Tombstone reputation—usually impossibly inflated and sensationalized—followed them all their lives; nonetheless, it often served to curb trouble before it started.

In the fall of 1905, Virgil contracted pneumonia, and it proved fatal. As Allie later recalled, he looked up at her as she sat by his hospital bed, and said, “Light my cigar, and stay here and hold my hand.” Those were his last words.

Virgil Walter Earp died on Oct. 19. Allie would not follow him for another 42 years.

At Nellie Jane’s request, Allie shipped Virgil’s remains to his daughter to be buried in Portland. In writing Virgil’s obituary, some newspapers couldn’t resist raking up their own distorted iterations of the past. Under the heading, “Virgil Earp, Gunfighter, Cashes In,” the Nevada State Journal wrote, “It speaks well for Goldfield that Mr. Earp was permitted to go hence with his boots off, and that he took

no fellow citizen of that enterprising burg with him on his long voyage …”

Perhaps the most fitting epitaph, however, was written in the Oregonian of Oct. 30: “Virgil Earp was known as one of the most daring and adventurous of Western pioneers and he was known from North to South on the Pacific Coast as one of the greathearted men who helped to build the West.” Q

“Light my cigar, and stay here and hold my hand.”

N OV E M B E R

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PHOTOS + TEXT BY S.J. CLARK

New Brews Kentucky’s blossoming craft brewing industry taps community spirit

H

“

ey, Ronnie, can you hand me that funnel?”

Steve Irving, co-founder of the Hopkinsville Brewing Company, asked as he straightened up on his ladder. “You’re going to be an assistant brewer today.”

Ronnie Lee, a regular at the brewery, set down his beer and turned from the bar to the 2.5-barrel brewing system just a few feet away. He handed Irving a widemouthed green funnel and, anticipating the next request, passed Irving a bag of hops to dump in the top of the fermenter.

“I assume you’re gonna need these next,” Lee said.

It was just after 2 p.m. on a Saturday, and customers trickled into the Hopkinsville craft brewery by twos and 30

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threes. Here, though, “customer” has a false ring of formality. These are friends—and in a sense, more than a few are founders. A prominent plaque on the wall honors the friends and Hopkinsville community members—168 of them—who donated money through a Kickstarter campaign to make Hopkinsville Brewing Company a reality. Individual gifts ranged from $25 to $10,000.

Altogether, they totaled $40,044—a tremendous vote of community confidence in the vision of co-founders Kate and Steve Irving.

Hopkinsville Brewing Company is just one example of the increase in Kentucky craft brewing. According to data from the Kentucky Guild of Brewers, craft breweries in Kentucky—defined as those producing fewer than 50,000

community and be part of that barrels per year—numbered just community.” five in 2009. In 2016, there were Hopkinsville Brewing Company 35 Kentucky craft breweries, with is a newcomer to Kentucky craft more scheduled to open this year. brewing, having just opened on Tastes are expanding as well, 102 East 5th Street, Labor Day 2016. Already, though, with more consumers than ever Hopkinsville, (270) 987-3115 it’s bringing the community interested in new beer varieties hopkinsvillebrewingcompany.com together in a unique way. The and flavor profiles.

Irvings aren’t Hopkinsville The real impact of craft natives—they’re Army combat brewing, however, goes beyond Suggested Brew: veterans who put down roots in what’s in the glass. Throughout Batwood Vanilla Bourbon Porter Hopkinsville after the Army Kentucky, craft breweries have (6.7% ABV, 25.9 IBU) moved them to Fort Campbell. become community hubs, For the amount of love and work championing local culture, they’ve invested in Hopkinsville, local business and, of course, though, they might as well have lived there all their lives. local beer.

“We had an idea that we could make downtown “Tastes are changing,” said Derek Selznick, executive better, bringing more people here by putting the brewery director of the guild. “People are expecting quality here,” Kate said. “We had this dream of helping to products, whether that’s eating locally or buying fresh rejuvenate the downtown area, so we chose to renovate a farm vegetables. They want the same from their beer. derelict building in our downtown area—you could see They want to know where it comes from.” daylight through the bricks. Our goal in all of this has Community is a key factor in the rapid growth of been to be community-oriented.”

Kentucky’s craft brewing industry, according to Selznick.

Hopkinsville Brewing has Today’s beer drinkers are looking invested in local business for unique flavors, local partnerships, commissioning Jim ingredients, investment in local Creighton and Shannon economies and the unique social Creighton, father-and-son owners space that craft breweries of the Hopkinsville business provide.

Heirloom Table Home, to make “You see that with Braxton 27 West 7th Street the brewery’s wooden signs, flight Brewing [in Covington]—they Covington, (859) 261-5600 boards and mash paddle. just did a beer release for Dark braxtonbrewing.com The brewery also reinvests part Charge, one of their stouts, and of its earnings in Hopkinsville, they had 5,000 people come out,” donating a portion of its monthly Selznick said. “You see it with Suggested Brew: sales to a local nonprofit. During a Third Turn Brewing [Louisville]— Dead Blow Tropical Stout community-wide reading initiative they look at themselves as a (7.2% ABV, 27 IBU) hosted by the local arts council, community hub and have people the brewery created a special beer help decorate their Christmas in honor of the reading material— tree. Or it’s West Sixth the stories of Edgar Allen Poe. The brewery donated to [Lexington] with their Pay-it-Forward Cocoa Porter— the arts council $1 from each pint sold of Red Death they dedicate a portion of the proceeds of all the sales of Belgian Quad, which was named in honor of Poe’s “The that beer to a charity.

Masque of the Red Death.”

“We really feel like we want to engage with the

Hopkinsville Brewing Company

Braxton Brewing Company

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Housed in a beautifully restored early 20th-century Ford garage, family-friendly Hopkinsville Brewing Company has plenty of comfortable seating, big windows and a noticeable absence of television screens. It evokes an older tradition.

“The concept of the tavern in America dates back to its earliest days, when we first started setting up towns in North America,” Steve said. “It was a community gathering place. We went to great lengths to try not to be seen as a bar. We have chess, checkers and laid-back music, and we encourage people to talk to one another, and our staff members engage with customers as well. We want to be the downtown community gathering place.”

Hopkinsville Brewing Company is just one of a growing number of craft breweries in Kentucky. Here are four more to add to your must-visit list.

DRY GROUND BREWING – PADUCAH Housed in a former Coca-Cola bottling plant, Dry Ground Brewing Company is a key player in the ongoing revitalization of Paducah’s midtown area. With a lineup of innovative beers on tap in a unique, vintage space, Dry Ground is preserving a piece of history and catalyzing business growth in Paducah.

After Coca-Cola vacated the building in 2006, it sat

Ground is one of the businesses setting the standard of excellence. He hastens to add that Dry Ground isn’t just for craft beer nerds. It’s a thriving social space organized around the democratic ideal of the pint—a drink everyone can enjoy.

“I don’t only make beer for people who are snobs or aficionados. I make beer for rednecks,” said Wiggins, who grew up in nearby Ballard County. “I make beer for everybody.”

WHITE SQUIRREL BREWERY – BOWLING GREEN White Squirrel Brewery’s production area is tiny, even for a craft brewery, taking up only a corner of the brewery’s kitchen. Brewing happens late at night, and the equipment is stowed away inconspicuously when the kitchen opens the next day. For White Squirrel, though, small is a good thing. It’s an opportunity to use premium ingredients and painstaking methods to create great beer every time.

The brewery is the brainchild of three friends who attended Western Kentucky University together—Damon Wilcox, Jason Heflin and Sean Stevens. It’s named for the white squirrels frequently seen in Bowling Green, especially on the WKU campus, and its small-scale focus allows for a strong attention to detail.

White Squirrel Brewery 871 Broadway Avenue Bowling Green, (270) 904-1573 whitesquirrelbrewery.com Suggested Brew: White Squirrel Pale Ale (6.5% ABV, 80 IBU)

Dry Ground Brewing Company 3121 Broadway Street Paducah, (270) 201-2096 drygroundbrewing.com Suggested Brew: Yardbird Doppelbock (8.5% ABV, 35 IBU)

empty for seven years. Dry Ground co-founders Ed and Meagan Musselman purchased the plant in 2013, renovating a piece of local history to house their brewery.

The “Coke Plant” also leases space to other tenants, including Pipers Tea & Coffee, a yoga studio, a piano studio and more.

“This building is an architectural wonder,” said Andy Wiggins, head brewer at Dry Ground. “Preserving this is a statement to the community that we want to invest in this building that is, to an extent, sacred to the community and is obviously quite beautiful and worth saving.”

Paducah has enjoyed a wave of high-quality business growth in recent years, and Wiggins noted that Dry 32

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“We try to use as many local ingredients as we can, and we give our grains back to local farmers to be fed to livestock or to use for fertilizer,” said Stevens, operating partner at White Squirrel. “It’s just one big, happy collaboration.”

One thing that sets White Squirrel apart from many other craft breweries is that it boasts a full restaurant. If you visit, make plans to stay for dinner.

“I love their food,” said James Lovett, a White Squirrel regular. “I think I’ve had everything on this menu at least once. I started coming because it was local, and between the food, the friendly staff and the great beer, I kept coming back.”

BRAXTON BREWING COMPANY – COVINGTON Braxton Brewing Company may have moved into a spacious taproom and brew house, but it’s never forgotten its roots in a garage. From the garageinspired décor to a deliberately open atmosphere, Braxton prides itself on being an incubator for innovation.

Like many craft brewers, Braxton co-founder Evan Rouse started brewing his own beer at home in the garage. As he honed his skills and started winning brewing awards, his vision grew. Rouse enlisted his brother, Jake Rouse (now CEO), along with his roommates Jonathan Gandolf (marketing manager) and James Norris (head of finance) to develop the business plan.

Nearly two years after opening, they’re still fueling innovation and brewing outstanding beer. Braxton opens at 8 a.m. Tuesday through Friday, offering free wi-fi, the use of a projector and electronic whiteboards and a unique coffee blend roasted by a local business.

“We want our brewery to be a third place—not work or home, but a place where people go to be inspired and work on whatever it is that inspires them,” said Gandolf. “We partnered with Carabello Coffee out of Newport, and they roast coffee for us, and we invite entrepreneurs or people who work remotely into this space. We’ve seen companies literally start and grow out of our space.”

WEST SIXTH BREWING – LEXINGTON A pioneer among Kentucky craft brewers, West Sixth was the first craft brewery in Kentucky to can its beers rather than bottling them, the first to make a production IPA, and an early promoter of late-addition hops for flavor and aroma. The brewery isn’t sitting on its laurels, though. Its motivation is to create A West Sixth employee prepares cans of its popular American IPA to be shipped out to various locations around the state

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Suggested Brew: West Sixth IPA (7% ABV, 27 IBU 80)

an excellent product while making a difference in the community it’s part of.

West Sixth invests in the community by supporting nonprofits, partnering with local businesses, maintaining environmentally friendly business practices, and creating a supportive work environment for employees.

West Sixth continues to innovate, most recently through West Sixth Farm, a 120-acre property in Franklin County. Opening this year, West Sixth Farm will grow ingredients for the brewery’s beers—from standard ingredients like hops and barley to specialty items such as sorghum, squash, cherries and raspberries.

“Brewing is an agricultural act,” co-founder Ben Self said. “We make a product that is made of ingredients that grow from the earth, but so often, people don’t think of beer as that. They think of it as this thing that comes out of a factory. What we hope to do with the farm is to reconnect people back to that.” Q

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M O N T H LY • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7

Louisville-based Shuckman’s Fish Co. & Smokery is always looking for what’s next Text and Photos by Lindsey McClave

A

photo credit: Brantley Gutierrez

ll of us have a big idea from time to time. Only a relative few possess the passion, drive and unwavering belief in their idea to see it through to culmination. Even fewer can parlay the development and evolution of the idea into nearly a century’s worth of success. Shuckman’s Fish Co. & Smokery can count itself among the relative few, and as the company marks 99 years and four generations of ideas and ownership in 2017, there doesn’t appear to be any shortage of tenacity, zeal or pride in this business run by a small family with big dreams.

Established in 1918, Shuckman’s began as a butcher shop and grocery at 16th and Kentucky streets in Louisville’s West End. With the Shuckman family seeing their community through those challenging years of the early 20th century, the business soon became a neighborhood fixture. When the great flood of 1937 devastated Louisville, the Shuckmans opened their doors and provided neighbors with necessary provisions, running a tab for each customer in lieu of collecting payment.

“Every single tab was repaid—isn’t that amazing?” I am standing in the chilly center of Shuckman’s smoking facility and listening to fourth-generation owner Lauren Shuckman as she shares this story of her great-grandfather with me. Her hair is piled into a net, pulled away from her face, and her eyes shine brightly as she details her family’s legacy, while her father, Lewis Shuckman, scurries about the warehouse, moving from the chiller to the packaging line to the front office, contributing tidbits to the stories as he roams, his voice large and warm.

A.J. Shuckman, Lauren’s grandfather, would be challenged with bringing the business into the second half of the 1900s.

A.J. inherited his father’s spirit and generosity while bringing his own ideas to the table, taking the business model in a direction unseen in Louisville at the time.

“In the 1950s, Sunday was shopping day, and it was always incredibly busy,” says Lewis. In a time when the custom was to wait at a counter while your meat was cut to M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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Far left, photo courtesy of Shuckman’s Fish Co. & Smokery

Left, slicing salmon at Shuckman’s; below, the salmon smokes on a rack; bottom, the company’s signature Kentucky Spoonfish Caviar

order, Lewis says his father decided to designate a section of the store to precut, prepackaged meats so customers would have the option of avoiding the meat-counter line.

“The Kentucky Grocers Association thought he was crazy,” says Lewis, chuckling. “They said there was no way people would buy precut meat.” A.J. remained convinced his daring-for-the-times concept would succeed, and indeed it did, taking off on the spot and ushering in a whole new way of shopping for meat in Louisville.

To look around Shuckman’s headquarters today, it’s difficult to believe that meat was once the bread and butter of the business. Still located in West Louisville, but now at 30th and Main, the space is permeated by a delicate air of smoke and brine, and an array of smoked fish in justsealed vacuum packs lines a large table, ready for shipment across the country. This great shift in focus—from meat to smoked fish—can be attributed to Lewis, who was struck by his own big idea in the early 1980s. With the meat market saturated and many larger-scale operations selling lower-quality products for less, Lewis determined that introducing fish into their offerings could help diversify the business. This idea played well with the diet trends of the times, and the demand for fish began to grow. Lewis honed his smoking techniques, and his smoked Kentucky trout gained a popular following among customers.

Pushing the smoked-fish-focused business model forward, Lewis allowed himself to consider pioneering a new product of the Kentucky waterways, one that would seem ill-fitting at first blush. “You don’t think of caviar when you think of Kentucky,” says Lauren. Enter the paddlefish, a species found in droves throughout the state’s natural waterways as well as fish farms. After sampling the delicate nature and pure flavor of the paddlefish’s roe, Lewis 36

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was convinced that the business’ future lay in this gourmet delight. Now, he just had to take on the task of convincing the rest of the community he was right.

“I had so many doors shut in my face, I lost count,” Lewis says with a laugh, describing his grassroots efforts to see his dream take root. Armed with gold tins of his Kentucky caviar, he made his way to all of the whitetablecloth restaurants in the city, finding it difficult to convince many to even sample this unique offering.

Undeterred, Lewis pushed on and soon found a friend in one of Louisville’s most venerable dining institutions— The Oakroom at the Seelbach Hotel. Executive Chef Jim Gerhardt was passionate about featuring local cuisine on his menus, and he presented an open mind to Lewis.

Luckily for both, the caviar made a positive impression on the fine dining set, and Lewis began to hear the phones ring, requests trickling in.

Business was good, and the Shuckman family continued to transition out of the meat business and exclusively into caviar and smoked fish. Educating the public about paddlefish caviar still proved to be a challenge, but Lewis found himself making a slow but steady headway. Then The New York Times called. The newspaper was working on a story about the burgeoning trend of American caviar and wanted to visit Shuckman’s smokehouse. The reporter happened to come for a tour the same day Shuckman’s was hosting a group of aquaculture experts from Ukraine. The Ukrainians, who knew a thing or two about quality caviar, heaped nothing but praise on Shuckman’s roe, and The New York Times made sure to spread the word across the nation.

Native Kentuckian and television journalist Diane Sawyer took notice, and the Shuckman family soon watched in disbelief as their caviar was tasted alongside

the finest fish eggs in the world on Good Morning America.

What’s more, the experts on the show gave their approval.

Lewis’ paddlefish eggs—trademarked as spoonfish caviar— were now firmly in demand and remain so to this day.

Busier than ever, Shuckman’s Fish Co. & Smokery remains a family affair, and Lauren is a fixture of the dayto-day operations, continuing the family legacy. She’s also making her own mark on the business. Four years ago, Lauren helped her family dive into the world of artisanal cheese, using their smokers to infuse mozzarella, blue cheese and cheddar, and crafting their own pimento cheese, beer cheese and Benedictine blends.

Blue ribbons and first-place placards line the office walls, all awarded for the cheeses they’ve entered into the Kentucky State Fair. Lauren has big dreams for how she can continue to develop this new end of their business— the smoked blue cheese already is one of the overall best sellers—and sees it as a perfect complement to the spoonfish caviar and smoked fish (salmon, paddlefish, trout, mackerel, whitefish and catfish) the company sells.

As the Shuckmans prepare to enter their 100th year in business, they show no signs of slowing down. After noticing pictures of her two young, smiling sons atop her desk, I ask Lauren if they’ve identified a fifth-generation owner yet. “I don’t know,” she says. “I guess, though … you know my youngest, he is just like my dad. If I don’t watch him, he’ll start trying to invent stuff in his room.”

It is this curious spirit that has served the Shuckman family so well, a spirit that has flourished decade after decade, generation after generation. And it is a spirit that is in no danger of dimming any time soon. Q

For more information, visit

Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese Spread Shuckman’s Smoked Fish, preferably the Alder Smoked Salmon or Nova Smoked Salmon 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 2 tablespoons capers, drained and minced ¼ cup diced red onion Juice from ½ lemon 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Pinch of kosher salt Mini bagels, toasted 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, capers, red onion, lemon juice, dill, black pepper and salt. Mix on medium speed until blended and light. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your preference.

2. Transfer the cream cheese spread to a bowl and serve on a platter with Shuckman’s salmon and toasted mini bagels.

PHOTO CREDIT MARIAH GRAY

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Shuckman’s premium smoked salmon is a sumptuous treat on its own but works well when accompanied by other foods. Consider substituting it for Canadian bacon in preparing eggs Benedict, using it to top a salad of mixed greens, or pairing it with this cream cheese spread.

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National League MVP Bryce Harper by Richard Sullivan; opposite, Sullivan in his studio [Sarah Davis Photography]

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

PITCH-PERFECT

PAINTINGS Former pro pitcher Richard Sullivan combines a love of baseball with artistic talent B Y PA M W I N D S O R

W

atercolor portraits showcasing some of the greatest names in sports line the walls and fill the drawers of Richard Sullivan’s art studio in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood.

Nolan Ryan, LeBron James, Muhammad Ali—just to name a few.

There are nearly 100 completed works, all capturing a specific moment in time on the court, in the ring, on the track and on the baseball field.

Sullivan’s love of baseball runs deep.

It began on the Little League fields of Louisville and took him to the minor leagues, when he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves. Today, with his playing days behind him, he’s sharing his love of the game on canvas. And with every painting, he adds depth and emotion he pulls from his own experience.

“It’s why I love sports so much, because there’s so much emotion—the intensity of what you’re going through,” he explains. “I want to paint the moment when it matters and the moment that it’s all on the line.”

His devotion to baseball began when he was a small boy. His father remembers Richard playing the game

alongside twin brother Matthew.

“We encouraged them to start Little League when they were probably 5 years old, I think,” recalls Gary Sullivan. While Matthew played for a few years before losing interest, Richard stuck with it.

“He was good at it. He was just a natural from the beginning. We used to play catch in the front yard, and I had to tell him not to throw it so hard,” Gary says with a laugh. “He was throwing as hard as he could almost every time he threw the ball.”

Those were early indications of a future left-handed pitcher. And as Richard got older, he got better. After Little League, he played travel baseball, then went on to play for Ballard High School.

“Baseball’s pretty much all I did sports-wise. I did it year-round,” Richard says. “I loved it!”

Despite his preoccupation with baseball, his mother says that looking back, there were signs he also had a talent for art.

“It started showing up in elementary school, and he was in some of the exhibits they did in M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

39

Vivid, intense colors are characteristic of Sullivan’s Derby watercolors

“I don’t think I’d ever given myself the chance to be good at painting.”

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

middle school,” notes Debra Lively.

“Then, he took art at Ballard. He was in several of the art recognition exhibits there.”

Still, everyone knew it was baseball that would get Sullivan into college.

Interestingly enough, it was an art school with a baseball program that came calling after he had played in a college showcase game in Tennessee.

“The SCAD scout was there, and Richard had put down that he was interested in graphic arts,” says Lively, referring to the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. “Once Richard saw the SCAD curriculum and those art classes, he just lit up.”

Even so, there were questions about whether an art school might be the best choice for someone focused on a baseball career. In the end, Sullivan decided it was.

At SCAD, he excelled in baseball.

Athletic Director Doug Wollenburg, the school’s head baseball coach at the time, describes Sullivan as a young man with a real talent and an exceptional work ethic.

“He was unparalleled. He was one of the top three or four baseball players I had in my time as head coach

at SCAD,” Wollenburg recalls. “He was a left-handed pitcher who also hit and played first base for us. People sometimes forget what he provided and contributed to the team offensively as a position player.”

Sullivan’s dedication paid off. He began getting outside attention.

“During my junior year, I was doing really well, and people started to notice me,” he says. “At first, one or two scouts came to my games, then three or four, then five or six, and then at the end of the year, 15 or 20 scouts were at my games every time I pitched.”

That was in 2008. Baseball’s amateur draft drew closer.

“Draft day was the most stressful day of my life,” he remembers. “It was so intense. I didn’t know if it was going to happen. What if it doesn’t?

Then it finally did, and I thought, ‘All right, I can do this.’ ” Richard was drafted in the 11th round. It was a dream come true.

“I just tried to get better every day, just focus on the small things,” he says.

He did well at the professional level.

“Once I got to Double-A, I had some really great games. I pitched a complete-game shutout, and one of

the highlights was being invited to the exhibition game.”

During spring training, the Braves had two exhibition games with the Minnesota Twins at Atlanta’s Turner Field. “They brought up 10 minor league pitchers, and I was one of them,” Richard says.

He was nervous beforehand, describing it all as a little surreal, but once he ran up to the mound, he kicked into action and performed extremely well.

“I got the win that night in the 10th inning,” he says. “I was so proud to be in that position. It was a great experience.”

Sullivan played in the minor leagues for nearly five years, but somewhere along the way, things begin to shift. He still loved the game, but something was different.

“I knew something needed to change,” he says. “It wasn’t fun anymore. It was just a grind. I wasn’t going to quit, but I knew something needed to happen.”

When he was released by the Braves in 2012, it came almost as a relief.

Richard went back to school and took a summer class. But then, still not sure he was completely finished with baseball, he went to Boston for pitchers training during the winter. He

got picked up by an independent team in southern Illinois. He played for a season before he finally knew he was done with baseball. He went back to SCAD to get his degree.

“It took me two to three years to make that decision,” he admits, adding that deciding to leave baseball was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. “When you do something your entire life and your whole life is surrounded by that, it’s how you define yourself. I didn’t know who I was after that.”

At SCAD, he eased back into art.

“I found watercolor. It was so natural. I didn’t have to think about it; I just did it,” he says. “It wasn’t easy, but my mind clicked with it. I don’t think I’d ever given myself the chance to be good at painting.”

Richard began doing regular portraits at first. But then, with so many of his friends and former teammates still playing baseball, he began doing sports figures and sharing them on social media.

Along the way, he studied the work of other artists and eventually developed his own style. He describes it this way: “It’s loose; it’s fast, but I want to put the emotion into it.”

In 2014, he got his first break as an artist when the National Baseball Hall

Sullivan in his studio: above, with a finished painting of baseball legend Willie Mays; top right, reasearching images online; right, contemplating a work in progress M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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“It’s my connection with baseball that has triggered everything.”

of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, accepted one of his pieces into its permanent collection. The work is titled “Braves vs Cardinals, 1964.”

“I think his watercolor work is wonderful,” notes senior curator Tom Shieber. “There’s an ethereal quality to his art that evokes a lot of emotion. It’s as if Richard’s artwork is a representation of our wispy memories, not quite tangible and yet still vibrant.”

Soon afterward, a painting Sullivan had done of Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine got some attention on Facebook, and Glavine’s wife purchased it. He was thrilled and saw it as another sign to keep moving forward.

Then, he had pieces accepted at the Louisville Slugger Museum and the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey.

“The fact that he was able to reinvent himself in the way he has is so admirable,” says David Kaplan, director of programs at the Yogi Berra Museum. “He was playing baseball professionally and now making a living as an artist. Looking at his artwork, you wouldn’t know he’s a former player; you’d think he was just a classically trained artist.” And yet, he adds, Sullivan’s background as a player has given him a keen eye for movement and players’ actions.

Last summer, The Washington Post commissioned Sullivan to do a painting of the Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper for its sports page after

A painting entitled “Mound Visit” is one of many pieces inspired by Sullivan’s love of baseball

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

Harper won the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2015.

Harper’s team later bought the painting, had Harper sign it, and then auctioned it off at an annual fundraising gala for $18,000.

Richard looks at every success as an incentive to stay on course with his art. While making a living as an artist poses its own set of challenges, his decision to pursue sports art has proved to be a good one.

“I think it’s an incredible niche he’s carved out for himself,” notes Lively.

“He’s been able to combine the two loves of his life.”

Wollenburg agrees.

“Richard obviously had a nice professional career playing for the Braves, but for one reason or another, he was rerouted. It’s a strong testimony for him that he came back and finished his degree. He has tremendous talent, obviously, but at the same time, he’s working hard, and I think that same work ethic that I saw—whether it was in the weight room or out on the baseball field with him hustling—carries over into the career he has now.”

For Richard, that hard work means continuing to paint and build his reputation, while considering what projects to tackle next. He’s also co-founder of an art agency with fellow SCAD graduate Kate Moore.

The Sullivan Moore agency currently handles 17 illustrators whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian magazine

Sullivan was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2008

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A Louisville native himself, Sullivan pays homage to sports great Muhammad Ali

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and The New Yorker, among other publications.

Richard plans to look for ways to take his baseball work closer to the fans, perhaps by selling prints in stadiums and other venues. It’s a way to share with others the game he loves, and the sport that has given him so much in life.

“It’s unbelievable,” he says. “If baseball wasn’t there, if I was painting portraits of celebrities and had no connection with them, nobody would know who I am. It’s my connection with baseball that has triggered everything.” Q

To view more of Sullivan’s artwork, visit richardsullivanillustration.com

Top, a portrait of Dale Murphy; above, a work from Sullivan’s racehorse series

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

CALLING ALL COOKS! Submit your favorite original recipe for a chance to win great prizes and see your dish featured in our May issue.

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY 45

A Tale of Two Doctors

For physicians Nick Dedman and Jack Hamman, retirement is not on the horizon

BY JACKIE HOLLENKAMP BENTLEY

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

They work in hospitals nearly 200 miles apart and practice medicine in two different areas of expertise, yet Drs. Nick Dedman and Jack Hamman have one significant thing in common: The word “retirement” doesn’t seem to be in their vocabulary.

Dedman, an internist and chief medical officer of James B. Haggin Memorial Hospital, has spent his entire career of nearly 35 years in his hometown of Harrodsburg. Hamman, a vascular surgeon at Baptist Health Madisonville (formerly Trover Clinic), has been practicing medicine for six decades, all but four of those years in Madisonville.

They are considered stalwarts of their respective communities, saving countless lives while educating future physicians, nurses and technicians. What we discovered in talking with Dedman and Hamman is their modesty about just how vital a role they play in their community.

Dr. Nick Dedman He goes by many titles—internist, family physician, chief medical officer, chief of staff. However, Dedman, 63, sees himself as one thing: a doctor.

“I’m sort of the jack-of-all-trades, but it’s not because I’m any good,” Dedman said. “It’s because they can’t find anybody else to do it. They just say the oldest guy here has to do it, and I’m the oldest practicing physician now in Mercer County.”

Still, Dedman treats each day in the office and hospital as if it were his first.

“The fire still burns for medicine,” he said. “I’ve always had a passion for medicine. I love seeing patients. I love the hospital I’m standing in right now. I’m still happy as a hound dog doing what I’m doing.”

Dedman’s ancestors have called Harrodsburg home for generations. The city’s famous Beaumont Inn has been in Dedman’s family for five generations. It’s now owned by his identical twin brother, Chuck, and Chuck’s son, Dixon.

Dedman’s wife of 42 years, Elaine, also was born and raised in Mercer County. So there was no question that he would return to Harrodsburg to practice once he completed study at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and finished his residency at the former Louisville General Hospital in July 1982.

“Soon as they said, ‘Son, you can go,’ I loaded up my U-Haul and wife and two kids [Amy and John] and came back to my hometown, and been here ever since,” he said.

“I’ve never left Kentucky. No, ma’am, I can’t leave my state.

There’s no better people than in Mercer County. You can’t beat them, and I’m not sure anybody else would have me …”

Local banker, lifelong friend and one of Dedman’s many patients Art Freeman said he’s glad Dedman came home.

“I would never brag about him in front of him because I

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F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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James B. Haggin Memorial Hospital, top, and Baptist Heatlth Madisonville, above, both benefit from the doctors’ years of service

Dr. Jack Hamman

like to give him a hard time, but he’s a great guy,” Freeman said. “I’m probably a little biased, but I don’t know anybody who doesn’t love Nick Dedman.

“I can tell you from experience the hospital staff loves him. He’s been good to the hospital and good to the community, and he’s helped bring other doctors and medical professionals to town.”

Aside from his work at Haggin Hospital, Dedman also runs a walk-in clinic where he consults with primary care physicians as well as still seeing 12-15 patients a day. Over the decades, caring for those patients has changed, mostly for the better.

“When I started, there were about five or six general practitioners here that were my role models,” Dedman said.

“And I came back here and, man, I thought I knew something and, well, I found out really quick I didn’t know anything.

“These old-time, rural, country docs were the rocks. They didn’t have the resources that big-time docs had, but these guys were unbelievable. [So] I’ve had a lot of good people that have surrounded me and a lot of good mentors.”

With the growing dominance of insurance and pharmaceutical companies, Dedman admits to seeing changes that have created “pessimism and burnout” among fellow doctors, but he holds to his love of the field.

“If you ask anybody around here: Patients come first, doctors come second, and hospitals come third,” he said.

“Then there’s a big blank area, and then way down, you get down to the government and the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies.”

In his time off—when he actually has some—Dedman enjoys a good game of golf. But with Dedman, his game is serious. Just ask Freeman.

“When he [Dedman] was in high school, I took him and his twin brother out to play golf one day, and on the very first hole, that rascal got a hole in one,” Freeman recalled.

“I swore I’d never play golf with him again.” He has.

A self-proclaimed bibliophile, Dedman has a basement full of books to satisfy his avid love of reading. He also has picked up a new hobby: playing with his three grandkids.

With plenty to occupy his time outside his career, retirement would seem logical. When he was hit with cancer of the spine four years ago, his friends and family urged him to go ahead and put down the stethoscope. He didn’t. He powered through radiation treatments and is now in remission. And of course, he’s back at work.

“You do what you got to do and keep on truckin’,” he said. “What am I going to do? Sit home? No. I like doing what I’m doing … I enjoy helping the family docs and nurse practitioners figure out what’s going on.

“Every patient is different. Every patient is a puzzle.

That’s what makes it so nice. You never know what you’re going to see when you open the door.”

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Dr. Jack Hamman Though he wasn’t born in Kentucky, it didn’t take long for Jack Hamman to call the Bluegrass State his home.

Originally from Jonesboro, Arkansas, Hamman obtained his medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health

“Age is only a number, a cipher for the records. A man can’t retire his experience. He must use it.”

— financier and philanthropist Bernard Baruch Science Center College of Medicine in 1957. He then spent the next 11 years at hospitals in Memphis and Roanoke, Virginia, studying and practicing non-cardiac chest surgery and vascular surgery.

“There were not many training programs for that at the time, so you learned OJT [on-the-job training],” he said.

During his early years, a Madisonville group practice known as the Trover Clinic was growing exponentially, attracting physicians from around the country and eventually becoming one of the largest group medical practices in Kentucky.

Hamman’s expertise garnered him an invitation to join the clinic in 1968.

“I wondered whether or not there would be enough work, so I made several trips before I decided to come,” he said. “I worked all night and have been busy ever since. It’s a career that you could have never in your boldest imagination figured that there would be so many opportunities.”

One of those opportunities is to pass on his knowledge gained from his years of experience to future doctors completing their residency in Madisonville and to students obtaining degrees in the medical profession from Madisonville Community College.

Dr. Dan Martin, who helped establish the local educational programs, said students who have had Hamman as an instructor are fortunate.

“I think of him as a wonderful teacher,” Martin said. “The lectures he gives to students and residents and faculty are just wonderful to hear because not only does he take up

whatever the topic he’s asked to speak about, but he almost always weaves in some history having to do with that topic.”

Martin said Hamman would never boast, but he considers Hamman a top-notch physician. Apparently, Martin isn’t alone: There’s now a cardiac center named for him adjacent to the hospital—the Jack L. Hamman Heart & Vascular Center.

“He’s such a remarkable person in all the respects that you can think of,” Martin said. “I think of him as a fine surgical technician, and he has a great touch as a surgeon.”

Even though Hamman no longer performs surgeries, he continues to see patients—some of whom have been seeing him for the past 20 years. At 83, retirement isn’t in his future.

“People look forward to retirement for things that please them and entertain them, and sometimes retirement is very disappointing,” Hamman said. “Their activities, after a short while, are no longer pleasing and entertaining.

“This [practicing medicine] pleases me and entertains me, and you feel like you can still make a contribution to some patient care—not enormous—but some patient care and education, and that’s why I keep working.”

While some physicians aspire to lofty, powerful positions in big cities, Hamman considers his smaller-town career an enormous success, giving credit to Martin and others, and not himself.

“There are a lot of things that have touched my career, and I’m just a small part of the big picture,” Hamman said.

“It’s been a very rewarding practice all the way through, including even through these latter years.” Q

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49

CULTURE

Off the Shelf

OFFERING HOPE The Gospel of Simon

By John Smelcer Leapfrog Press $14.95 (P)

A prolific writer known internationally, John Smelcer penned The Gospel of Simon based on inspiration he received from the life of Trappist monk Thomas Merton, who lived for 27 years in Nelson County’s Abbey of Gethsemani until his death in 1968. In the book, Smelcer masterfully portrays Merton’s teaching about the

all-encompassing love of Christ. In an age when America is clearly divided and fear and anger are on daily display, this short but pithy work offers hope for something a whole lot better.

The author characterizes his narrative as “an inspirational work of fiction, a creation of art, a fabrication from the imagination and intuition of an imperfect man.” Yet, it is marvelously crafted and the storyline is well-researched. The message is given from the perspective of Simon of Cyrene, who, according to the Bible, helped Jesus Christ physically carry the heavy cross to Golgotha prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. Smelcer’s Simon is almost immediate in connecting to the humanity in us, with all our vulnerabilities.

Smelcer’s writings have received praise from notables such as Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, Coretta Scott King and New York Archbishop Cardinal Edward Egan.

— Steve Flairty

LBL Residents

Life in Coal Country

A Different Time

The Land Between the Lakes Recreational Area is made up of more than 170,000 acres of forested land, resulting in the largest Amphibians and inland Reptiles of Land peninsula in Between the Lakes the United

By David H. Snyder, States.

A. Floyd Scott, Although the Edmund J. area receives Zimmerer and about 1.4 David F. Frymire million University Press of Kentucky visitors each $24.95 (P) year, there are thousands of permanent residents— slithery and 4-legged scaly amphibians and reptiles that sometimes go unnoticed.

Written by professors Snyder, Scott, Zimmerer (of Murray State University) and field researcher Frymire (of the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife), this book is a resource for understanding the animals of this region. It offers fascinating accounts and photos of the native creatures, with each animal cataloged, and includes their history and details on their habitat.

Although much has been written of the dangerous and hard life in the coal mines of Kentucky, it is not often that we get to peek into Zetta’s Dream: the life of a An Appalachian family who Coal Camp lived in a coal Novel camp. Zetta’s

By Sandra P. Dream is the Aldrich story of a Bold Words, Inc. 22-year-old wife $11.97 (P) and mother of two toddlers— with a baby on the way—who moves to an eastern Kentucky coal camp to be with her husband, Asa. The year is 1922, and Zetta’s two brothers and Asa have left their farms to work in the mine for several months hoping to earn enough money to get ahead in life.

The novel describes the soot, polluted air and overpriced company store. Although their situation was not pretty, the characters are good people.

Author Sandra P. Aldrich hails from Harlan County and has written or co-written 22 books. She has penned religious and inspirational books and is well-versed in telling stories about Kentucky and Appalachia.

Based in the small fictional town of Eden Hill, Kentucky, this book is the tale of a dyed-in-the-wool gas station owner who thinks Eden Hill things need to

By Bill Higgs stay how they Tyndale House are. Yet there’s Publishers a newcomer to 14.99 (P) town who wants to build a new gas station right across the street.

It is a classic story of changing times and genera­ tional differences and the challenge of merging the two.

Along the way, we meet interesting small-town characters, and there are enjoyable scenes between the main character, Virgil, and his wife, Mavine, who is sure their marriage is in trouble because she took a quiz in a magazine, and it said so.

Eden Hill is the debut novel by Kentuckian Bill Higgs. The husband of author Liz Curtis Higgs, who has sold more than 4 million books herself, he apparently has learned quite a bit about storytelling.

While the book is partly historical fiction, set in the calm year of 1962, it is also partly a Christian novel, as there are many references to church and religion.

— Deborah Kohl Kremer

— Deborah Kohl Kremer

— Deborah Kohl Kremer

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

(P)-Paperback (C)-Clothbound (H)-Hardback

BOOKENDS Since the days of being called the “the Athens of the West” more than a century ago, the city of Lexington has drawn praise for embracing the arts. One niche in the arts community many may know little about is a high-powered photography group that emerged in the 20th century. Brian Sholis shines light on that group in Kentucky Renaissance: The Lexington Camera Club and Its Community, 1954-1974.

Ralph Meatyard, Robert May, former Kentucky Poet Laureate James Baker Hall, Cranston Ritchie and Guy Mendes have been members who “captured Kentucky’s dramatic natural landscape and experimented widely with different techniques, including creating double and multiple exposures or shooting deliberately out-of-focus images.” Additionally, the relationships the club members have with such illustrious Kentuckians as Wendell Berry, Guy Davenport, Jonathan Greene and Thomas Merton are highlighted.

Published by Yale University Press in partnership with the Cincinnati Art Museum, the hardcover book, which retails for $45, features 192 pages and 120 primarily black-and-white illustrations. The text includes an essay by John Jeremiah Sullivan.

Survival Lessons Sylvia Lovely shares a story about a man in the Philippines who died from an infection after being hit in the leg by a flying coconut during a typhoon. He thought he had taken wise precautions to protect his family from the storm Dodging but never considered a coconut as a Coconuts: How threat. That didn’t keep the tragedy to Survive the from happening. Lovely compares Storm and the narrative, in part, to her own life Rebuild Your Life experience. The difference, however,

By Sylvia Lovely is that she has survived and plans Grassy Creek Publishing for better days ahead, with lessons $16.95 (P) being duly learned. Now, she shares her tumultuous story and how she fought to overcome the damage done. In doing so, she hopes to help others facing similar difficulties.

Dodging Coconuts, says Lexington author Lovely, is “a book about career and personal ‘do-overs.’ ” It is about how a high-achieving, wellcompensated woman (executive director of the Kentucky League of Cities) was forced to retire after serious media scrutiny. Additionally, she incurred serious health issues along the way.

The memoir tells her side of the story and provides advice for professionals “who have suffered reputational disasters and need inspiration.”

Frankfort’s Fishing Reels Jewels of the Bluegrass Exhibit Capital City Museum

325 Ann Street • Frankfort, Ky. 502-696-0607 Exhibit open until October 15 Monday-Saturday 10-4 Admission Free Baitcasting reels were perfected and handcrafted in quantity in Frankfort.

Come see a collection of these gems.

— Steve Flairty

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

51

OUTDOORS

Field Notes

Birdman of Kentucky

BY GARY GARTH

B

efore John James Audubon penned The Birds of America and became one of, if not the, most famed ornithologist, wildlife artist and scientist in the world, he was a storekeeper in Kentucky.

In 1808, Audubon was a recently married 23-year-old when he began his retail career in Louisville. But at the behest of his then-business partner, Ferdinand Rozier, the pair soon moved their dry goods store down the Ohio River to the frontier town of Henderson. Audubon reluctantly agreed to the move.

For reasons that are unclear, the partnership dissolved after a few years. For a while, Audubon apparently prospered in dry goods and might have a made a career in retail, but he spent a considerable amount of his time tramping about the Kentucky woods and waters hunting, painting and drawing birds and other wildlife. It’s impossible to know if the idea for The Birds of America had already seeded, but Audubon’s scientific and artistic bent had absolutely taken hold.

Audubon was born in 1785 in what is today Haiti, the illegitimate son of Jean Audubon, a French sea captain and plantation owner, and his 27-year-old mistress and French chambermaid, Jeanne Rabine, who died a few months after the boy was born.

Father and son returned to France when Audubon was 6, where the youngster fell under the care of his protective and doting stepmother, Anne Moynet Audubon. She and Jean Audubon formally adopted the child to stabilize his legal status and renamed him Jean-Jacques, which later was anglicized as John James.

Much of Audubon’s childhood was spent roaming the French countryside, hunting, drawing and painting—a pattern that eventually would prove fruitful.

Audubon, who would go on to produce the seminal book on American birds, didn’t arrive in the United States until 1803. Political rumblings in Europe and concern that his son would be conscripted into Napoleon’s army prompted Jean Audubon to send the then-18-year-old to Pennsylvania to oversee and manage Mill Grove, a 284-acre estate Jean Audubon owned about 20 miles from Philadelphia.

Audubon continued his habit of roaming the countryside, sharpening his natural eye, hunting, drawing and painting.

He soon met Lucy Blackwell, whose well-to-do family owned the adjoining property. They married in 1808, and the young newlyweds soon departed for Kentucky, first to Louisville, then Henderson, followed by a brief return to Louisville.

Kentucky wasn’t particularly kind to the Audubons.

They had two sons. A daughter, Lucy, died in 1817 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Henderson. They apparently moved in comfortable social circles, as much as could be found in the roughshod, muddy frontier river

52

K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

town of Henderson, and enjoyed some financial success early in their tenure. But they later endured crushing financial hardship. Audubon and others invested in a steam-powered gristmill, cutting-edge technology at the time. For various reasons, the investment ended in bankruptcy for Audubon. Penniless and with few options, he was briefly jailed for debt. But before leaving Henderson, the 34-year-old married father of two had gathered much of the core materials—including numerous sketches, drawings, paintings and notes—for The Birds of America, which would become the major ornithological work of the 19th century.

Thanks to Audubon’s determined focus on his art and scientific work and the unwavering support of his resourceful wife, the turnaround was surprisingly swift. Little more than a decade after the gristmill financial disaster, Audubon would be dining at the White House as the guest of President Andrew Jackson.

All this information and more can be found at the John James Audubon State Park, which is located just south of the Ohio River off U.S. Hwy. 42 in Henderson.

“Audubon lived in Henderson for nearly 10 years,” said Lisa Hoffman, parks program services supervisor for the park. “He had some struggles while here. But some successes, too.”

• • •

The state park honors Audubon not only in name but also with its architecture. The museum, nature center and park offices are housed in a couple of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) 1930s-era buildings with English and French architectural overtones that reflect Audubon’s European heritage.

The park’s Audubon Museum also houses a large collection of the ornithologist’s works along with numerous period artifacts.

The park recently nearly doubled in size. A 649-acre wetlands just north of the park’s main section is expected to open soon.

Interest in the wetlands tract, which will include hiking trails and walkways, has been high, said Hoffman.

The park’s main 724-acre block includes 6 miles of trails, a 28-acre fishing and boating lake, seasonal campground, cabins, golf course, tennis court, park offices, nature center and the Museum. About half of the area is managed as a nature preserve.

It’s worth a visit. For more information, go to parks.ky. gov/parks/recreationparks/john-james/ or contact the park office at (270) 826-5939.

Readers may contact Gary Garth at outdoors@kentuckymonthly.com

OUTDOORS

Gardening

Indoor Seed Sowing

BY WALT REICHERT

M

any gardening publications go on and on about how much money you can save if you start your own plants from seed versus buying them ready-

to-plant.

I’m not so sure about that. By the time you buy the seeds, the soil mix, the containers, the lights, etc., your homegrown transplants aren’t exactly cheap. But starting plants indoors from seed gives you way more choices in what you grow and is just plain satisfying. It’s challenging to get plants you start from seed to look like those that come from a greenhouse, but it’s doable. And with a few years’ experience, growing durable, ready-for-the garden transplants becomes routine.

First is timing. If you start transplants too soon, they’ll outgrow their containers, get long and leggy, and be poor performers in the garden.

Most seed packets will provide info on how long the seeds take to germinate and be ready for transplanting in the garden. You need to determine the earliest planting date and then count backward to get the best time to start seeds. For example, coolseason vegetables and flowers—like broccoli, cauliflower and pansies—can go outside in late March/early April, so they can be started early this month. The warm-season vegetables and flowers—such as tomatoes, peppers and petunias—that take a while to germinate and grow can be started mid- to late-March for early- to midMay planting. Warm-season flowers and vegetables that germinate and grow quickly—like melons, cucumbers, marigolds and zinnias—can wait till mid-April.

Next, think about the germination mix and the containers.

Don’t use garden dirt for seed starting; you’re doomed to failure. Buy a sterile, light, soilless mix that contains vermiculite, perlite or other ingredients that improve drainage.

Containers should be at least 2 to 3 inches deep and have a hole for drainage. You can buy the black plastic trays, or Styrofoam cups work well if you poke a hole in the bottom.

Step three is to fill the container to within a half-inch of the rim with potting mix and moisten—I use a spray bottle. Then put a seed (or two, for insurance) on the surface of the soil, spray again with warm water, and fill the container to the top.

Keep Them Warm After the seed is sown in each container and the medium well-moistened, cover with a clear cling plastic wrap to hold in moisture. For most seeds, the best temperature for germination is about 70 degrees, so if the house isn’t that warm, you can put the containers near a heat source, such as the top of the water heater or refrigerator. Some seeds, such as melons and cucumbers, germinate best if it’s much

warmer than 70. You can buy soil heating cables and mats or use a heating pad underneath the flat for extra warmth.

Once the seeds germinate, you can remove the source of heat. In fact, transplants will grow more sturdy if the room is a little cooler than 70 as the plants develop.

Once the first seedlings start to pop through the medium, remove the plastic wrap, and get the babies in the light.

This is where most folks fail at starting transplants: They don’t give the developing plants enough light, so they grow long and spindly and never get sturdy enough to make good garden transplants.

Most windows don’t get enough sunlight for growing transplants unless you have a room with windows on three sides. Also, windows are going to “cook” the seedlings in the afternoon and freeze them at night. It’s best to use fluorescent lighting that you can control, and bathe your babies in light 12 to 14 hours a day.

Research has shown that those expensive grow lights aren’t any more effective than ordinary fluorescent bulbs. You can buy a plant stand, or do as I do and put the plants under a shop light supported on each side with a brick. You want the light to be about an inch or so above the plants. As they grow, simply add a block of wood or another brick to the side to raise the height of the shop light.

As the plants grow, keep the soil medium well moistened.

You can add a light feeding of fertilizer as you water, but don’t overdo it. Too much fertilizer does more harm than too little. Seedlings will show their need for fertilizer by turning a lighter green, sometimes yellow, while the veins of the leaves remain green. But be careful; plants turning yellow also can be a sign of overwatering. Make sure the medium stays moist but not soggy.

Your last task is to harden off the transplants. Sticking transplants out in the direct sun and weather after they have lived the life of Riley in the house is cruel, and they’ll let you know it by underperforming. About a week before the plants are ready to go in the garden, start putting them outside a few hours at a time. A shady place out of the wind is a good place to start. Leave them outside the first day no more than about an hour and increase the time outdoors by an hour each day after that. By the end of the week, the plants will be able to endure the rigors of the outdoors.

While the transplants I grow myself are rarely as pretty as the ones I can buy, I have found they produce flowers and vegetables just as well as store-bought. This spring, give it a try!

Readers can reach Walt Reichert at gardening@kentuckymonthly.com

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

53

VOICES

Past Tense/Present Tense

Another Good Read

BY BILL ELLIS

T

he University Press of Kentucky produces dozens of books a year. Founded nearly 70 years ago, it is a Kentucky treasure and the envy of many larger states.

Leila Salisbury has recently returned to Lexington as director of UPK after several years directing the University Press of Mississippi. “The Press is so fortunate in our formal association with all of the state’s public universities and several of the private institutions, as well as the Kentucky Historical Society and the Filson Club Historical Society,” she said in an interview. “One of the best things about my work is the constant opportunity for connecting people, programs and resources. We enjoy such a rich and fascinating history and culture in Kentucky, and it’s deeply meaningful for the Press to be able to work with a wide and diverse set of partners to tell the state’s story.”

I have been fortunate to have UPK publish three of my books, with Irvin S. Cobb: The Rise and Fall of an American Humorist to be released this fall.

If you are interested in high school sports, race relations, Kentucky history generally, and the ebb and flow of our lives, be on the lookout for a new UPK book due out this month. Integrated: The Lincoln Institute, Basketball, and a Vanished Tradition is available in paperback, PDF and as an e-book.

The author is James W. Miller, who played tackle for me when I coached football at Shelby County High School from 1963-65. Jim went on to a career as a newspaper reporter before serving 21 years as an administrator in the National Football League. He retired as athletics director at the University of New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He now has an informative sports blog.

Segregation has been a blight on Kentucky history and haunts us to the present day. As other historians and I have mentioned, Kentucky joined the South after the Civil War. Our politics, racial relations and economy mirrored that of the old Confederacy for many years. Lynching and other atrocities were committed against African Americans and rarely punished. Some communities even denied blacks the right to live in them. Only a few bright spots kept Kentucky from worse conditions. For example, the Kentucky General Assembly never passed a law that prevented African Americans from voting. However, the extent of black participation in politics varied from place to place.

I have told the story elsewhere of how my first team at Harrodsburg High School in 1962 was treated poorly in a scrimmage in a small town in the mountains. The opposing team not only wore game uniforms, they had cheerleaders, while my players had dirty practice uniforms. My opposing head coach apparently was trying to excite the players and school by scoring a victory before the season even started.

His all-white team faced my Pioneers, made up of about one-quarter African Americans.

I called off the scrimmage when the opposing head coach and one of my co-captains nearly got into a fight. We were refused service at a well-known restaurant in an adjoining county seat because of the black kids. I was furious. A 54

K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

• MARCH 2017

Jerry’s Restaurant welcomed us all, black and white, and we had a quiet meal on a hot August evening. I was always grateful to that company for facing up to the realities of a changing time.

Once outside, a couple of local young white men with racist bravado, their courage bolstered by liquor, tried to block our way to the bus. My assistant coach, E.G. Plummer, a UK grad who had won the SEC 880-yard championship in 1959, and I backed the young men against a wall, and our team got on the bus for the long ride home.

It was an eye-opener for a 22-year-old head football coach who had grown up in a rigidly segregated society. I have often said I was so wet behind the ears that year, my shirt was always soaked.

I grew up a lot that night. Harrodsburg teacher and former head basketball coach Aggie Sale, an All-American whom Adolph Rupp called one of his best, and Principal Roy Camic, a tough U.S. Army veteran of four years in the Pacific Theater, were wonderful mentors that year.

It is easy now to forget segregation and the turmoil that attended the aftermath of the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. Miller’s book brings it all back by focusing on Shelby County’s Lincoln Institute and the dilemma faced by a successful black institution as it adjusted to the inevitability of desegregation.

The Lincoln Institute became a statesupported school after passage of the Day Law in 1904, segregating public and private schools. Lincoln was one of the best high schools in the state, with a proud tradition and well-trained staff.

In 1960, Lincoln won the Region 8 basketball tournament in spite of its gymnasium burning down early in the school year. Like now, any time a small school made its way into the state basketball tournament is a tribute to great effort.

How and why this vital black institution fared as desegregation slowly made its way to Shelby County is fascinating.

This book is special to me because of my long relationship with Jim Miller, but also because he interviewed another mentor of mine, Arnold Thurman. As a head basketball coach at Bagdad High School in the 1950s, Thurman persuaded other local white schools to play Lincoln when there was reluctance to break the old system.

What happened when the Lincoln Institute as well as other all-black elementary and high schools closed and black students were integrated into formerly all-white schools is a fascinating and important story.

“Historians and authors are still only in the middle of the discovery and analysis of our nation’s complex and sometimes painful experiences surrounding race. Miller’s book does a fine job of showing not only what was gained but also what was lost as institutions—in this case black Kentucky high school basketball programs—began to desegregate,” explained Salisbury.

Readers may contact Bill Ellis at historian@kentuckymonthly.com

TRAVEL

KTIA Signature Spring Events ach quarter, the Kentucky Travel Industry Association spotlights E Signature Events for the season.

Following is a sample of the state’s prime activities for the spring season.

Kentucky Derby Festival, March-Derby Day, various locations in Louisville, kdf.org.

What started in 1956 with a parade has become a whirlwind of more than 70 special events. This celebration has become part of the fabric of the community and features a diverse lineup of events and activities. A complete listing of the events will appear in the April issue of Kentucky Monthly.

Copper & Kings Cured & Crafted!

April 9, Copper & Kings Distillery, Louisville, copperandkings.com. Visitors delight in a market featuring “uncommon goods” from local artisans, plus cuisine from Louisville restaurants in the Copper & Kings courtyard.

Cherry Blossom Festival, April 15, courthouse lawn, Franklin, (270) 586-8055, galleryonthesquare.org. The festival takes its name from the cherry trees surrounding the courthouse. Visitors enjoy a juried art show with 30 artists and craftsmen giving demonstrations and selling their art, including woodworkers, jewelers, potters, photographers and tin workers.

Live music is offered, along with art activities for the kids, and Kentucky Crafted items are available at Gallery on the Square.

Hillbilly Days Festival, April 20-22, downtown Pikeville, (606) 432-5063. Vendors line the streets of Pikeville with traditional mountain food at this event to raise money to benefit Shriners’ Children’s Hospital and Burn Centers.

The first floor of the parking garage is packed with artisans and crafters displaying handmade products, and mountain music played in the gazebo fills the air. Bluegrass and country music performers, clogging, flat footing and square dancing are all part of the fun.

Spring AQS QuiltWeek, April 26-29, Paducah McCracken County Convention & Expo Center, (270) 898-7903, quiltweek.com. In addition to exhibits of exquisite quilts, AQS hosts special events, a vendor mall and a series of classes and lectures.

Events throughout the city include the Rotary Antique Quilt Show, Fantastic Fibers and African-American quilts at the Hotel Metropolitan.

Explore

Spring Fling – Artists & Crafters on Main Street, May 6, Cadiz, (270) 498-9890.

With more than 80 vendors this year, the event includes one-a-kind artists and crafters, and a kids’ area with slides and games, plus a variety of festival food.

BloomFest, May 20, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Clermont, (502) 955-8512, bernheim.org. This event features children’s activities, including arts, crafts, garden faerie house construction and naturalistled discovery stations. It also includes local artisans, food vendors and live music, plus the annual spring plant sale, with plants propagated from Bernheim’s own collections, along with a selection of other trees, shrubs, grasses, perennial plants and annuals.

Blue Heron Decoration Day, May 20, Blue Heron Outdoor Museum, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, McCreary County, (606) 376-3787, nps. gov/biso. Park visitors and families who once lived and worked in the Stearns coal mining communities join together for an afternoon of food, music and fellowship.

There are free guided tours and programs on the history of local coal mining.

Glendale SpringFest, May 20, Glendale, (270) 369-6188, glendalekentucky. com. Each spring, this town is transformed into a mecca of crafts, antiques, gifts and food. The event features live music in the park as well as a selection of food vendors.

Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, May 27-28, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg, 1-800-734-5611, shakervillageky.org. Spend the weekend with world-acclaimed musicians from New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for remarkable performances in the Meeting House and the Meadow View Barn.

Performers are drawn from a sensational intergenerational roster of the world’s leading chamber music players.

More KTIA Signature Spring Events can be found on our website, kentuckymonthly.com.

The Kentucky Travel Industry Association names its Signature Events four times a year. To be eligible, festivals or events must be recommended or produced by a KTIA member. A panel of impartial judges selects the winners for each season.

For more information, phone (502) 223-8687, email info@ktia.com or visit KTIA.com.

Illustration by Annette Cable.

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

55

CALENDAR

Let’s Go

7

March SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Ongoing Owensboro Art Guild Juried Exhibition, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, through April 14, (270) 993-3671

2.

3.

9.

10.

11.

16.

17.

18.

7.

8.

13.

14.

15.

1

Odd Squad Live! Norton Center for the Arts, Danville, (859) 236-4692

19.

20.

0

Experience Hendrix, The Louisville Palace, Louisville, (502) 583-4555

St. Patrick’s Day

21.

22.

23.

24.

30.

31.

Ongoing Beauty and the Face Value: Beast, Paramount Photographs Arts Center,

by Doris Ashland, through Ulmann and April 1, (606) 324-0007 Andy Warhol, UK Art Museum, Lexington, (859) 257-5716

Riverdance, EKU Center for the Arts, Richmond, also March 22, (859) 622-7469



2

What’s Going Wynonna and Jeremy Hicks On: The The Big Noise, Music Festival, Marvin Gaye Historic State The Center Experience, The Theater, for Rural Grand Theatre, Elizabethtown, Development, Frankfort, (270) 765-2175 Somerset, (502) 352-7469 (606) 677-6000

Rockin’ Road Mary Poppins, to Dublin, Jewish Community Lexington Opera Center, Louisville, House, Lexington, through April 1, (859) 233-3535 (502) 459-0660

Michael W. Smith The Revolution Tour, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007

K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

4.

The Illusionist Craig Karges, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007

Artrageous, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007

26.

56

SATURDAY

1.

6.

Shorts & Peter and the Bridal and Stouts Book Starcatcher, Prom Show, Discussion, Jenny Wiley Rough River Dam Dry Ground Theatre – Pikeville State Resort Park, Mainstage, Falls Of Rough, Brewing Company, Paducah, (606) 886-9274 (270) 257-2311 (270) 442-2510

12.

FRIDAY

Flora, Fauna Charlie Chaplin Bourbon and Forestry film – The Kid, Classic, The Fun, Carnegie Visual Kentucky Center Old Mulkey and Performing for the Arts, Meetinghouse State Arts Center, Louisville, through Historic Site, Covington, March 4, Tompkinsville, (859) 957-1940 (502) 584-7777 (270) 487-8481



5.

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

Our April issue will feature a comprehensive 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival Official Schedule of Events.

25.

One Night Casting Appalachian of Queen, Crowns Heritage Wild RiverPark Center, Concert, East Game Feast, Owensboro, Kentucky Expo Natural Bridge (270) 687-2770 Center, Pikeville, State Resort Park, (606) 444-5500 Hemlock Lodge, Slade, (606) 663-2214

Taste of Bowling Green, Sloan Convention Center, Bowling Green, (270) 793-1022

Our state’s largest single annual event, the Kentucky Derby Festival, kicks off this month! March Festival happenings are denoted with a Pegasus icon.

Atlanta Pops with Chloe Agnew and Dermot Kiernan, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007

More to explore online!

Visit kentuckymonthly. com for additional content, including a calendar of events, feature stories and recipes.

Let’s Go!

A guide to Kentucky’s most interesting events Bluegrass Region

March Ongoing Face Value: Photographs by Doris Ulmann and Andy Warhol, UK Art Museum, Lexington, through April 23, (859) 257-5716, finearts.uky.edu/art-museum Frankfort’s Fishing Reels: Jewels of the Bluegrass, Capital City Museum, Frankfort, through Nov. 10, (502) 696-0607, capitalcitymuseum.com Daydreaming in an Open Land Art Exhibit, Doris Ulmann Galleries, Berea, through March 31, dulmanngalleries.berea.edu March

1 The Grapes of Wrath, The Grand Theatre, Frankfort, (502) 352-7469, grandtheatrefrankfort.org 1 The Ugly Duckling, Lancaster Grand Theatre, Landcaster, (859) 583-1716, lancastergrand.com 1-4 Spring Awakening Exhibit, Arts Council of Mercer County, Harrodsburg, (859) 613-0790, artscouncilofmercer.com 1-29 The Places We Live, Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, transy.edu 3-5 Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, The Spotlight Playhouse, Berea, also March 10-12, (859) 756-0011, thespotlightplayhouse.com 3-5 A Year with Frog and Toad Kids, The Spotlight Theatre at Richmond Mall, Richmond, also March 10-12, (859) 756-0011, thespotlightplayhouse.com 3-6 Blue Grass Trust Antiques and Garden Show, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, bgtantiquesandgardenshow.org 7 Tea Tuesdays, Waveland State Historic Site, Lexington, also March 21 and 28, (859) 272-3611, parks.ky.gov 9 What’s Going On: The Marvin Gaye Experience, The Grand Theatre, Frankfort,

(502) 352-7469, grandtheatrefrankfort.org

9-12 The Gingerbread Lady, presented

by Studio Players, Carriage House Theatre, Lexington, also March 17-19 and 24-26, studioplayers.org 10 The Other Mozart, Norton Center for the Arts, Danville, (859) 236-4692, nortoncenter.com 10-12 Lexington Comic and Toy Convention, Lexington Center, Lexington, lexingtoncomiccon.com 11 La Traviata, The Grand Theatre, Frankfort, (502) 352-7469, grandtheatrefrankfort.org 11 St. Patrick’s Parade, downtown Lexington, lexingtonstpatsparade.org 12 Odd Squad Live! Norton Center for the Arts, Danville, (859) 236-4692, nortoncenter.com 12 Decades Rewind: A Tribute to an Era, Lexington Opera House, Lexington, (859) 233-3535, lexingtonoperahouse.com 14 Evening Tea Tuesday, Waveland State Historic Site, Lexington, (859) 272-3611, parks.ky.gov 15 Rockin’ Road to Dublin, Lexington Opera House, Lexington, (859) 233-3535, lexingtonoperahouse.com 16 NPR’s From the Top, Norton Center for the Arts, Danville, (859) 236-4692, nortoncenter.com 17 The LexArts Gallery Hop, various Lexington venues, lexarts.org 17-19 Barefoot in the Park, Lexington Opera House, Lexington, (859) 233-4567, lexingtonoperahouse.com 17-19 St. Patrick’s Weekend, Fort Boonesborough State Park, Richmond, (859) 527-3454, parks.ky.gov 21-22 Riverdance, EKU Center for the Arts, Richmond, (859) 622-7469, eku.edu

25 Wine Barrel Tasting, McConnell Springs, Lexington, (859) 272-0682, mcconnellsprings.org 25 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Idomeneo, The Grand Theatre, Frankfort, (502) 352-7469, grandtheatrefrankfort.org 25-26 Rock, Gem & Jewelry Show, Clarion Hotel, Lexington, bggamc.homestead.com 31 The Little Mermaid, presented by the Bluegrass Youth Ballet, Lexington Opera House, Lexington, (859) 233-3535, lexingtonoperahouse.com 31 Central Kentucky Home & Garden Show, Lexington Center, Lexington, through April 2, showtechnology.com April

1 Cruiz on Main, South Main Street, Harrodsburg, also April 8 and April 15, harrodsburgky.com 1-2 The Lion King Jr., The Spotlight Theatre at Richmond Mall, Richmond, (859) 756-0011, thespotlightplayhouse.com 2 Vintage Baseball Game, Waveland State Historic Site, Lexington, (859) 272-3611, parks.ky.gov 4 Tea Tuesdays, Waveland State Historic Site, Lexington, (859) 272-3611, parks.ky.gov 7-28 Keeneland April Race Meet, Keeneland Race Course, Lexington, (859) 254-3412, keeneland.com 7-9 Egg-Citing Easter Fest, Fort Boonesborough State Park, Richmond, (859) 527-3131, parks.ky.gov 8 Pick Up the Park, Old Fort Harrod State Park, Harrodsburg, (859) 734-3314, parks.ky.gov 8 Easter Egg Hunt, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, 1-800-654-8471, buffalotrace.com

24 Seussical, Lancaster Grand Theatre, Landcaster, (859) 583-1716, lancastergrand.com

11 Evening Tea Tuesday, Waveland State Historic Site, Lexington, (859) 272-3611, parks.ky.gov

24-31 The Lion King Jr., The Spotlight Theatre at Richmond Mall, Richmond, (859) 756-0011, thespotlightplayhouse.com

12 Tribute to Kentucky, Ragged Edge Community Theatre, Harrodsburg, (859) 734-2389, larryandborderline.com

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

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CALENDAR

Let’s Go 13 Johnny Peers & The Muttville Comix, The Grand Theatre, Frankfort, (502) 352-7469, grandtheatrefrankfort.org 15 Community Easter Egg and Candy Hunt, Harrodsburg, parks.ky.gov 15 Cinderella, Lexington Opera House, Lexington, (859) 233-4567, lexingtonballet.org 15 Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly, Lexington Childrens Theatre, Lexington, (859) 254-4546, lctonstage.org 15 Ben Sollee in Concert, Leeds Center for the Arts, Winchester, (859) 744-6437, leedscenter.org

Louisville Region

March Ongoing Painting in the Digital Era, Cressman Center, University of Louisville, Louisville, through April 2, louisville.edu How High the Water Was: The Flood of ’37, Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville, Louisville, through June 1, (502) 852-6757, louisville.edu Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre, Louisville, through April 8, (502) 584-1205, actorstheatre.org March

1-24 100 Great Courier-Journal Photographs, Frazier History Museum, Louisville, (502) 753-5663, fraziermuseum.org 3-4 Bourbon Classic, The Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville, (502) 584-7777, bourbonclassic.com 3-4 In the Rest Room at Rosenblooms, Shelby County Community Theatre, Shelbyville, (502) 633-0222, shelbytheatre.org 5 Bridal and Prom Show, Rough River Dam State Resort Park, Falls Of Rough, (270) 257-2311, parks.ky.gov 9-11 The Nance, Henry Clay Theatre, Louisville, also March 16-18, (502) 216-5502, PandoraProds.org 10 2nd Friday Bluegrass Jam, Rough River Dam State Resort Park, Falls Of Rough, (270) 257-2311, parks.ky.gov 10 Wynonna and The Big Noise, Historic

58

K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

State Theater, Elizabethtown, (270) 765-2175, historicstatetheater.org

10 Festival of Laughs, KFC YUM! Center, Louisville, 1-800-745-3000, kfcyumcenter.com 11 Ford Motor Company Kentucky Derby Festival Spelling Bee, Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville, discover.kdf.org/spelling-bee 11 Second Saturday, downtown Elizabethtown, (270) 765-2175, touretown.com 11 Irish Classic 10K, E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, Louisville, (502) 429-7270, parks.ky.gov 14 The Illusionists – Live From Broadway, The Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville, (502) 584-7777, kentuckycenter.org 15-31 Meadow’s in the Bloom Easter Traditions, My Old Kentucky Home State Park, Bardstown, through April 16, (502) 348-3502, visitmyoldkyhome.com 16-31 Mary Poppins, Jewish Community Center, Louisville, through April 1, (502) 459-0660, CenterStageJCC.org 17 Julius Caesar, Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center, Elizabethtown, (270) 765-2175, thepac.net 17 Norah Jones in Concert, The Louisville Palace, Louisville, (502) 583-4555, LouisvillePalace.com

7-9 Crimes of the Heart, Historic State Theater, presented by Hardin County Playhouse, Elizabethtown, also April 13-16, (270) 351-0577, hardincountyplayhouse.com 8 Goose Creek 5K, E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, Louisville, (502) 429-3280, parks.ky.gov

BOWLING

GREEN KENTUCKY

®

Geared for fun!

8 Second Saturday, downtown Elizabethtown, touretown.com 8-9 Historic 50th Annual Bardstown Antiques Show, Nelson County Senior High School, Bardstown, visitbardstown.com 10-30 Spring Tennis Leagues, E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, Louisville, through June 3, (502) 429-3280, parks.ky.gov 14 2nd Friday Bluegrass Jam, Rough River Dam State Resort Park, Falls Of Rough, (270) 257-2311, parks.ky.gov 15 Easter Eggspress, Kentucky Railway Museum, New Haven, 1-800-272-0152, kyrail.org 15 Easter Eggstravaganza, Rough River Dam State Resort Park, Falls Of Rough, (270) 257-2311, parks.ky.gov 15 James and the Giant Peach, The Kentucky Center for the Arts, Louisville, (502) 584-7777, kentuckycenter.org

Northern Region

18 Celtic Voices, Beargrass Christian Church, Louisville, (502) 968-6300, LouisvilleChorus.org 18 Buffalo and Wild Game Night, Rough River Dam State Resort Park, Falls Of Rough, (270) 257-2311, parks.ky.gov 19 Experience Hendrix, The Louisville Palace, Louisville, (502) 583-4555, LouisvillePalace.com 24 Rodney Carrington, The Louisville Palace, Louisville, (502) 583-4555, LouisvillePalace.com 31 Bluegrass Festival, Rough River Dam State Resort Park, Falls Of Rough, through April 1, (270) 257-2311, parks.ky.gov April

4-27 Spring Archery Leagues, E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park, Louisville, (502) 429-3280, parks.ky.gov 7-9 The Elephant Man, Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center, Elizabethtown, thepac.net

March

2 Charlie Chaplin film – The Kid, Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Covington, (859) 957-1940, thecarnegie.com 3 Rockin’ Fridays, Turfway Park Race Course, Florence, also March 10, 17 and 31, (859) 371-0200, turfway.com 3-31 Lineillism Revealed, BehringerCrawford Museum, Covington, through April 8, (859) 491-4003, bcmuseum.org 4 Kickin’ Country Saturdays, Turfway Park Race Course, Florence, also March 11 and 18, (859) 371-0200, turfway.com 4 The Magic Flute, Kenton County Public Library, Covington, kcpl.org 10-31 The Nothing That Is, Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Covington, through April 4, (859) 957-1940, thecarnegie.com 16 Race in America: Then and Now, M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY

59

CALENDAR

Let’s Go

Barbecue, Bourbon & Bluegrass Owensboro, Kentucky

Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, nku.edu

21 Kentucky Gathers Dulcimer Group, General Butler State Resort Park, lodge mezzanine, Carrollton, (502) 732-4384, parks.ky.gov 31 NKU Presents Dance ’17, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, through April 2, nku.edu April

1 Eastern Mining Collectors Association Spring Meet and Show, Carter Caves State Resort Park, Olive Hill, (606) 286-4411, parks.ky.gov 1 Kickin’ Country Saturdays, Turfway Park Race Course, Florence, (859) 371-0200, turfway.com 7-8 Disenchanted, Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Covington, (859) 957-1940, thecarnegie.com 8 Amadeus, Live! presented by the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Greaves Concert Hall, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, (859) 431-6216, kyso.org 15 Easter Egg Hunt, Jane’s Saddlebag, Union, (859) 384-6617, janessaddlebag.com

oztylerdistillery.com

Western Region 2016 DECEMBER 017 JANUARY 2

INSIDE A STORIED HOME

PLUS

March Ongoing Owensboro Art Guild 55th Juried Exhibition, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, through April 14, (270) 993-3671, owensboroartguild.org March Madness Exhibit, John James Audubon State Park, Henderson, through April 9, (270) 826-2247, parks.ky.gov

Display until 2/14/2017

17 Activities for 2017 MacPhail Antler Artist Dan ning Faux Furs Donna Salyers’ Stun

thly.com

www.kentuckymon

March

VIEW OUR CURRENT ISSUE FREE AT

KENTUCKYMONTHLY.COM

3 Shaolin Warriors, Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, Madisonville, (270) 824-8650, glemacenter.org 4 First Day Hike: Monthly Hiking Series, Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park, Dawson Springs, (270) 797-3421, parks.ky.gov 4 Sandi Patty Farwell Tour, Carson Center, Paducah, (270) 908-2037, thecarsoncenter.org 4 Blue Eyed Bettys, Glema Mahr Center for

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

the Arts, Madisonville, (270) 824-8650, glemacenter.org

for the Arts, Madisonville, (270) 824-8650, glemacenter.org

5 Artrageous, Clemens Fine Arts Center, Paducah, artsinfocus.org

14-15 Baby: The Musical, Theatre Workshop of Owensboro, Owensboro, theatreworkshop.org

6 Shorts & Stouts Book Discussion, Dry Ground Brewing Company, Paducah, (270) 442-2510, mclib.net

Southern Region

9-12 Scrapbooking Weekend, Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park, Dawson Springs, (270) 797-3421, parks.ky.gov 10-12 Kentucky Bunco Bash, Holiday Inn, Hopkinsville, kentuckybuncobash.com 11 Saturday Night Fever, RiverPark Center, Owensboro, (270) 687-2770, riverparkcenter.org 11 2nd Saturday Hike – Birds of Barkley, Lake Barkley State Resort Park, Cadiz, (270) 924-1431, parks.ky.gov 17 Traditional Irish Music, McCracken County Public Library, Paducah, (270) 442-2510, mclib.net 17-18 Hopkinsville International Festival, Bruce Convention Center, Hopkinsville, (270) 887-4000, hopkinsvilleky.us 17-18 Disney’s Little Mermaid, Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, Madisonville, (270) 824-8650, glemacenter.org 18 In Concert featuring The Jungle Book, presented by the Owensboro Dance Theatre, RiverPark Center, Owensboro, (270) 687-2770, riverparkcenter.org 21 Cinderella, presented by The Russian National Ballet, Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, Madisonville, (270) 824-8650, glemacenter.org 23 One Night of Queen, RiverPark Center, Owensboro, (270) 687-2770, riverparkcenter.org 23 Riverdance, Carson Center, Paducah, (270) 908-2037, thecarsoncenter.org 25 An Evening with BJ Thomas, Carson Center, Paducah, (270) 908-2037, thecarsoncenter.org April

1 First Day Hike: Monthly Hiking Series, Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park, Dawson Springs, (270) 797-3421, parks.ky.gov 3-23 Dogwood Trail Celebration, historic downtown Paducah, paducah.travel 10 Olympus Piano Trio, Glema Mahr Center

March Ongoing Standing the Test of Time: Kentucky’s White Oak Basket Tradition, Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, through April 8, wku.edu/kentuckymuseum March

1 Flora, Fauna and Forestry Fun, Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site, Tompkinsville, (270) 487-8481, parks.ky.gov 3 Burlesque to Broadway, Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Bowling Green, (270) 904-1880, theskypac.com 3-5 Around the World in 80 Days, Stoner Little Theatre, Somerset Community College, Somerset, (859) 322-2739, flashbacktheater.co 11 Jeremy Hicks Music Festival, The Center for Rural Development, Somerset, (606) 677-6000, centertech.com 11 Fly Fishing – Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery, Jamestown, fws.gov/wolfcreek

N OW I N T RO D U C I N G O U R

S pring Menu 9 Visit Boone Tavern and try our new Spring Menu featuring new dishes and classic favorites. Try our Bourbon Pork Chop with braised greens and jalapeno corn cake or savory slow cooked Southern Pulled Lamb.

Savor Kentucky Bourbons, draft beers and exquisite wines.

Make your reservation Today

11 Sgt. Pepper’s 50th Anniversary, Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Bowling Green, (270) 904-1880, theskypac.com 16 Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, The Center for Rural Development, Somerset, (606) 677-6000, centertech.com 17 Sounds of Independence: Dwight Yoakam, Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Bowling Green, (270) 904-1880, theskypac.com 30 Taste of Bowling Green, Sloan Convention Center, Bowling Green, (270) 793-1022, tasteofbowlinggreen.com April

8 Rockabilly Revival: A Tribute to the Legends of Sun Records, Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Bowling Green, (270) 904-1880, theskypac.com

Reservations 859-985-3700 boonetavernhotel.com 100 Main Street N. | Berea, KY 40404

CALENDAR

Let’s Go

11 Pippin, Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Bowling Green, (270) 904-1880, theskypac.com 21-22 ChallengerFest, Beech Bend Raceway, Bowling Green, challengerfest.net

Eastern Region

Corbin, (606) 528-4121, parks.ky.gov

18 Atlanta Pops with Chloe Agnew and Dermot Kiernan, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007, paramountartscenter.com 18 Rowan County Regional Quilt Show, Morehead Conference Center, Morehead, moreheadchamber.com 18 Natural Bridge Trail Trek Series, Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Slade, (606) 663-2214, parks.ky.gov

March

4 Bobby Maynard & Breakdown, Blue Ribbon Fox Hunters Lodge, Catlettsburg, 1-800-377-6249, visitashlandky.com 4 The Illusionist Craig Karges, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007, paramountartscenter.com 4 Frontier Night Buffet, Pine Mountain State Resort Park Mountain View Restaraunt, Pineville, (606) 337-3066, parks.ky.gov

24 Casting Crowns Concert, East Kentucky Expo Center, Pikeville, (606) 444-5500, eastkyexpo.com 25 Appalachian Heritage Wild Game Feast, Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Hemlock Lodge, Slade, (606) 663-2214, parks.ky.gov 25-26 Backpacking Workshop and Overnight Trip, Carter Caves State Resort Park, Olive Hill, (606) 286-4411, parks.ky.gov

4 Murder Mystery Dinner – The Innspectre, Wilkinson Stumbo Convention Center, Prestonsburg, (606) 889-1790, parks.ky.gov

26 Michael W. Smith The Revolution Tour w/Love and The Outcome and Nathan Tasker, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007, paramountartscenter.com

4 Winter Sunrise Elk Watch, Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park, Buckhorn, also March 11, 18 and 25, (606) 398-7510, parks.ky.gov

31 Beauty and the Beast, presented by the Paramount Players, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, through April 1, (606) 324-0007, paramountartscenter.com

4 Elk Viewing Tour, Jenny Wiley State Resort Park, Prestonsburg, also March 11, (606) 889-1790, parks.ky.gov 4-5 Campout at the Fire Tower, Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, Corbin, (606) 528-4121, parks.ky.gov 7 Peter and the Starcatcher, Jenny Wiley Theatre – Pikeville Mainstage, (606) 886-9274, jwtheatre.com 14 Artrageous, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007, paramountartscenter.com 17 A Taste of Ireland, Pine Mountain State Resort Park Mountain View Restaraunt, Pineville, (606) 337-3066, parks.ky.gov 17-18 Storytelling Weekend, Cumberland Falls State Resort Park,

April

7 Tim Hawkins, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007, paramountartscenter.com 7 John Berry Concert, Mountain Arts Center, Prestonsburg, (606) 886-2623, macarts.com 13 Presley, Perkins, Lewis & Cash, Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, (606) 324-0007, paramountartscenter.com 14-15 The Robber Bridegroom, Jenny Wiley Theatre – Pikeville Mainstage, Pikeville, (606) 886-9274, jwtheatre.com 15-16 Easter Weekend Getaway, Carter Caves State Resort Park, Olive Hill, (606) 286-4411, parks.ky.gov

For additional Calendar items or to submit an event, please visit kentuckymonthly.com. Submissions must be sent at least 90 days prior to the event.

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

Colonial Cottage Restaurant 3140 Dixie Highway, Erlanger 859-341-4498 thecottagenky.com

MARKETPLACE

...about Kentucky and Kentuckians.

Kentucky Monthly magazine delivers an image of our complex Commonwealth as we find it today, free of outdated stereotypes and limitations. Visually exciting and conversationally driven, it highlights the people, places and events that make the Bluegrass State such a wonderful place to visit or call home.

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12/16/15 8:07 AM

VOICES

Vested Interest

Erick Moore photo

Kentucky on the Horizon

STEPHEN M. VEST

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

M

aybe it’s just me, but I’m sure it’s not. I was raised to see things in other things. When I was a child, I had a small paint chip on my bedroom wall that looked like an 18th century silhouette of King Louis XVI. When outside, I would see dogs in the clouds, and I’d watch as they morphed into dragons or rabbits or simply drifted away. Sometimes the images would linger, and sometimes they’d be gone as quickly as soap bubbles in the bathtub.

I see such things because I look for them, and I enjoy stories about other people who see things. You know, Jesus in a slice of toast, stuff like that.

When my eldest daughter, Katy, and I made a trip to Clearwater, Florida, to visit my grandmother, we took a side trip to see the 60-foot-tall image of the Virgin Mary that had taken shape across 11 panes of glass of the Ugly Duckling Car Company off U.S. Highway 19.

So many people saw Mary that the car dealership eventually was forced to relocate because of all the people lighting candles and praying in the parking lot. The building eventually became a church. A few years later, a wayward youth destroyed the image by shooting ball bearings through three of the windows with a high-powered slingshot. I’m guessing he couldn’t see it, or see its significance, so he made sure no one else could, either.

•••

But I see Kentucky in all kinds of places—some intentional and others created randomly or by nature. Of course, I see the state’s outline in cookies and ice cubes made to look like Kentucky, or on apparel, stickers and patches. I really like the shirts with the

Kentucky shape around the word “Home.”

If you look at a map of Kentucky, Woodford County looks like Kentucky turned on its tip—Purchase side down: a Kentucky within Kentucky, so to speak.

I see Kentucky in broken tortilla chips when I’m dining at Mexican restaurants or having Sunday lunch at Beef O’Bradys.

I’ve had Kentucky-shaped steaks.

I see Kentucky in pebbles and rocks.

Most recently, I saw Kentucky in the drywall scraps we carted off from our ongoing project to expand our tiny family room by commingling it with the dining room and kitchen. An unscientific study, conducted by yours truly, confirms that Kentucky appears in roughly one in 12 shattered sheets of drywall.

•••

To be sure I wasn’t the only one who saw such things, I searched the internet and found that Jason Moore of Owensboro’s WBKR sees images, too, according to his post. “It’s almost one of those ‘rites of passage’ in childhood. I remember lying on the ground, staring up at the sky, seeing shapes, people, words, animals in the clouds.

Imagination is an amazing gift, and the human mind can take the freeform clouds and turn them into big goofy toys, faces of religious figures, or perhaps a favorite food. What you see or don’t see is often determined by the ability to think abstractly using your brain space, or how hungry you are at the time!”

Moore’s above post was accompanied by a photo he had taken of a cloud that clearly showed Kentucky. “I’m not a

cloudologist,” said Moore, who wasn’t sure if his cloud, hanging above the Ohio River, was cumulus or stratocumulus.

Consult an expert. I called meteorologist Bill Meck at WLEX-18 in Lexington. What kind of clouds are those Kentucky-shaped ones, Bill?

“They’re cumulus—cumulus with a bit of squinting,” said Meck.

Squinting?

“Yes, squinting on the human end— to bring them into focus.”

•••

The above photo came from kyforky. com—“Kentucky for Kentucky: A Kick Ass Commonwealth Since 1792.” The caption read, “Do y’all see it, too?”

Of course I did. I didn’t even have to squint. It’s striking enough that I’d like it to adorn my new family room wall because it screams “Kentucky!”

•••

Larry Hayden, a friend who lives in downtown Bridgeport, said he couldn’t recall ever seeing a Kentucky cloud.

“Really?” I said. “There are some days, especially, looking northward, when the sky is full of them. I’ve seen banks of them stacked atop each other, like when you look at yourself in a reflection of a mirror in another mirror.”

The phenomenon created by dueling mirrors is called recursive, or what the French call mise en abyme— placed into the abyss. If I were afloat in such a place, I think I’d be in search of the familiar, maybe a shape that means home.

Readers, and those looking for a speaker for a church or civic group, may contact Stephen M. Vest at steve@kentuckymonthly.com

MARCH KWIZ ANSWERS: 1. C. All played in the Sweet 16; 2. B. Danville (Centre College); 3. A. Owensboro, five; 4. B. Laurel County; 5. B. Postmistress; 6. C. Markswoman; 7. A. Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated Booth and coined the phrase, “Your name is Mudd”; 8. C. Shelby; 9. C. The Whiskey Route; 10. C. Melissa McBride, who is from Lexington

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K E N T U C K Y M O N T H LY • M A R C H 2 0 1 7

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