March 2025 | Kentucky Monthly Magazine

KENTUCKY’S BOUTIQUE HOTELS

Manchester in Lexington

in a tropical cocktail at the Lost Palm rooftop bar. Photo courtesy of The Manchester.

The décor of The Seelbach’s Great Gatsby Suite includes literal Easter eggs scattered

this photo

F. Scott Fitzgerald. Photo courtesy of The Seelbach Hotel.

Test your knowledge of our beloved Commonwealth. To find out how you fared, see page 6.

1. Kentucky’s original flag was adopted in March 1918 and revised in June 1962. Early explanations describe the figures as Dick Tateboon, a statesman lost to history, and a buckskin-clad Daniel Boone. Later, the statesman was changed to represent whom?

A. Henry Clay

B. James “Honest Dick” Tate

C. Isaac Shelby

2. The pledge to the Kentucky flag boasts the Commonwealth’s diversity, natural wealth, beauty and which trait “from on High?”

A. Style

B. Spirit

C. Grace

3. The country’s “oldest continuous trade day” began in 1843. Today, it is known as what?

A. The Grand Coon Swap

B. Tater Day

C. Tobacco Trading Day

4. Disputed by Larry King fans, the first radio show to take calls on the air was hosted by which WHAS-TV weatherman?

A. Mort Crim

B. Milton Metz

C. Richard Threlkeld

5. Livingston County’s Andrew Jackson Smith, a Medal of Honor recipient for his heroic service during the Civil War, was honored for serving in which noted regiment?

A. The Seventh Calvary

B. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

C. The Orphan Brigade

6. Callie Khouri, the Paducah-raised wife of musician and record producer T Bone Burnett, is best known as the screenwriter of which 1990s film?

A. Beaches

B. Fried Green Tomatoes

C. Thelma & Louise

7. Which Western Kentucky county seat purportedly was named for being the “center of the universe?

A. Central City

B. La Center

C. Centertown

8. Bradley Kincaid, “The Kentucky Mountain Boy,” is considered one of the first country music stars. Kincaid’s teasing of another Kentuckian for his early morning demeanor led to the nickname of which Grand Ole Opry legend?

A. “Grandpa” Jones

B. “Snoozer” Quinn

C. “Sleepy” LaBeef

9. Neither a Duke nor from Paducah, which country music comedian shared a name with a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame?

A. Dizzy Dean

B. Whitey Ford

C. Three-Finger Brown

10. Where did Elvis Presley stay after his 1956 performance at Jefferson County Armory, later known as Louisville Gardens?

A. The Brown Hotel

B. The Executive Inn

C. The Seelbach Hotel

© 2025, VESTED INTEREST PUBLICATIONS VOLUME TWENTY-EIGHT, ISSUE 1, FEBRUARY 2025

Stephen M. Vest Publisher + Editor-in-Chief

Hal Moss Associate Publisher + Business Editor

EDITORIAL

Patricia Ranft Associate Editor

Rebecca Redding Creative Director

Deborah Kohl Kremer Assistant Editor

Ted Sloan Contributing Editor

Cait A. Smith Copy Editor

SENIOR KENTRIBUTORS

Jackie Hollenkamp Bentley, Jack Brammer, Bill Ellis, Steve Flairty, Gary Garth, Jessie Hendrix-Inman, Mick Jeffries, Kim Kobersmith, Brigitte Prather, Walt Reichert, Tracey Teo, Janine Washle and Gary P. West

BUSINESS AND CIRCULATION

Barbara Kay Vest Business Manager

Katherine King Circulation Assistant

ADVERTISING

Lindsey Collins Senior Account Executive and Coordinator

Kelley Burchell Account Executive

Kristina Dahl Account Executive

Laura Ray Account Executive

Teresa Revlett Account Executive

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 $25 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, Gregory N. Carnes, Barbara and Pete Chiericozzi, Kellee Dicks, Maj. Jack E. Dixon, Bruce and Peggy Dungan, Mary and Michael Embry, Judy M. Harris, Greg and Carrie Hawkins, Jan and John Higginbotham, Frank Martin, Bill Noel, Walter B. Norris, Kasia Pater, Dr. Mary Jo Ratliff, Randy and Rebecca Sandell, Kendall Carr Shelton and Ted M. Sloan.

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

Readers Write

Doubly Good

The article on the Hotel Metropolitan in Paducah was a double whammy (November issue, page 40)! Not only did it describe Betty Dobson’s herculean effort to preserve the hotel, but it also reminded some and informed others about The Negro Motorist Green Book

After all that, I was surprised to see a picture of Alice Dunnigan on the wall of one of the hotel rooms. Mrs. Dunnigan, from Russellville, was a teacher, writer and, most notably, a journalist in Washington, D.C., for the Associated Negro Press. She was the first Black woman to be in the White House Press Corps.

After I graduated from Western Kentucky University, I moved to D.C. in 1981 and rented a room from (Aunt) Alice. She told me about traveling on the train with Harry S

Truman on the Whistle Stop Tour and many other stories. I attended a few high-profile events with her. She introduced me as her nephew.

I’m aware that Russellville has honored her with a life-size statue in her hometown.

Thanks so much for including that picture and giving me the opportunity to share my memories and thoughts of my Aunt Alice.

Ken Bell, Marion County

Editor’s Note: For more on Alice Dunnigan, please see Kentucky Monthly’s story on her for her 2019 induction into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame (February 2019 issue, page 16) and our story on Russellville’s SEEK Museum (November 2020 issue, page 42).

KM Appreciation

You have a very good magazine. I read it and

enjoy it, and later, I re-read it. Thanks to all of you.

Mrs. Rosemary Campbell, Campbellsville

Major University Oversight

Regarding the February issue of Kentucky Monthly: I was disappointed in the article “A Major Decision” (page 42) and its complete lack of mention of Historically Black College and University Kentucky State University. Not only is it our second land-grant institution, but KSU has many unique majors that could have been mentioned in the article.

The fact that this was overlooked during Black History Month was a gross oversight by the writer and editors. The labor and sacrifices made to even have such a university in our state warrant its recognition alone, not to mention its contemporary successes.

John Walker, Frankfort

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.

Kentucky Monthly’s annual gift guide highlights some of the finest handcrafted gifts and treats our Commonwealth has to offer.

travel

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!

Wanda and Kenny Hurt of Campbellsville cruised to Key West, the Bahamas and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, where this photo was snapped. Notice the parrot behind them?

alaska

Cathy and Roy Couch of Lebanon Junction took a bucket-list trip to Alaska for their 20th wedding anniversary to see the aurora borealis. They took their magazine to visit the Arctic Circle. Neither had been to the Arctic Circle, and we hope that was the first expedition for Kentucky Monthly also.

portugal

Diane Ross-Fenwick, of Paducah and Fernandina Beach, Florida, traveled to Portugal, where she is pictured in the well-preserved medieval walled city of Óbidos.

MAG ON THE MOVE

warm-weather cruise

germany

Kentucky Monthly subscribers Anne and Mary Elisabeth (Trimpe) Keller of Seymour, Indiana, at the Museumsdorf Cloppenburg, a collection of historic farm houses and farm buildings typical of the region, in Cloppenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.

florida

David and Jaci Wiiliams of Lexington are pictured aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Breakaway in Miami.

submit your photo

Take a copy of the magazine with you and get snapping! Send your high-resolution photos (usually 1 MB or higher) to editor@kentuckymonthly.com or visit kentuckymonthly.com to submit your photo.

KWIZ ANSWERS

1. A. Today, the images are meant to be more generic in representation; 2. C. Grace is the fourth trait; 3. B. This year, Tater Day will be on March 31 in Benton (for more information, visit taterdayky.com); 4. B. He also was known as “El Metzo” and “Uncle Milty”; 5. B. Smith served in the unit made famous in the 1989 film Glory, starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman; 6. C. Thelma & Louise went on to win the Oscar for best screenplay at the 64th Academy Awards in 1992; 7. B. Land developer Stokely T. Payne suggested the name for the Ballard County city, which should not be confused with La Center, Washington, which is nowhere near the center of anything; 8. A. The Niagara (Henderson County) native was known for his grumpiness when doing crack-of-dawn radio shows; 9. B. Benjamin Francis Ford was nicknamed “Whitey” because of his light blond hair. His stage name was The Duke of Paducah; 10. C. Elvis stayed at The Seelbach and visited his grandfather Jesse’s grave in Shively.

Matt Grimshaw, MBA, took the helm as market president of CHI Saint Joseph Health in December, 2024. Matt previously served as president of Trinity Health System in Steubenville, Ohio, also a part of CommonSpirit Health. Matt holds an MBA from Wake Forest University and a bachelor's degree in finance from Indiana Wesleyan University. He has a deep passion for delivering exceptional health care services to those in need and is invested in cultivating future health care professionals. “Saint Joseph has served Kentucky for 148 years and our caregivers remain focused on making a lasting difference in people’s lives through innovation and humankindness. I am proud to serve alongside them.”

Andrea Slone Greenwell

Executive Director of the Kentucky Health Collaborative

Question: What role does the Kentucky Health Collaborative serve in Kentucky’s health-care industry?

Answer: The Kentucky Health Collaborative (KHC) is a vehicle for its members to discuss common challenges and create and adopt unique solutions. It brings together leaders and experts to share best practices, align on strategic priorities, and collectively address pressing challenges in health care.

One of KHC’s primary roles is identifying and managing unique and strategic initiatives that enhance health-care efficiency, quality and patient outcomes. By leveraging its members’ collective knowledge and expertise, KHC creates opportunities for health-care leaders to collaborate on innovative solutions that aim to support better health care and improve health outcomes.

Q. How many health-care organizations are members in the KHC?

A. The KHC has 10 founding member organizations: Appalachian Regional Healthcare, Baptist Health, Ephraim McDowell, Lifepoint Health (Central Group), Med Center Health, Norton Healthcare, Owensboro Health, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, UK St. Claire and UK HealthCare.

KHC members represent over 55 percent of Kentucky’s hospitals and provide health care access across 88 percent of the state, serving 105 counties. Comprised of more than 65 hospital facilities and more than 100 ambulatory facilities, its members are among the state’s largest employers, with more than 85,000 employees collectively.

Q. What brings you the most satisfaction working for KHC?

A. Seeing the tangible impact of collaboration in action. Health care is complex, and it is nearly impossible for any single organization, in any industry, to take on a major challenge alone. Being part of an organization that unites health-care leaders, fosters shared learning, and drives meaningful change is incredibly rewarding. The collaborative spirit within KHC allows us to break down silos, create innovative solutions, and drive progress that benefits both providers and patients across Kentucky.

I also find great satisfaction in the relationships I have built through KHC. There is great talent and leadership across KHC—our member colleagues, our leaders of the Executive Committee, and past and current employees. Since our founding in 2016, we have achieved significant milestones that have strengthened our impact and advanced our mission. I am genuinely excited for the opportunities that lie ahead as we enter the next chapter of our organization.

Q. Conversely, what are the biggest challenges you face in your role at KHC?

A. Health care is a large industry with many challenges. Navigating the complexities of the health-care landscape and the ever-evolving needs and pressures our members face can be challenging. Another challenge is balancing advocacy for unified perspectives while respecting our members’ diverse and unique needs.

Q. What do you like to do for relaxation? Or describe your perfect day.

A. Oh, I am a certified homebody. Anytime I can curl up on the couch with my dogs (Bella and Thor) and turn on a show or movie that can make me laugh—that is my happy place. To make it a perfect day, chocolate would be served at every meal.

Q. If you could invite three guests for dinner—past or present—who would they be?

A. Frank Sinatra, Warren Buffett and my husband, Brad, who wouldn’t let me live it down if he didn’t receive an invite.

Periodically, we pose questions to a prominent Kentucky business leader and publish them along with the responses. Got Business News to Share? Contact Business Editor Hal Moss at hal@ kentuckymonthly.com with press releases or business news.

A Natural Sweetener

A flowering grass that thrives in Kentucky, sorghum has been used to sweeten foods for centuries. Sorghum syrup is derived by extracting juice from the stalk of the plant, then heating the liquid to reduce it to a syrup. This sticky ingredient lends what’s been described as an “earthy” or “woody” sweetness to foods and cocktails, and it possesses health benefits by providing potassium, calcium, zinc and iron.

PHOTO BY RYAN MAHONY/HERMITAGE FARM

Lamb Chop with Sorghum Spinach

3 cups water

1 cup dried sorghum berries

1 bunch spinach

1 tablespoon neutral oil

1 lamb chop or lamb loin

¼ cup white wine

4 tablespoons butter

½ lemon, juiced Salt and pepper, to taste

1 serving cooked couscous Mint leaves, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add sorghum berries and cook until al dente. Drain and set aside.

3. Blanch the spinach by bringing a separate pot of salted water to a boil. Add spinach and cook for 30 seconds, just until wilted. Immediately transfer the spinach to an ice bath to stop cooking. Drain, squeeze out excess water, and set aside.

4, Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add oil. Sear the lamb chop on both sides until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to the oven and cook to desired doneness (about 5–7 minutes for medium-rare). Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil, and let it rest.

5. In the same pan used for the lamb, add the cooked sorghum berries and sear for 10-15 seconds. Deglaze with white wine, scraping up any browned bits.

6. Add butter and blanched spinach, stirring until the butter melts and the spinach is fully incorporated. Finish with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

7. To serve, spread the sorghum and spinach on a plate, top with the couscous and lamb chop, and garnish with fresh mint.

Recipe courtesy of Seth Kinder, executive chef of Barn8 Restaurant & Bourbon Bar in Goshen

>>> Recipe courtesy of Miranda Densford, beverage director at Barn8 Farm Restaurant & Bourbon Bar in Goshen

The Black Card

2 ounces Old Forester Bourbon

½ ounce sorghum syrup

¼ ounce Amaro Sfumato

½ ounce sweet vermouth

1 dash bitters

Lemon peel for garnish

1. Add Old Forester, sorghum, Amaro Sfumato and vermouth to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.

2. Add bitters and stir. Twist the lemon peel over the drink and rub around the rim before dropping into drink.

Recipe courtesy of Brian Downing, proprietor of The Silver Dollar in Louisville

Pawpaw Hollar

1½ ounces Old Grand-Dad Bonded Bourbon

1 ounce pawpaw puree (instructions follow)

½ ounce lemon juice

¼ ounce Meletti Amaro

¼ ounce The Bitter Truth EXR liqueur Nocino

1. Shake all ingredients together in a tin and double strain into a glass with ice.

2. Garnish with a float of nocino.

Pawpaw Purée

Purée ripe pawpaws in a blender or food processor. In a pot over medium heat, cook them down with sugar and vanilla beans to make a preserve.

NOTE : Barn8 makes its pawpaw purée and nocino in house, but store-bought versions are available and will work well. Barn8’s nocino is made with black walnuts, Kentucky sorghum, cinnamon, lemon, brown sugar and vanilla bean.

PHOTO COURTESY THE SILVER DOLLAR

PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN MAHONY/HERMITAGE FARM

Full English Deviled Eggs

Sorghum Baked Beans

½ pound navy beans (must soak overnight)

½ cup dark brown sugar

1 small yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 cup sorghum syrup

¼ pound bacon, chopped small

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons dry mustard powder

2 tablespoons salt

1. Rinse beans and soak overnight in three times the amount of water.

2. Place beans in a medium-sized sauce pot and cover with water by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered, adding more water when necessary, until beans are tender, 1-1½ hours. Drain, reserving water.

3. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

4. Layer beans, sugar, onion, sorghum and bacon, ending with a layer of beans, in a glass baking dish.

5. Stir in soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and reserved bean water. Bake covered for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

6. Adjust seasonings to taste and chill.

NOTE: This makes more beans than you need, but it is difficult to cook in a smaller amount.

Recipe courtesy of Sara Bradley, chef/proprietor of the freight house in Paducah

Sun-Dried Tomato Egg Filling

12 eggs

3 sun-dried tomatoes in oil

3 raw egg yolks

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1½ cups vegetable oil

1. Hard boil and peel the dozen eggs—this can be done in advance. Separate the whites from the yolks and crumble the yolks.

2. In a food processor, add the tomatoes, raw yolks, vinegar and salt. Process for 20-30 seconds or until smooth.

3. Slowly add vegetable oil in a thin stream while the processor is running. If it gets too thick, add 1-2 teaspoons of water at a time. It should be creamy, like mayonnaise, when completed. (You can also use store-bought aioli and whip the puréed tomatoes into it.)

4. Add the cooked egg yolks and process until smooth. Adjust seasonings as needed.

5. Store mixture in a piping bag until ready to use. It is best to chill before serving.

Sausage Crumble

4 ounces breakfast sausage (uncooked)

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (only need if sausage doesn’t provide enough fat)

1. Crumble and cook sausage in a sauté pan.

2. Once fully rendered, add the panko (and possibly extra oil) and cook until toasted.

Assembly

1. Fill halved egg whites about halfway full with baked beans.

2. Top with tomato filling.

3. Sprinkle sausage crumble over the top. (If transporting, it is best to assemble when you arrive.)

YIELDS 1 DOZEN DEVILED EGGS (24 HALVES)

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FREIGHT HOUSE

Ancho + Five-Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Sorghum Sweet Potatoes

SERVES 6

Ancho + FiveSpice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

2 pork tenderloins, 1 pound each

4 tablespoons porcini powder

4 tablespoons ancho powder

Salt and pepper

Oil for cooking

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Trim the ends of the pork and rub with the porcini and ancho powders. Season with salt and pepper.

3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil to medium-high and hot sear the pork on all sides to get some nice color on the outside.

4. Once seared, place pork on a small baking pan and cook in oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Rest pork for at least 8 minutes before cutting into 1-inch slices for serving.

Black Garlic Molasses Barbecue

2 cups ketchup

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

½ cup dark brown sugar

½ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic

1 tablespoon five-spice powder

3 tablespoons black garlic molasses

Salt and pepper

1. In a heavy-bottom sauce pot, add all ingredients except black garlic molasses. Simmer until the sugar melts and the garlic has mellowed in flavor.

2. Turn off heat and add in the black garlic molasses. Season to taste.

To Serve

Sorghum Sweet Potatoes

These take a long time, so they should be prepared well in advance.

5-6 medium-sized sweet potatoes

¼ pound unsalted high-quality butter, cut into chunks

½ cup sorghum

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Salt and pepper

Oil for cooking

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Wash sweet potatoes under hot water and allow them to drip dry for 10 minutes. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook in oven for about an hour or until super soft. Remove from oven and allow them to cool slightly.

3. Peel the sweet potatoes and put in a food processor. This step may have to be done in two batches, depending on the size of the processor. Add butter, sorghum and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately or reheat slowly on a stovetop in a heavy sauce pot for serving later.

Pickled Cherries

1 cup dried sweet cherries

1½ cups red wine vinegar

½ cup granulated sugar

1. Place cherries, vinegar and sugar in a heavy bottom sauce pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Cook for 4 minutes, remove from heat, and allow to cool in the liquid.

3. Once cool, strain and set the cherries aside, reserving the liquid for future recipes, if wanted.

Arrange pork slices on a plate. Add a serving of sorghum sweet potatoes and pickled cherries. Drizzle black garlic molasses barbecue over the top.

courtesy of Dallas McGarity, chef/owner of The Fat Lamb in Louisville

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FAT LAMB

BY JACK BRAMMER

GATSBY !

Louisville pays homage to the 100 th anniversary of ‘The Great American Novel’

Larry Johnson, longtime historian and master concierge of the elegant Seelbach Hilton Hotel in downtown Louisville, stood in the middle of the hotel’s 10th floor Grand Ballroom.

Spiffily dressed in his work uniform, Johnson spoke of the famous people who have celebrated there. They have

included presidents, movie celebrities and rock stars.

One of the most lavish affairs mentioned in the august room never actually took place but was immortalized in fiction in what some consider the greatest American novel— The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The wedding of the fictional Tom and Daisy Buchanan in the Louisville hotel captured the affluence and

decadence of the Jazz Age in the 1920s, underscoring the book’s moral of how illusory the dream can be that wealth can buy happiness.

Fitzgerald wrote about the wedding:

In June she married Tom Buchanan of Chicago with more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before. He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before

In the lounge of the Gatsby Suite, guests will get the vibe of new money, with Art Deco wallpaper and luxuirous plush velvet armchairs.

the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Louisville is mentioned prominently in the 1925 masterpiece, probably because Fitzgerald was stationed at Camp Taylor in 1918 and often visited the lavish Seelbach Hotel with his buddies to dance

with the girls, smoke cigars and imbibe whiskey.

Camp Taylor, named for former President Zachary Taylor, was a military base 6 miles southeast of downtown Louisville. Established in June 1917, it originally was a military camp. For a time, it was America’s largest military training camp, housing 47,500 men at one point.

Bellarmine University is built on part of the location of the former Camp Taylor.

With the Seelbach Hotel’s prominence in the book—along with several other Louisville locales—the city is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Great Gatsby this year. Various events are planned.

Opening green light and Gatsby Suite

photos by Tim Furlong Jr./Seelbach Hotel

“We are offering up much that is Gatsby to coincide with its publication on April 10,” said Jordon Skora, marketing communications manager for Louisville Tourism.

“We are inviting everyone to enjoy the pleasures of Gatsby.”

The Gatsby Suite at The Seelbach

The Louisville Seelbach Hilton Hotel, at 500 South Fourth Street, opened on May 1, 1905. It was billed as the city’s “only fireproof hotel.” It offered a 5-hour public inspection and drew 25,000 visitors. The Seelbach quickly became popular. Its Who’s Who guest list ranges from President John F. Kennedy in 1962 to rock group Kiss in recent years. (Hotel historian Johnson had a picture taken with group members of Kiss sans their flamboyant makeup.)

While in the United States Army at Camp Taylor in March 1918 during World War I, Fitzgerald, then 21, visited the Seelbach Hotel. Amid the partying, he met mobsters and bootleggers, including George Remus, who is believed to have inspired the book’s main character, Jay Gatsby.

The Seelbach, Louisville’s oldest operating hotel, is celebrating its Gatsby connections this year with a Great Gatsby Suite. Located on the second floor, the two-room suite is embellished with Art Deco décor reflecting the opulence, bold colors and glamour of the era.

Louisville native Terra B. Nelson, founder of boutique consulting firm T.B. Nelson Hospitality Design, arranged the two rooms of the suite to highlight the difference between The Great Gatsby characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.

In the Daisy-inspired bedroom, guests will find the established, old-

LOUISVILLE’S GATSBY-RELATED EVENTS

The Belle of Louisville Louisville’s famous riverboat will feature a Prohibition-themed ride on May 30 from 7-9 p.m. The cruise will include live swing music, a cocktail class, a costume contest, dance lessons and more. The location is 401 West River Road. belleoflouisville.org/cruises/speakeasy/

Whiskey Row Louisville Food Tours will sponsor a walking tour of several establishments on Whiskey Row in downtown Louisville that spotlights Prohibition, ghosts and the Louisville origins of The Great Gatsby. louisvillefoodtours.com/tours/phantoms-ofthe-prohibition-tour/

Opening Night at Churchill Downs

The famed track will set the stage for a week of excitement and tradition at a Great Gatsby celebration on April 26, the opening night of the spring meet. The festivities will be presented by LG&E in partnership with Louisville Tourism. The Derby Museum will emphasize the Jazz Age. churchilldowns.com/visit/spring-meet/opening-night/

The World Ballet Company at the Louisville Palace “The Great Gatsby: A New Ballet” will be presented by the World Ballet Company at the Louisville Palace on April 13 at 6 p.m. worldballetcompany.com

Photo courtesy of Louisville Tourism

money look inspired by Tom and Daisy: lavish but delicate. The room features a pair of gold peacock table lamps, a 1920s Victorian-style settee and a vintage phone covered in a string of pearls.

In the connected Gatsby Lounge, guests will get the vibe of new money, with an over-the-top design, plush velvet armchairs and an Art

Deco dresser-turned-mini bar. The first thing that catches the eye upon entering the lounge is the luxurious gold textile adorning the ceiling, which converges at the center of the room with a three-tiered crystal chandelier.

“In order to get people talking, you have to give them something to talk about, and one of the best ways to do

that is by creating spaces that go beyond functionality and aesthetics to offer vivid and unforgettable experiences,” Nelson said.

“We were able to add some really nice vintage pieces—a few sourced from my personal collection and others sourced from local antique dealers. One of my favorite features that brings the rooms together is the

Photos by Tim Furlong Jr./Seelbach Hotel; stairwell photo courtesy of Louisville Tourism

A LITERAL EASTER “EGG” The Seelbach Hotel’s in-house breakfast spot, Gatsby’s on Fourth, is serving an East Egg and West Egg omelet this year.

vintage green light that hangs by the door leading into the Daisy bedroom. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a recurring theme in the book, always calling Gatsby to her.”

Other Easter eggs Great Gatsby fans may notice are scattered throughout the suite. Find hints of the book’s characters and places on the walls featuring photos of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, as well as coastal art representing the fictional towns of East Egg and West Egg, Long Island. A pearl necklace draped over a vintage telephone pays homage to the incessant ringing phone that recurs in the book and films. Guests also will find a variety of Art Deco design books and, of course, copies of The Great Gatsby Q

Purple Toad Winery 4275 Old US Hwy. 45 S, Paducah 270.554.0010 • purpletoadwinery.com

Baker-Bird Winery 4465 Augusta Chatham Rd, Augusta 859.620.4965 bakerbirdwinerydistillery.com

Chenault Vineyards 2284 Barnes Mill Road, Richmond 859.328.7773 chenaultvineyards.com

Purple Toad Winery combines modern wine making techniques with old world knowledge to produce award winning wines. Visit for tours, tasting and shopping or plan your next event at the winery’s event space!

Poca Terra Winery 633 Gatlin Road, Benton 270.493.2682 pocaterrawinery.com

Rising Sons Winery 975 Frankfort Road, Lawrenceburg 502.600.0224 risingsonswinery.com

if you go...

The Seelbach Hilton Hotel

500 South 4th Street

Louisville

502.585.3200

seelbachhilton.com

Equus Run Vineyards Saddlestone Distillery 1280 Moores Mill Road, Midway equusrunvineyards.com

StoneBrook Winery 6570 Vineyard Lane, Melbourne 859.635.0111 stonebrookwinery.com

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was published on April 10, 1925.

NINE PINES RETREATS,

MAKE SWEET MEMORIES!

Hopkinsville is “BATTERFIFIC”!

Looking for a sweet adventure? Visit Hopkinsville, Kentucky! It is the Batter Capital of the World! Taste, tour, and sip on handcrafted spirits, a pint, or wine. Stroll downtown and indulge in delicious delights from local restaurants while enjoying stunning architecture. A treasure trove of history, mystery, and adventure is waiting for you!

visithopkinsville.com

MARY TODD LINCOLN HOUSE

Downtown Lexington, Kentucky

Explore our nation’s history with a visit to the Mary Todd Lincoln House, the first historic site dedicated to a first lady. The childhood home of Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lincoln, contains period furniture, portraits and furnishings. Located in the heart of downtown Lexington, the Mary Todd Lincoln House offers guided and self-guided tours seasonally from March 15 - November 30.

mtlhouse.org

CAVES, CORVETTES, AND CHARM

Bowling Green is Tailored to your Taste

Why settle for just one adventure? In Bowling Green, explore caves, drive a Corvette, sip local spirits, and enjoy amusement park thrills all in one trip. Start with an underground boat tour at Lost River Cave, marvel at Mammoth Cave National Park, and then feel the adrenaline at NCM Motorsports Park. Create memories that move at your speedonly in Bowling Green.

visitbgky.com

CRAFT YOUR ADVENTURE IN BEREA Arts, Outdoors, Dining and More!

Berea has everything you need to craft your adventure! Explore artisan shops and galleries in the Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky. Discover the natural beauty of Berea, a certified Kentucky Trail Town, through hiking, biking, kayaking and more. Experience bold flavors that can only be found in Berea’s unique local cafes and restaurants.

visitberea.com

WINE, WHISKEY, ALE AND FOREST TRAILS

Find Your Escape in Bullitt County

Bullitt County, Kentucky offers seven distinctive sensory experiences within nine miles of each other along the Wine, Whiskey & Ale Trail, including guided or self-guided tours and tastings to enjoy at your own pace. Then, visit Kentucky’s official state arboretum, Bernheim Forest, which boasts more than 16,000 acres of wildlife sanctuary, landscaped gardens and arboretum.

travelbullitt.org

VISIT MURRAY, KENTUCKY

Where Visiting Feels Like Home

What’s felt here can’t be found on a shelf or bottled up to be taken home. What you find here is a spirit, a way that captures the hearts and minds of those who visit us. The enchantment of a Southern town filled with smiling, big hearts leaves an impression on visitors. Come to Murray to find soulful food and deep conversations where it feels like home.

tourmurray.com

EXPERIENCE JESSAMINE WINE & SPIRITS TRAIL

Savor Every Local Sip!

Explore the Jessamine Wine + Spirits Trail in Jessamine County, Kentucky! Sip handcrafted wines at Ghost Fox, First Vineyard and 1922 House Vineyards & Winery. Don’t miss the annual Kentucky Wine & Vine Fest in June, celebrating local flavors and tastings. Grab your trail passport at any stop or the Jessamine Tourism Visitors Center to start your journey!

visitjessamine.com

EXPERIENCE CARROLLTON, KY

Plan a River-Town

Getaway

Carrollton is not only where rivers come together but where people come together to experience the friendliness and authenticity of a town teeming with opportunities for exploration, recreational activities, shopping, new ideas and growth. At mile 545 on the Ohio River, it’s not just the confluence of two rivers but a confluence of history, river culture, nature and the scenic outdoors.

visitcarrolltonky.com

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Can’t-Miss Events in Oak Grove

On May 24-25, 2025, the Annual Spring into Summer Salutes Fort Campbell Festival provides attendees with world-class musicians, live entertainment, shows, carnival rides, fireworks and more! This two-day festival is completely free. Even the carnival rides are free to ride! Then, on July 12, 2025, the Kentucky Bands Bourbon & Wine Festival features wine, bourbon and spirit vendors from across Kentucky! There’s also food and beverage vendors and live music all day!

visitoakgroveky.com/festivals

CAVE CITY…ENDLESS ADVENTURE! Featuring Weird & Wonderful Attractions

Cave City abounds with adventure. Book a cave tour and explore the world’s longest-known cave system at Mammoth Cave National Park. The area is home to all kinds of outdoor activities. Soar down zip lines. Go canoeing or kayaking on a day trip or an overnight excursion. Venture down miles of the trails on foot, bike or horseback. Bring your boat for a fishing or waterskiing adventure on area lakes. Plus, there are tons of attractions, shops and lodging options for a fun family vacation. Cave City is an excellent home base for exploring south central Kentucky. cavecity.com

WILLIAMSBURG, KENTUCKY

Gateway to the Cumberlands

Nestled between the scenic Cumberland River and Daniel Boone National Forest lies “the other” historic Williamsburg, a land filled with history and wonder. Visit the same rolling hills where pioneers Daniel Boone and Thomas Walker once explored – camping in the same spots, marveling at the same views. Visit massive Cumberland Falls to see its amazing natural wonder, the majestic moonbow. Immerse yourself in the region’s natural beauty, following along many local trails. Savor hometown flavors from our delectable local culinary scene. Hit the water at the state-of-the-art Kentucky Splash Waterpark.

williamsburgky.com

SHOP, SIP & SAVOR DANVILLE

Unforgettable Girlfriend Gatherings Await

Escape to Danville, Kentucky, for the ultimate girlfriend’s getaway! Start your spring off right with charming brunches or delightful teas at local cafés. Explore eclectic shops, find one-of-a kind treasures and enjoy boutique shopping in downtown Danville. Indulge in delicious dining experiences, from cozy cafés to elegant restaurants. Visit local art museums for a dose of culture and unwind in the picturesque surroundings. Whether you’re sipping, shopping or simply enjoying each other’s company, Danville offers the perfect blend of relaxation and adventure for you and your friends.

danvillekentucky.com/girlfriends

VISIT HARLAN COUNTY

Visit Harlan County

Experience the excitement of Black Mountain Off-Road, the history and thrill of Portal 31 Underground Mine and the beauty of Kingdom Come State Park. Explore history, small-town charm and unforgettable views. Visit Harlan County - where the adventure begins!

harlantourism.com

UNFORGETTABLE BLUEGRASS VACATIONS

Known the world over as the Horse Capital of the World and the epicenter of Bourbon Country, the Bluegrass State is also a land of immense natural beauty and wide-open spaces offering plenty of places to play.

Sip centuries of tradition in the birthplace of bourbon and tour distilleries to learn how Kentucky’s signature spirit is made. Mix your own craft concoction with the help of a spirit specialist in a cocktail class. Stroll through rolling horse farms, catch a race at the track and take a trail ride through the forest. Visit epic family attractions, vibrant cities and charming small towns. Explore woods, waters, caves and trails, offering endless outdoor adventure. Or just find your own quiet spot, hidden waterfall or stunning overlook to sit down and soak up the soothing sights and sounds of nature.

And let’s not forget the food! Savor signature Bluegrass flavors that come to life at roadside farm stands, mom-and-pop diners and hip restaurants, where talented chefs and mixologists are inspired by a bounty of fresh, local ingredients.

With so much to see, do and taste, the Bluegrass State is the perfect place for your next road trip, weekend getaway or family vacation.

Come discover our new Kentucky home! kentuckytourism.com

Luxurious Lodging

Kentucky’s boutique hotels provide a distinctive blend of comfort, style and local flavor

showcasing local culture and heritage, Kentucky’s boutique hotels offer travelers a unique experience that can’t be had at any chain. Kentucky Monthly has selected six boutique hotels across the Commonwealth that exemplify the essence of the Bluegrass State’s diverse hospitality scene. From the artsy 1857 Hotel in Paducah to the bourbonimbued Woodford Hotel in Versailles, read on to discover Kentucky’s unique boutique hotels.

|| woodfordhotelky.com

BY LAURA RAY

The Woodford Hotel

looking for a place to rest your head in between bourbon tastings? Look no further than The Woodford Hotel in downtown Versailles. With names such as Pappy and Wild Turkey, each of the eight bourbon-themed suites showcases curated art, antiques and vintage memorabilia.

Built in 1881, the hotel is conveniently located on Main Street within walking distance of coffee shops, bars, restaurants and shopping. Historic Keeneland Race Course is a 15-minute drive away, while 10 distilleries all lie within 20 minutes of the hotel. Bourbon Trail visitors can sip their way through some of the

world’s most renowned distilleries, such as Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve.

The Woodford combines smalltown warmth with modern amenities, making it an ideal retreat for travelers looking to explore the area’s rich heritage—from unbridled spirits to equine culture.

VERSAILLES Q

The Bellwether Hotel

located in Louisville’s Highlands neighborhood, the historical building has eclectic interiors that reflect the city’s artistic energy. Each room is uniquely designed—from the four-bedroom, two-bath apartment, Highland Station, to the Deco Suites decked out in Art Deco design.

Guests are given a code upon booking that gives them access to The Bellwether and their room—no room key or check-in needed.

Each suite features a snack bar complete with locally made snacks and treats as well as freshly ground Heine Brothers Coffee to give guests a sample of local Louisville flavor. Plus, The Bellwether is on Bardstown Road, aka “Restaurant Row,” so neighborhood hotspots—including a variety of restaurants, bars and live entertainment venues—can be found nearby. Spend the day exploring the museums, galleries and locally owned boutiques that dot Bardstown Road, and visit nearby Cherokee Park. Just 5 miles from Churchill Downs, this hotel is a great choice for an overnight stay after attending the races.

LOUISVILLE Q

The Delegate Hotel

Situated in the heart of Kentucky’s capital, The Delegate Hotel delivers big-city class with a side of Southern hospitality. Close to the Capitol building and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, The Delegate hosts more bourbon fans than politicians. Built as a warehouse in 1879, the three-floor brick building features tall ceilings and windows. It has been carefully renovated, leaving gorgeous exposedbrick walls and ceiling beams for an industrial look. Frankfort memorabilia decorate the hallways.

The Delegate’s 48 guest rooms include a king suite with a full-size

fridge and large bathroom, a double queen and roomy lofts that are great for an extended stay. The well-lit rooms come with a sound machine and the largest TV you’ve ever seen in a hotel room. Downtown shopping is conveniently located a few blocks away, as are several restaurants, bakeries and pubs. Stroll down to the Kentucky River for a picturesque view.

The Delegate guests don’t have to go far for dinner. At Cypress & Oak Restaurant, enjoy a filet from the hotel’s high-end steakhouse, or go for the burgoo for a taste of local flavor. Wash it down with a Kentucky

bourbon from the extensive drink list or a refreshing seasonal soda.

This hotel joins Bardstown Motor Lodge and The Myriad Hotel in Louisville as part of the Common Bond Hotel Collection. Another part of this luxury hotel brand, The Ashbrook Hotel, is housed in a historic mansion down the street from The Delegate in Frankfort. Once home to Buffalo Trace Distillery founder E.H. Taylor, the 14-room refuge is affectionately known as “The Queen on the Corner” and features a restaurant and courtyard.

The 1857 Hotel

Nestled in downtown Paducah’s historic district, The 1857 Hotel is surrounded by shopping, dining and entertainment. Dating back to its namesake year, the restored antebellum building formerly was a haberdashery and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Exposed brick walls and expansive windows exude an industrial-chic vibe, while rotating displays of local art reflect the UNESCO Creative City’s vibrant artistic scene.

Guests can choose from 14 rooms and three condominiums at the hotel and The 1857 Annex, its sister property. Rooms are pet friendly with one caveat: Dogs and cats are accepted, but pets may not be left unattended in rooms.

The 1857 bar often hosts live music and serves as an event venue. Kentucky Monthly hosted a party there last year to celebrate our 25th anniversary. The hotel’s proximity to the Paducah riverfront puts guests within a stone’s throw of local attractions, including the National Quilt Museum, art galleries and boutique shops. Sip your favorite bourbon at Barrel & Bond by the river, followed by dinner at Chef Sara Bradley’s freight house. Then take in a show at the Carson Center, Market House Theatre or Maiden Alley Cinema.

The Manchester

The Manchester is a luxe locale in Lexington’s historic Distillery District. The 125 well-appointed accommodations range from suites to rooms with bunk beds. This exceptional hotel pays homage to the city’s rich bourbon and equine heritage with its restaurant and bars.

Have a finger or two of the state spirit at The Manchester’s bourbon bar before dinner at the Granddam, the hotel’s Bluegrass area-inspired restaurant, which is named after a matriarchal racehorse. Head to the roof for a tropical tiki beverage at Lost Palm, the indoor/outdoor rooftop bar overlooking the city. In addition to cocktails, the South Florida-inspired spot serves share plates such as short rib sliders and gator bites.

Less than 15 minutes from Keeneland Race Course, The Manchester offers easy access to local attractions, including nearby distilleries and the vibrant downtown area. It also offers interesting ways to experience the city, from polo lessons to walking food tours that can be booked through the hotel.

PADUCAH

LEXINGTON

Can you say swanky? A former department store, Hotel Covington is now a beautifully elegant hotel. Spacious rooms offer a sense of grandeur with high ceilings and large windows. Need even more space? Upgrade to an apartmentstyle loft or suite at the hotel’s pet-friendly expansion, North by Hotel Covington.

Faux fur throws and velvet headboards add warmth, richness and texture to guest rooms. Shop the onsite retail store to bring home a Donna Salyers Fabulous-Fur. As a 13-year-old, Salyers worked at Goldsmith’s, a department store where the hotel restaurant now sits. These days she is a luxury faux fur designer and partner in the hotel and restaurant.

Coppin’s Restaurant & Bar serves locally sourced cuisine in sumptuous surroundings. Enjoy a burger piled high with toppings and a cocktail from the extensive drink menu with a beautiful backdrop of black-painted brick or outside in the courtyard. In need of a nightcap or late-night snack? The upscale Knowledge Bar & Social Room has you covered with perfectly crafted cocktails, an extensive wine list and tapas.

Explore the vibrant riverfront neighborhood that bridges the cultural offerings of both Covington and nearby Cincinnati. Admire the stained glass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption just down the road. Then, cross the bridge to greet everyone’s favorite hippo siblings, Fiona and Fritz, at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Hotel Covington

COVINGTON Q

LIVING HISTORY

A bottle of wine inspired a unique project to honor 19 Black Kentucky heroes

BY JACKIE HOLLENKAMP BENTLEY

In July 2022, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced a $75 million grant from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to boost the Commonwealth’s post-pandemic tourism climate.

Two years later, six county tourism departments launched Kentucky Black Trailblazers, a firstof-its-kind augmented reality (AR) project honoring Kentucky’s Black heroes with American Rescue Plan funds. Today, there are 19 locations, from Nelson County to Shelby

County, where all you need is a smartphone to scan a QR code and watch history come to life.

The initial inspiration for the project? A bottle of wine. To be exact, a 19 Crimes bottle of wine, which allows drinkers to scan the label to view an AR story about infamous criminals whom the British banished to what then was the penal colony of Australia. The brand later expanded its labels to include high-profile criminals and besties Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart

ShelbyKY Tourism President and CEO Janette Marson said the goal of creating the project was to honor Kentucky’s Black history but not necessarily with a traditional tourism trail.

“There are a lot of Black history trails across America, and what would make this one different? And then I remembered that wine bottle,” Marson said. “There was one [that included] a full scene of a jail, and you could see the digitized actors from head to toe. I thought, ‘That’s what I

want. I don’t want just the talking heads. We want drama. We want something more.’ ”

The trail developers brought in NIMBUS, Louisville’s largest Black-owned advertising agency, to guide the project. They worked with California-based Tactic, the creators of 19 Crimes, to bring the actors’ stories to life each time a person scans the QR code at a site. The developers also consulted several local Black historians, who wrote the scripts for each AR location.

Shelby County historian Sanda Jones was one of them. Jones, who was the first Black president of the Shelby County Historical Society, provided the research about the Harlem Hellfighters, a World War I African American combat unit that served 191 days on the front line, gaining international military acclaim. Five members of the unit are buried at Shelbyville’s Calvary Cemetery. Kentucky Black Trailblazers brought them back to life with just a scan of a QR code.

“You don’t have to collect any brochures; you don’t have to go to a museum,” Jones said of the experience. “You are literally standing at a museum that’s right there in front of you.”

Marson said the team was committed to ensuring the stories were correctly told. “We don’t want a misstep to cause people not to see the transformational value that this project brings forth,” she said. “Even when we were in California … and they were doing augmented reality filming, the film crew and the technical folks were very intentional about hiring Black actors, Black costuming people and Black makeup people. They were very intentional about who was hired to work on this, and that was wonderful to see.”

In addition to the Harlem Hellfighters, Shelby County has sites dedicated to civil rights leader

Whitney M. Young Jr. and Elijah P. Marrs, a pioneering educator and clergyman who co-founded the Kentucky Normal and Theological Institute, now known as Simmons College, in Louisville. •

The other 16 markers are spread across Nelson, Bullitt, Hardin, Jefferson and Oldham counties and feature prominent figures such as Muhammad Ali, Oliver Lewis and Mattie Owens. The mission is “to highlight stories of hope, maybe forgotten stories, stories of [those who] … have done incredible, incredible things to move Kentucky forward or just move humanity forward,” Marson said. “Although the history is dark in many ways—sad or depressing. We didn’t want to make light of that or ignore that, but as we were talking to the living Black historians in our area, most all the stories that they were telling were very hopeful, very positive.”

Jones said that it’s the hope and positivity that will make a lasting impact. “It’s giving the young generation heroes to look up to, to investigate more,” she said. “That’s somebody in Shelby County walking in the same shoes that you’re

Where to Experience the Kentucky Black Trailblazers

BARDSTOWN/ NELSON COUNTY

• Daniel Arthur Rudd

• Dorsey Wickliffe

• Mack Rowan

ELIZABETHTOWN/ HARDIN COUNTY

• First Black Baptist Church

• General Braddock

• Margaret “Ma” Collier

LOUISVILLE

• Lyman T. Johnson

• Mary Cunningham Smith

• Muhammad Ali Center

• Oliver Lewis

OLDHAM COUNTY

• Alex Beaumont, CO E 116 USC

• Eliza Brooks

• Henry Bibb

SHELBYVILLE/ SHELBY COUNTY

• Elijah P. Marrs

• Harlem Hellfighters

• Whitney M. Young Jr.

SHEPHERDSVILLE/ BULLITT COUNTY

• Annie Reed

• Mattie Owens

• Reverend C.H. Parrish

walking [in]. This happened in your community, not somewhere else, or these people lived in your community, not somewhere else … These markers, in general, will make such an impact on how young people perceive history.”

Marson said the Kentucky Black Trailblazers is the first project of its kind in the United States, but word has spread. “It got so much media attention across the country,” she said. “We kind of feel like we’ve started something new, a

new way to see history come alive in a moving way.”

Marson said they have no immediate plans to add to the list of markers, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. “It would take a destination with a larger budget, probably, to be able to add on to it,” she said. “We’re still getting through the documentation phase, and I want to get that done. Then we’ll look to the future. We’ve got a variety of different ideas and things to talk about. So, it’s not out of the question for it to expand.”

For each marker visited, the app automatically highlights the location, with the hope that it motivates users to visit all 19 markers.

“It’s just a fun and interesting way to see history, to find out about things that maybe you didn’t know about before,” Marson said. “It’s Black history, but it’s history for everyone. These people made an impact on everyone, no matter if you’re Black or white, and that’s important to know. It’s also fun and a really, really cool way to see history come alive.” Q

The locations and a more in-depth description of each of the 19 markers can be found on the project’s website, kentuckyblacktrailblazers.com

Tradition & Evolution

Renfro Valley changes with the times but maintains its family-friendly, small-town vibe

BY KIM KOBERSMITH

In January, Mount Vernon’s Renfro Valley hosted the “The Concert of Kings,” a three-part Elvis Presley tribute artist show with performances from the icon’s early, middle and later years in the venue’s New Barn. The music was familiar; the sound was clear; and the crowd was enthusiastic, especially while singing along to “Viva Las Vegas.”

Live music shows take place at Renfro Valley most weekends. For 85 years, it has been revered as a legendary spot for live music and Appalachian culture, sometimes referred to as Kentucky’s Grand Ole Opry. Visitors come from as far away as Canada, California and Ireland, but the bulk of attendees hail from Kentucky and neighboring states.

They come for the music but often become regulars because of the welcoming family atmosphere and storied history.

On my visit to Renfro Valley, people referred to it as a special place, but they couldn’t always articulate the factors that makes it so. “It’s a smaller, more intimate venue, and there’s not a bad seat in the house,”

offered staff member Brittany Asher “We get lots of repeat customers.”

For decades, the booking list at the Valley has been a Who’s Who of classic country, Southern gospel and mountain bluegrass music, with Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Willie Nelson and Keith Urban among them. While staying true to its foundation as a thriving home for live music, the venue is expanding to welcome a larger variety of music lovers to the fold. This kind of evolution has always been at the heart of Renfro Valley’s staying power.

85 Years

Renfro Valley exists because of the vision and dedication of Mount Vernon resident John Lair. He took his love for Kentucky music to Chicago in the 1930s, where he embarked on a career in radio. He

started the innovative WLS “Barn Dance,” a live broadcast show with folk humor and music featuring Renfro Valley musicians such as Red Foley and Lily May Ledford

In 1937, the troupe moved closer to home and established the “Renfro Valley Barn Dance” in Cincinnati on radio station WLW. For Lair, it was just a stop on the journey back to Renfro Valley. He was convinced that folks from throughout the region would travel off the beaten path to enjoy live music and, for many, an experience of the mountain homes they held dear.

The show continued in Cincinnati for two years, while—thanks to Lair’s resourcefulness—sponsors helped build an entertainment destination in the Valley. On opening day in 1939, the complex included honeymoon cabins (since destroyed by a storm),

IF YOU GO

Renfro Valley Entertainment Center 2380 Richmond Street, Mount Vernon 1.800.514.3849

the Log Lodge Restaurant (currently awaiting new renters) and a big show barn that seated 500 (the historic structure now called the Old Barn).

While Lair was optimistic about his chances for success, others were not. Neighbors said the venue could always be a tobacco barn if the music thing didn’t work out. What the naysayers didn’t take into consideration was the power of radio and the two years prior that the “Renfro Valley Barn Dance” had spent building a loyal listening audience.

The first Saturday night performance at the Valley on Nov. 4, 1939, was just the beginning. After a year, Louisville’s WHAS took over the broadcasts and expanded them by leaps and bounds. Originally performed only on Saturday nights, Renfro Valley programs grew to 20 shows per week. Listeners were

invited on local adventures, such as hay rides, possum hunts and ’lasses making. Other long-running programs became legendary. The Sunday evening “Renfro Valley Gatherin’,” added in 1943, became the secondlongest continuous radio broadcast in the nation. The Renfro Valley Bluegrass Festival first opened in 1970, and the Harvest Festival began in the 1980s. Also in the 1980s, the Renfro Valley show was featured at the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, and at the Kentucky state Capitol to cement Mount Vernon’s place as the Commonwealth’s Country Music Capital.

As radio productions waned in popularity, Renfro Valley transitioned to being a singular live-music venue.

Lair died in 1985, but his legacy continued. The next owner was Warren Rosenthal—a Lexington restaurateur best known for Jerry’s Restaurant and Long John Silver’s— who oversaw the construction of a shopping village, a campground and the New Barn, which seats 1,500. Beginning in 1993, the popular “Christmas in the Valley” show became an annual tradition.

The entire Valley was gifted to the neighboring Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2000, and Don and Vera Evans purchased the venue in 2005. The two were dedicated country music and Renfro Valley fans. They had front-row tickets to 1,200 consecutive shows before deciding to steward the business into the future.

The Evanses were known for their steady presence, generous spirits and warm hospitality. After they both passed, their daughter and her husband, Julie and John Enneking, took over in 2010.

“My dad was a farmer but loved Renfro Valley,” said Julie. “He poured his heart and soul into it, and we are carrying on the family tradition.”

Continuing to Evolve

For the Ennekings, the business is an all-hands-on-deck family affair. A daughter runs the marketing, and a son handles the bookings. A grandson set out the green room food for Elvis tribute “The Concert of Kings” performers. During our interview, John was tinkering with an HVAC

For upcoming Renfro Valley performances and events, visit renfrovalley.com

unit, and Julie had paint on her hands from some facility upgrades.

As with most live-music venues, Renfro Valley took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic and closed for two years. Its 2025 schedule has a slate of country music greats such as Travis Tritt and the Oak Ridge Boys. But the area, once known only for country music, is now termed “The Music Capital of Kentucky.” Signs of change are in the air.

The Beach Boys, Van Halen and Taylor Swift tribute groups appear in the 2025 lineup. Changes such as serving alcohol and marketing on social media are reaching and attracting a new generation of music lovers. The Ennekings are adapting the venue to meet contemporary needs— removing the seats from the Old Barn to create a standing venue and installing a 7,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater on the footprint of some of the old shopping village.

The couple’s plans for change and adaptation would be familiar to those who previously operated Renfro Valley. Eighty-five years of history requires a constant evolution to welcome successive generations of music lovers, an evolution that stands firm on its foundation: powerful live music and a warm small-town welcome. Q

A KENTUCKY STAYCATION

Belle Louise Historic Bed & Breakfast

304 N. Sixth Street, Paducah

270.210.2553

bellelouisepaducah.com

Louisville Bourbon Inn

1332 S. Fourth Street, Louisville

502.813.1137

louisvillebourboninn.com

Maple Hill Manor

2941 Perryville Road, Springfield

859.336.3075

maplehillmanor.com

River Trails Inn

301 Hill Street, Livermore

rentbyowner.com/property/ river-trails-inn/AB-38361408

The Ashbrook Hotel, the former home of Buffalo Trace Distillery Founder E.H Taylor, is a cozy retreat featuring 14 elegantly appointed rooms, a charming courtyard, and a refined restaurant and bar. A rich legacy and approachable demeanor invite guests to savor the authentic warmth of southern hospitality, making each moment unforgettable.

The Ashbrook Hotel

300 Washington Street, Frankfort 502.803.4284 • ashbrookhotel.com

Best place to stay Near Mammoth Cave National Park

Grand Victorian Inn

5 Old Dixie Highway, Park City 270.590.1935 • grandvictorianinnky.com

Rose Hill Inn

233 Rose Hill Avenue, Versailles

859.214.2144

stayrosehillinn.com

Snug Hollow Farm Bed & Breakfast

790-Cr-1221, Irvine

606.723.4786

snughollow.com

Thurman Landing

201 W. Western Ave. Sonora

270.949.1897

thurmanlanding.com

Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum

By Kim Kobersmith

No musical visit to Mount Vernon is complete without a stop in the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Located adjacent to the Renfro Valley complex, the striking red-andwhite, wood-and-stone entrance building originally was the riding stables of founder John Lair

More than 70 Kentuckians have been inducted since the Hall of Fame’s inception in 2002. They represent all genres of music (the first hard rock group, Black Stone Cherry, was honored in 2024) and a variety of occupations (musicians, yes, but also radio personalities, club owners and sound engineers).

Inductees are recognized for shining a positive light on the Commonwealth, having a national or international reputation, and making a positive impact on the music industry.

The 16,000 feet of exhibit space house seven rooms with a mix of permanent and special exhibits. Displays with memorabilia—clothing, instruments, posters and recordings— highlight each inductee, including Loretta Lynn, the Judds and Exile. An exhibit on the history of music in Kentucky has an authentic cabin front porch with instruments that guests can play. A Renfro Valley room highlights some of the performers

who contributed to the center’s successful 85-year run, including the Coon Creek Girls, Joe Clark and Pete Stamper

“The Hall of Fame complements what Renfro Valley is doing in Mount Vernon,” Executive Director Jessica Blankenship said. “Music of all different styles is such a family tradition in Kentucky.”

The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame is open daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Major events in 2025 include the Kentucky Blues Music Festival on June 7 and the 5th Annual Kentucky Food Truck Championship on Sept. 13. For more information, visit kentuckymusichalloffame.com

GROOVIN’

AT THE GROVE

A Glasgow business turned lemons into lemonade following the COVID-19 shutdown

BY GARY P. WEST

There’s probably not another music venue in Kentucky like Glasgow’s The Grove. It’s tucked away in a secluded grove of 150-foot trees, yet it’s within the city limits. Those going to The Grove likely will need directions, since it’s not a drive-by “there it is” kind of place.

Located a few feet from 702 Happy Valley Road (one of the great names for a street in America), The Grove may not yet have been seen by some of the locals. The phrase “hidden gem” is used from time to time and certainly applies to The Grove Music Venue & Drinkery. Outside of the venue, food trucks, bars, and vendors selling The Grove T-shirts and sweets for dessert are nestled among the trees.

Upon entering the area, first-timers might even say, “Wow.”

“You just don’t expect this,” said one patron, who attended the Del McCoury Band-Wyatt Ellis show in mid-June 2024. “It puts a smile on your face.”

The Grove came about in an odd sort of way in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Kuykendall and his family found themselves in a real predicament in March of that year. The governor of Kentucky ordered all “public-facing businesses” shut down in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and that included the main source of income for Kuykendall’s family, Ralphie’s Fun Center.

A geologist by trade, Kuykendall was one of the first called on to examine the sinkhole collapse in February 2014 at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Eight cars plunged into the 35-foot deep sinkhole.

“The engineering and environmental company I was working for was called on to collect data to determine the extent of the collapse,” Kuykendall recalled. “I was down there before all of the Corvettes were brought out.”

The Kuykendall family opened its multi-game center for kids in 2012. The family had purchased the former 65,000-square-foot Carhartt building that also housed the Handmacher Garment Factory and developed the property into Ralphie’s Fun Center, which drew families from several surrounding counties. But the pandemic closed its doors.

“We had to do something,” Kuykendall said. “We were, for the most part, out of business with lots of people involved.”

The roughly 6-plus acres on which Ralphie’s sat included an acre of scrub land in the back of the property. “I had a vision. But first, I had to start clearing it out,” Kuykendall said. “It was scrubs, briars, thick underbrush with locust, pine, maple and poplar

trees, but pretty soon, it began to come together. It took us about three months.”

Kuykendall envisioned a covered stage, a covered beer and bourbon bar, fire pits and a sound system that would make Nashville proud.

Ralphie’s reopened in June 2020, and a new stage was constructed in the wooded area. In October of that year, The Grove hosted its first live musical act, Michael Cleveland

Candace Barbee has been with The Grove and Ralphie’s almost from the beginning. She’s the public relations and marketing director for the venues. “I came into this at the right time,” she said. “We were using a portable PA. Now, we have great equipment that allows us to bring in first-class music.”

Barbee said The Grove continues to make the experience even better. “We recently added The Treehouse. It’s an elevated 2,000-square-foot viewing deck with its own bar. The views over the crowd and on the

stage are so unique,” she said.

Swings—the kind you would find on your grandmother’s front porch— are available for clientele to enjoy. “We get so many families here,” Barbee said. “We make it affordable for topflight live music, and our patrons come from as far away as Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville and Evansville.”

Live music performances run April through September, and the all-age venue can seat more than 400.

Children under 12 are admitted free.

Shows are on select Fridays and Saturdays. The Grove opens as early as 5 p.m., and the shows start at 7 p.m.

Most of the seating is with bag chairs on a first-come, first-served basis. There are reserved round tables with chairs, plus seats throughout. Food and drink are available from food trucks near the front gate.

The flexibility of The Grove allows Barbee and her staff to rent space for weddings, rehearsal dinners, family and class reunions, retreats, and school and church gatherings. Q

Early Uber?

This photo, circa 1914, shows a bus that ran between Covington and Fiskburg, a town about 20 miles south of Covington. Originally called Fiskburgh, it was established in 1834. The spelling of the town’s name was changed to Fiskburg in 1894. Today, it is an area of unincorporated Kenton County. Photo courtesy of nkyviews.com.

Kentucky Explorer

One-Year Subscription to Kentucky Monthly: $25

1930s Basketball in Kentucky

By Bobbie Smith Bryant, Jefferson County

My granddaddy Hal Smith, who grew up to run one of the three stores in Calloway County, was the captain of the Kirksey Eagles basketball team in 1931.

Back in his day, before the county schools consolidated, the games were played against the other rural schools of Almo, Dexter, Faxon, Lynn Grove, New Concord and Hazel. Basketball was a big deal, and the gym would be packed with students, parents and grandparents as we all cheered on our home team.

Growing up, I often marveled at how that tall, skinny kid with knobby knees in the middle of the picture actually could be the same person as the rotund teddy bear of a man whom I adored. The one who was always chomping on a fat cigar as he held court at Smith’s Grocery.

A man of few words, Hal never bragged about his proficiency on the court, but I knew he kept up with local, regional and state basketball games. I’ll never forget learning that he and his team were pretty darn good, winning the county championship in 1931. In fact, the Kirksey Eagles basketball team had quite a history of placing well in his era.

county, district and regional titles, and were beaten by Danville 33-19 in the first round at the state competition.

The 1936 team was made up of the same players (Bazzell, McCuiston, Washer, Copeland, Dixon and Billington) with the addition of a few others with the last names of Pierce, Wilson, Rogers,and Brewer. One of their younger players who went along on the trip was Doris Ezell. They had won the district tournament with a 29-0 record but were overcome in the Sweet 16 by Corbin, losing 27-24.

I’m guessing there were several fundraisers held to help the young men pay for their trip to Lexington. I can only imagine the pride of everyone in the Kirksey community as they rooted for our team.

1931 Kirksey Eagles: front row from left, Macon McCuiston, Tom Adams, Hal Smith, Ray Stark and Frank Patterson; back row from left, Coach Harry Potts, Lurwin Cain, Ben Harrell, Bill Venable and Harry Guier.

The 1935 and ’36 teams went to the state tournament. In both instances, they were defeated in the first round by the eventual state champions—not bad for a bunch of farm boys from the Jackson Purchase.

Incidentally, the 1935 team was coached by a former player from the 1927 team, Bearl Darnell. They won the

Leading up to the 1936 state tournament, the International Relations Club of Murray College brought two of the outstanding high school basketball teams of Western Kentucky to Murray for a match in the College Auditorium. The Brewers Redmen and the Kirksey Eagles played in a benefit game.

I couldn’t find the results of that match, but regardless of who won, I’m sure it was a fastpaced game with both sides cheering like crazy. As these games were held in the midst of the Great Depression, basketball was surely a welcome form of entertainment, a great distraction for local folks.

Just like the Kirksey Eagles back in the day, when the 2025 Sweet 16 championship rolls around, teams across Kentucky will gear up once again for some fierce competition. It’s a Kentucky tradition with deep roots and a lot of pride.

PADUCAH LAWS OF 1904

By Matt Jaeger

This book from our local and family history stacks, A Revision of the Ordinances and Municipal Laws of the City of Paducah, Kentucky (1904), may have a boring-looking cover and a boring-sounding title, but inside is a fascinating glimpse into how our city was run more than a century ago. And among the rules and regulations, you’ll find a few curious laws—some outdated, some funny and some just bizarre.

Ten of these laws are listed below, copied word for word from the original text, along with the fine for infractions.

Kite Flying

The flying of kites in the streets of Paducah is hereby prohibited and any person guilty thereof shall be fined 50 cents.

Selling Tamales Without a License

manner to frequent any saloon within limits of the City of Paducah. Fine: $5-$20.

Wandering Goats

It shall be unlawful for the owner of any goat to suffer the same to go or run at large upon any of the streets, alleys or unclosed lots or ground in the City of Paducah. Fine: $5-$20.

Riverside Nudity

That it shall be unlawful for any person in the daytime to take off his clothes and expose his person and go in the river bathing or swimming in front of the City of Paducah. Fine: $5 for each offense.

For persons selling hot tamalas [sic] five dollars ($5) per annum. Fine for no license: $10-$50 per day.

Cleaning Fish in the Market House

It shall be unlawful for any person to clean, gut or skin fish on any market bench or elsewhere in said market. Fine $10-$25.

Butter by the Ounce

All butter sold at the market house shall be sold by the pound and in no other manner. Fine: $5 for each offense. Women in Pubs

That it shall be unlawful for any female to enter or in any

How Are We Related?

This chart explains the concept of cousins. We all understand who our first and, usually, second cousins are. But when the conversation starts to include once or twice removed, things tend to get confusing. Hopefully, this sorts the confusion out a bit.

Chart from keski.condesanecoandes.org.

Pairs of Prostitutes

It shall be unlawful for any two or more common prostitutes to walk or be in company together on any street, sidewalk, alley or other public thoroughfare in the city of Paducah, during the night-time. Fine: $5-$50 for each offense.

Dirty Udders

Every person keeping cows for the production of milk for sale shall cause them to be kept clean and wholesome at all times and shall cause the teats, and, if necessary, the udder, to be carefully cleaned by brushing, washing or wiping before milking. Fine: $20-$100.

Tossing Powders

It shall be unlawful for any person to throw or scatter what is commonly called Talcum Powder, flour or similar product. Fine: $5-$10.

Reprinted with permission from the McCracken County Public Library.

Send memories to Deborah Kohl Kremer at deb@kentuckymonthly.com or mail to Kentucky

Frankfort, KY 40602.

“I Remember”

Send your memory in today!

Driving “Miss Annie”

By Dennis Williams, Franklin, Tennessee

My great-grandfather, Job Dean, purchased 450 acres in the Fredonia Valley just north of Princeton in Caldwell County, around 1910. He built a large house facing Fredonia Road, which had been one of the Trail of Tears routes through Western Kentucky almost a century prior.

His only child—my grandmother, Annie Louise Dean McElroy—inherited the family farm, Dean Hill, when her parents died in the late 1930s.

Annie Louise was an exceptional woman. She had attended the State University of Kentucky, as UK was called in those days, and graduated in 1912 with nearly perfect grades. She wanted to be an engineer, but the president of the university, James K. Patterson, told her, “Annie Louise, you know girls can’t be engineers.”

Annie Louise majored in math instead and after graduation taught in Cynthiana, Fredonia and the Crider community.

In 1917, she married Lee Dennis McElroy, who owned a general merchandise store and a home in Crider, a small community located a couple of miles south of Dean Hill. Lee died of peritonitis in 1920, and Annie Louise moved back home to care for her aging parents and 1-year-old daughter, Jean—who grew up to become my mother— and learn more about farming from her father.

After her parents died in the 1930s, Annie Louise asked my mother and father, who had graduated from UK in 1939 and were living in Puerto Rico at the time, to come to Dean Hill and help her run the farm. I suspect she was fearful of the oncoming war and wanted her family home.

Annie Louise was a force with whom to be reckoned. She was respected and admired by many people and also known as being thrifty.

We called her “Na Na” as children, but when we became teenagers, we obviously couldn’t call her that uncool term. She became “Miss Annie,” and most everybody called her that.

My father died in November 1958 at an early age.

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Afterward, Miss Annie placed much of the tillable farm in the Federal Soil Bank program, which paid her not to raise crops. She retained enough acres to graze her 40 head of black Angus cattle.

After my oldest brother, Bob, left for the Army, Miss Annie hired a handyman named James Robert Springfield, known as J.R. She was acquainted with J.R. because he had worked for my Uncle Bill, who later became known as Colonel Bill Newsom of country ham fame. J.R. took care of our cattle herd, performed other farm jobs, and lived in one of our tenant houses.

J.R. had breakfast and lunch at our house, and during that time, he’d discuss with Miss Annie various aspects of the cattle herd and chores he had been working on.

One day, Miss Annie told J.R., “I want to see my cattle herd. Bring the wagon around.”

The problem was that the cattle were grazing in a back field a good distance from the house. Miss Annie was in her late 60s and didn’t want to walk that far. Since she was so thrifty, there was no farm truck in which to ride.

J.R. thought, “I can’t believe what she’s asking.” But he did as she said. After all, she was the boss.

Not to be deterred by lack of transportation, Miss Annie appeared in her traveling gear, which was a sight to see. She was in a pair of pants! I only had seen her in pants once, and that was when she picked blackberries and needed pants to help ward off chiggers.

She proceeded to the pickup point, where J.R. had pulled a “wagon” with the tractor. He placed a ladder at its side for Miss Annie to climb aboard. She had to step over to get in the wagon and that called for the need to wear pants.

The wagon she climbed into actually was a manure spreader! I can imagine the reaction of people driving on Kentucky Route 91 who might have seen my grandmother riding on a chair in the back of a manure spreader.

The next day, the party telephone line was buzzing with the story of Miss Annie riding in a manure spreader. I’m sure she didn’t appreciate those discussions. And she certainly wouldn’t care for this story going public, but most likely would forgive her grandson.

A Two-Room Schoolhouse

By Shelva Hensley, Tennessee

I went to a two-room school called Pine Flat in Harlan County in the 1940s. It was halfway between Wallins and Loyal, so we had a choice of going to either high school. We were about 15 miles from the town of Harlan and rode the VTC bus to town for 25 cents.

The school had a well with a big pump. There was a table on the porch where we kept our drinking cup or glass, which usually was a peanut butter or jelly jar. We swept the old wood floors with sweeping compound.

There was a big potbelly stove in each room to keep

Quilts Full of Memories

By Cathy Bunch, Williamsburg

When I was growing up in the 1950s on the eastern side of Sally Gap, on Kentucky Route 92 East in Whitley County, my mom, Amanda Sharp Vanover, made a lot of our clothes. She sometimes used feed sacks. I made my first pair of bell-bottom pants from a feed sack with some kind of wild print.

Mom made quilts for our beds out of feed sacks, old clothes or scrap cloth. In the wintertime, we needed two or three quilts on the bed because we had no heat in the bedrooms. We girls slept three in each bed, and our two brothers slept together, so we didn’t get cold.

Sometimes Mom made quilts out of Dad’s old Levi’s, but they were so heavy and hard to wash, she didn’t make many of them.

In the winter, there usually was a quilting frame

The Music of the Hounds

By K. David Wheeler, Mount Dora, Florida

In the early 1950s, I went miles deep into Lawrence County’s eastern Appalachians on a racoon club hunt.

The quarter-mile-long caravan followed a deep rut road. The taillights of a sputtering black pickup truck sparkled red ahead from which frenzied Bluetick hounds yelped their rage at being latched into metal cages.

The hunters double circled an awaiting sizzling bonfire in a clearing under the scorched needles of an Eastern pine. The night was frigid. Their gloved hands held flat, slightly curved metal pocket flasks from which they swigged searing moonshine.

The dogs’ trainer told tall tales about the prowess of hot-nosed Bluetick hounds of before. He stopped

us warm in the winter. It burned Black Diamond coal. The big room had one row of fourth-grade students, one fifth-grade row and so on through the eighth grade. The little room had first, second and third grades.

They were small classes, and everyone walked a long way to school—2 or 3 miles. I would stop at our little post office on the way home and pick up the mail. A postage stamp for a letter back then was 3 cents.

I lived on a 15-acre farm.

It was a great life. We had a large apple orchard, and I loved climbing trees. Those were really good days. Life was simple, without the pressures on life like we have today.

hanging from the ceiling in front of the heating stove in the living room. Lots of evenings were spent around that quilt frame tacking quilts. When we got old enough, we older kids helped her, and sometimes, Dad did, too.

Mamaw Sharp and Mamaw Patrick both quilted, and when they passed away, they had several quilt tops they had not quilted yet. Mom quilted each of her kids a quilt from the quilt tops our grandmothers had made. Eight kids times two quilts each equals miles of stitches made by hand because she didn’t want to quilt them on a sewing machine.

After I was an adult, I bought a beautiful flower garden quilt top at a fundraiser to build our new church. I got it all hand quilted except for a few flowers and the border and could not seem to get it done. After a year or so, Mom told me to bring it to her, and she would finish it. She did it in a couple of days. I treasure my quilts because Mom worked so hard and spent so many hours working on them.

instantaneously when the hunters heard the howling of the hounds. They had discovered raccoon spoor.

The Blueticks’ tenor timbre was captivatingly musical as they zigzagged through the woods. When it changed into melodic deep baying, the hunters in a single-column parade followed the sound to a black oak. Its wide halffoot-long leaves offered the raccoon cover that nearby pine boughs could not. No matter, although the racoon was high up in the branches, it was surrounded—treed.

The racoon’s eyes gleamed, reflected by the beams of long-handle flashlights. Leaping, grasping the oak tree trunk, the Blueticks’ sliding paws shred bark that peppered the hunters.

Racoon hunters take turns. The shooter was the last of the good ole boys not to have killed one. His rifle cracked. He would have a ringtail hat.

Dangers for navigation through The Falls led to The Life-Saving Service on the Ohio: A Short History

By Heather Funk Gotlib, Louisville

The area may look peaceful now, but the Falls of the Ohio was once the most dangerous part of the Ohio River. This stretch consisted of 2.5 miles of whitewater rapids that split river navigation in half. It was the only obstruction in the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to the mouth of the Mississippi.

These rapids were formed by the fossilized remains of an ancient coral reef that was so big and resistant to the normal erosion of limestone in the water that it changed the shape of the river. For millennia, this served as a landmark and meeting place for people and animals.

When Europeans began colonizing this land, they used three natural “chutes” that they could navigate to pass through the Falls safely and quickly.

Eventually, the city of Louisville grew up around the Falls. The river was an important part of daily life, whether it was for work or travel. The busy, perilous river meant that many people were exposed to the danger of the Falls of the Ohio every day.

The three of them thus banded together as the “Falls Heroes,” a name given to them by a local newspaper columnist.

Life Saving Station No. 10

After this, advocacy for an official lifesaving station began. People were skeptical in Washington, D.C., because there were no inland lifesaving stations so far. In May 1881, two officials came to the Falls to inspect the situation. They initially deemed it a “folly,” but riding in the chute with the Falls Heroes in the skiff that had become their lifeboat, they realized that there was a genuine need. The first idea was for a station to be built high up on the Falls of the Ohio with signal lights. This was deemed too expensive, and so a floating lifesaving station with a watchtower was proposed. Life Saving Station No. 10 officially began service in 1881, with Devan as the keeper. The boats in the 1881 station were named Reckless and Ready

Daily Life at the Station

The First Lifesaving Crew

The story of the Life Saving Station begins in 1876, when a skiff belonging to the steam towboat the John Gilmore capsized. Three men were seen clinging to it and calling for help. Nearby, two workers at a floating coal dock noticed the emergency. Billy Devan and Jack Gillooly luckily had a skiff themselves, which had been tied to the coal dock. They used it to rush toward the foot of the Falls to rescue the three men.

The next week, Gillooly was not around when Devan saw yet another accident. He called out to John Tully, a local fisherman who was familiar with navigating the Falls, who joined Devan to help.

The rescuers of the Life Saving Station were known as “boatmen” rather than the “surfmen” of coastal lifesaving stations. Their skills were unique to the circumstances of Ohio River rescue, and their work was described as “routinely arduous, extremely boring … punctuated by the sudden bursts of peril, even sheer terror, of plunging into roaring whitewater falls and over dams in open boats.”

The job consisted of long watches in the lookout tower—first with a spyglass and later with binoculars. They spent hours scanning the river for people in trouble or threats to public safety. To make sure the men were awake, a lookout was required to punch a timeclock every 15 minutes.

Outlaw Jesse James and his gang robbed a bank in Russellville on March 20, 1868, getting away with $14,000.

A map of the Ohio River with the Falls of the Ohio and its chutes visible

The Second Station

The 1881 Life Saving Station No. 10 was made of wood, which quickly rotted. By 1902, a new boat was desperately needed. It was delivered to the wharf on Nov. 6 of that year, and the original 1881 station was sold for $226 to become the wharf boat at Patriot, Indiana. In 1908, the station got its first motorized powerboat, built upriver at the Howard Shipyard.

Devan died in 1911, and Gillooly was put in charge. In this next stage, technological advancements came quickly. A telephone was installed in 1911. However, Gillooly—also known as “Captain Jack”—was skeptical of having a radio onboard the lifesaving station. After the Titanic sank, a bill was drafted in Congress to get radios on all lifesaving stations. Because this lifesaving station was an exception anyway, Gillooly successfully avoided getting a radio onboard until after the 1937 flood.

A number of remarkable rescues and narrow escapes ensued over the next few years. In 1912, ice clogged the Ohio River. The force of the ice traveling downriver brought several huge boats with it and almost took the Life Saving Station with it. The ropes were really strained— “quivering like violin strings,” according to one report— and threatened to break. The boat was damaged, and the idea of a steel-hulled lifesaving station began to percolate.

In 1913, the crew traveled upriver to help with flooding in the Cincinnati area. They saved approximately 500 families around Dayton, Kentucky. In 1914, the steamer Queen City sank at the Falls on the way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and 215 individuals were saved, many of them notable people from large cities. These influential passengers helped persuade Washington, D.C., to make this lifesaving station officially part of the Coast Guard.

Part of the Coast Guard

By 1915, many things about Life Saving Station No. 10 had become outdated: the technology, the equipment and

the pay structure. The young and agile lifesavers needed could not afford to work for the low wages and lack of pension that the Life Saving Station offered.

Presidents William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were big on government efficiency, so many outdated departments having to do with old tech such as steamboats were closed and folded into other governmental departments and agencies.

In 1915, the Life Saving Service officially became part of the Coast Guard, and Life Saving Station No. 10 became Coast Guard Life Saving Station – Louisville.

The Last Lifesaving Station

In 1929, the Coast Guard finally got a boat with a steel hull. This vessel—built in Dubuque, Iowa, and named the Louisville—was the last Life Saving Station to arrive at the wharf. It’s been at that spot since 1936, when the construction of the 2nd Street Bridge made it necessary to move. This boat had all the latest 1920s technology: two skiffs, a surf boat and a motorboat.

The tumultuous events of the 1930s and ’40s affected the station’s daily operations and mission. With Prohibition, the Station’s mission took a bit of a turn. In addition to daring rescues, the Coast Guard also was charged with enforcing the Volstead Act. This means that the Coast Guard servicemen in the Falls area were charged with patrolling the many small and remote islands to find illicit distilleries. During World War II, the lookout kept an eye on the river for spy activity and other operations meant to disrupt American trade.

By the 1970s, the station was decommissioned due to budget cuts. It was then renamed the Mayor Andrew Broaddus and later converted into offices for another old boat that recently had been rescued: the Belle of Louisville.

Reprinted with permission from the Belle of Louisville

Top, the Life Saving Station, circa 1900; above, this 1912 telegram was sent by John Gillooly when the crew went up to Dayton to rescue 500 families.

SCIENCE HILL ACADEMY Celebrates 200 Years

By Helen E. McKinney Executive Director, Shelby County Historical Society

Shelby County will be forever grateful to Julia Ann Hieronymus Tevis for opening her ground-breaking all-female Science Hill Academy in Shelbyville. The school celebrates 200 years in March 2025.

Destined to be a brilliant educator, Julia was born in Clark County on Dec. 5, 1799, to Pendleton Hieronymus (1775-1820) and Mary “Polly” Bush (1778-1833). When Julia was young, her family moved to Virginia, then to Washington, D.C., in search of better educational opportunities for her and her siblings. Her father became an “Indian agent” in Missouri, where he died in 1820.

After his death, Julia supported her mother and younger siblings with her salary as a school teacher. After taking a teaching job in Abingdon, Virginia, she met Rev. John Tevis (1792-1861), a Methodist minister from Kentucky.

Her reply to his proposal was, “Yes, provided …” The provision was that John must agree for Julia to open a school for girls in their home. In this school, students would learn to read and write and study Greek, Latin, French, mathematics and sciences—subjects often taught only to boys. Julia and John married in March 1824, and she got her wish.

Julia opened Science Hill Female Academy, a Protestant boarding school for girls ages 12-16, in Shelbyville on Monday, March 25, 1825, with just 18-20 pupils of different ages and learning abilities. By 1852, 250 students were enrolled. As enrollment increased, dormitory rooms were added, and many qualified teachers were hired.

Science Hill Academy was the first school of its kind west of the Allegany Mountains.

The school saw challenges over the years in the form of disease, war and natural disasters. The cholera epidemic in the 1830s nearly forced it to close. But it continued to grow steadily as parents sought higher learning for their daughters, and the education they received at Science Hill was unparalleled.

A usual school day consisted of morning chapel, classical prelude, singing of hymns, Bible reading and prayers. Bible study was required of all students, freshmen through senior year. An examination was given at the end of each school year.

Science Hill Academy was an accredited school of the Association of College and Secondary Schools of the Southern States. There was a Science Hill scholarship program that was of great benefit, especially during the Great Depression years, giving girls a chance to attend school who might not have been able to do so otherwise.

Students were required to attend school on Saturday, with Monday as their free day. Sundays were filled with church services and Bible study. An addition was built in 1826 to house a first-floor chapel and the second-floor dormitory.

The girls received an education that was well rounded in the arts, which included writing, music, singing, dancing and theater in the form of much-enjoyed plays. Students engaged in activities such as field hockey, tennis, basketball, badminton, archery and parlor games.

Between 1890-1900, 23 graduates completed their bachelor’s degrees at Wellesley College, and additional girls received degrees from renowned schools such as Vassar, Bryn Mawr, Stanford, Goucher, and New York, Chicago, California and Michigan universities. Three graduates earned M.D.s—one each from Rush Medical School, the University of Wisconsin and Johns Hopkins. Another earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Julia and John operated Science Hill Academy together until John’s death in January 1861. Julia continued to run it alone until 1879. At that time, she sold it to Dr. Wiley Taul Poynter, who was a teacher and principal of the school until he died in 1896. His wife, Clara Davis Martin Poynter, took over as principal until her 1937 death. Clara was active in the suffrage and temperance movements and was a lifelong advocate for women’s social and political equality.

The Poynters’ daughters, Juliet and Harriet, ran the school until it closed in 1939. In 1947, they made an agreement with Mark A. Wakefield and Mark J. Scearce, who first rented the chapel/auditorium for their antiques business. Over time, Scearce acquired the property, which included the courtyard, restaurant space and entire east wing. The remaining Poynter-owned space was purchased in the 1960s.

Science Hill Academy Principals:

Mrs. Julia A. Tevis, 1825-1879

W.T. Poynter, D.D., 1879-1896

Mrs. W.T. Poynter, A.B, 1896-1937

Juliet J. Poynter, A.B., 1937-1939

The owners of Wakefield-Scearce Galleries did extensive renovation to preserve the property. In 1975, Science Hill became listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Shelby County Historical Society has in its collection various items pertaining to Science Hill, including programs, catalogs, letters, school desks, portraits, diplomas, class photos and sheet music.

To celebrate the bicentennial, Wakefield-Scearce Galleries is planning an open house on March 29 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. Guests will be greeted by a Julia Tevis re-enactor and will learn stories of the school’s past, see special trades demonstrations and engage in other activities. A special ticketed fundraising event will be held that evening.

For more information, contact: Shelby County Historical Society at (502) 513-555, director@shelbykyhistory.org, or Wakefield-Scearce Galleries at (502) 633-4382 or info@ wakefieldscearce.com.

Clockwise from top: Jessie Petry’s autograph book from the 1880s; an 1890s guessing game; Wakefield-Scearce Galleries today.

J. Winston Coleman Jr.

Author and historian known as ‘The Squire’

By John W. McCauley, Lexington

Perhaps no one captured J. Winston Coleman Jr. as well as his friend, Abraham Lincoln author and collector William H. Townsend, in the poem below. The two authors and historians were as thick as thieves—“Book Thieves,” that is—as their group was known.

John Winston Coleman, Jr. was born on Nov. 5, 1898, in Lexington. He was the oldest son of John Winston and Mary Shelby (Payne) Coleman, and the great-grandson of Daniel Boone. Coleman grew up on the family farm in Fayette County and graduated in 1916 from Morton High School. He loved Kentucky and especially the Bluegrass, so he did not venture far to continue his education, earning a B.S. and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky.

film that were a great part of the Commonwealth’s history.

He was an important member of an informal group known as The Book Thieves, which was formed in 1931 in Lexington. The group was active until 1960 and had a profound literary impact in the Commonwealth.

In addition to Coleman, some other members of the group included Townsend, Dr. Thomas D. Clark, and University of Kentucky presidents Frank McVey and Herman Lee Donovan

The Book Thieves pictured on Dec. 12, 1942. Front row, from left: Samuel M. Wilson, Charles R. Staples, Frank L. McVey and William H. Townsend; back row, from left: John S. Chambers, Claude W. Trapp, J. Winston Coleman Jr. and Thomas D. Clark.

The Squire worked in various jobs in multiple locations before returning to Lexington in 1924 to start a residential construction business with John W. Davis. The two remained partners for about a dozen years before Coleman moved to his parents’ farm that he renamed Winburn, after his wife’s first name, Burnetta, and his middle name, Winston. The couple had married on Oct. 15, 1930. It was at Winburn Farm that he pursued his other passions—collecting Kentuckiana, history, writing and photography. Although Coleman’s college education was scientifically oriented, he became well known as a Kentucky historian and photographer, capturing events on

The Squire wrote numerous books, pamphlets and articles. Some of his books include Stage-Coach Days in the Bluegrass (1935), Slavery Times in Kentucky (1940), A Bibliography of Kentucky History (1949), The Springs of Kentucky (1955), Historic Kentucky (1967), Lexington During the Civil War (1968), Famous Kentucky Duels (1969), The Collected Writings of J. Winston Coleman, Jr. (1969), The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington (1972) and Kentucky: A Pictorial History (1972).

Even though Coleman was a successful published writer, he preferred writing and selfpublishing his pamphlets rather than the traditional publishing process. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 150 pamphlets, printed several hundred copies of each under the name Winburn Press, and gave them to family, friends and anyone who wanted a copy. Coleman loved to write but said he was not comfortable trying to market and push his books. Today, his pamphlets are rare and collectible. One of his most noted pamphlets is A Kentucky Lincolnian: The Story of William H. Townsend’s Great Collection of Lincolniana, at Lexington, Kentucky

According to Transylvania University, which owns the J. Winston Coleman Jr. Collection, his private Kentucky history collection includes approximately 3,500 books, pamphlets, manuscripts, maps and atlases, and 2,000 photographs.

In 1966, the Colemans moved from Winburn Farm to Lexington’s Henry Clay neighborhood. Today, Winburn Farm, which was once a gathering place for some of Kentucky’s great writers, has long since been developed and is nothing more than a memory.

Coleman, who received numerous awards and accolades during his lifetime, died on May 4, 1983. He and Burnetta are buried at the Lexington Cemetery, not far from Townsend, his old friend and fellow Book Thief.

Upcoming History Events Across Kentucky

Waveland Tea Tuesday – every Tuesday at Waveland Historic Site in Lexington. For more information, call 859.272.3611.

A Life in Color: An Exhibit by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, March 14-Oct. 7. For more information, call 270.442.8856 or visit quiltmuseum. org

First Farmers of the Barren River Valley Exhibit at the Kentucky Museum at WKU. On exhibit through 2025. For more information, call 270.745.2592 or visit wku.edu/ kentuckymuseum

Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939 at the Speed Art Museum, March 29-June 22. For more information, call 502.634.2700 or visit speedmuseum.org

The Archaeology of Moonshine Between the Rivers at LBL presentation at the McCracken County Public Library in Paducah, March 13. For more information, call 270.442.2510 or visit mclib.net.

The Kentucky Historical Society Presents:

CLASSIFIED ADS

BOOK FOR SALE — George Graham Vest: The Life and Times of Dog’s Best Friend chronicles the life and career of Frankfort native, jurist and legislator George Graham Vest. The book is by Stephen M. Vest, a cousin, who also is known for his command of the English language. $26.95 plus shipping. To purchase, call 888.329.0053 or visit shopkentuckymonthly.com.

WANTED — Paying cash for large diamonds; collections of vintage wrist and pocket watches; gold and silver coins; sterling flatware and serving pieces; gold and silver jewelry; collections of arts and crafts and pottery; antique advertising signs; antique walking canes; pocket knives; collections of antique guns and swords; military collections; early hand-crafted crocks and jugs; musical instruments; call Clarence, buyer for more than 35 years; 606.531 0467. (F-D)

BACK ISSUES We have a select number of back issues of Kentucky Explorer from 1986-2000. Back issues are $5 plus shipping. If you are in search of a certain issue or are interested in adding an issue to your collection, please call 1.888 329 0053 or email kymonthly@kentuckymonthly.com to see if it’s available. Reach 120,000 readers a classified ad in Kentucky Explorer! Classified ads are only $50 per issue (up to 25 words). Contact Deborah Kohl Kremer at deb@ kentuckymonthly.com or call 888.329.0053.

BY BILL ELLIS

Evolution and Me

When I was a little kid, I sang “Jesus Loves Me.” In 1948, I made a profession of faith at Clayvillage Baptist Church but was baptized at Shelbyville First Baptist Church because our little country church did not have a baptistery. I may be a Methodist because as my head went under the water, my feet slipped and came out of the water. A little humor is always important when you write or talk about religion and science.

I still have the same faith, but it has grown from the faith of a child to one of an adult—now an old man of 85 years.

You’ll probably recall reading or hearing about the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. The Tennessee legislature had recently passed a law forbidding the teaching of evolution in public schools. A jury found John Thomas Scopes, a high school biology teacher and native of Paducah, guilty for teaching evolution in Dayton, Tennessee.

What you may not know is that the Kentucky General Assembly defeated anti-evolution bills earlier, in 1922. I have spent most of my life as a historian and teacher. I encountered the theory of evolution in my early graduate studies when I wrote my master’s degree thesis, “The Kentucky Evolution Controversy,” at Eastern Kentucky University in 1967.

Much credit in defeating anti-evolution bills in the Kentucky General Assembly in 1922 goes to Dr. E.Y. Mullins, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1899-1928. Along with University of Kentucky President Frank L. McVey and others, Mullins spoke before the General Assembly, urging its members to defeat the legislation.

One of my political heroes, William Jennings Bryan, spoke in favor of the legislation before the General Assembly. Otherwise, he was on the side of justice and the “common man.” He died soon after the Monkey Trial in Tennessee.

When it came time to write my Ph.D. dissertation, I first considered McVey but settled on Mullins because so many of his Baptist co-religionists appeared to favor the legislation and, well, I was a Baptist. In 1985, Mercer University Press published my book, A Man of Books and a Man of the People: E.Y. Mullins and the Crisis of Moderate Southern Baptist Leadership.

In the late 1970s, there was a renewed effort to outlaw the teaching of evolution either at the state level or by local school board edict. I saw this as a decision that

would endanger public-school science education and the separation of church and state. Caught in the middle of this controversy, yet often silent, were the public-school biology teachers of this country.

For all the constancy of the anti-evolutionists and defense of the teaching of evolution by well-known scientists and others, I wondered how much evolution was emphasized in the public high-school biology classroom. As claimed by creationists, was “secular humanism” destroying the faith of young people? Or was evolution an important modern subject about which students should learn?

In early 1981, I devised a questionnaire with the help of colleagues at EKU and others, testing the extent of evolution education in the public schools of Kentucky. I sent a cover letter to nearly 800 high-school biology and/or science teachers in the state, along with a questionnaire consisting of three parts: one, general information about the teacher; two, the apparent problems of teaching evolution, the level of emphasis the teacher placed on evolution, and the reaction of students, parents and administrators; and three, the teachers’ opinions about key issues related to the instruction of evolution/creation.

I received a 44 percent response within a short time and was told by “experts” that this was an astounding return. To confirm the Kentucky study, I contacted science education leaders in Indiana and Tennessee and sent a questionnaire to random samples of high school biology teachers in those states. I also personally interviewed on tape a selection of Kentucky science teachers who taught high school biology.

What did I discover? In all three states, at least half or more of the respondents claimed to place a “moderate” stress on evolution, meaning they used the chapter in the assigned textbook that covered the subject and did not avoid the subject. Smaller numbers indicated a strong emphasis, and there were respondents who said they did not stress evolution.

From research and contacts with other scholars, my thoughts were that this pattern may have held true, at the time, throughout the country. Only a few teachers in all three states in my study “reported any significant difficulties either from students, parents or administrators” from teaching evolution. There was no evidence from my study that anyone had been fired, in contrast to Scopes’ sister, Lela, who was relieved of her teaching position in Paducah because she followed her brother’s teaching of evolution.

I decided to go public with my study, participating in a panel at a national science meeting. The results of the study were covered by the regional press. My findings at the time were confirmed by two similar studies in Georgia and Ohio.

I also contributed my study to articles in two teaching journals—The History and Social Science Teacher and Transaction: Social Science and Modern Society, as well as a more personal account in The Historian: A Journal of History

Most important, I was invited to speak at a meeting of the Fayette County School Board in the fall of 1981 during an important vote on the admission of creationism (creation science) into the curriculum. I briefly reviewed the findings of my study. The school board voted 3-2 not to mandate creation science.

In 1987, the United States Supreme Court upheld an appellate court’s decision not to allow creation science equal time in public school science classrooms.

If you’re interested, you can find numerous books and websites to whet your appetite for information and knowledge about evolution and creationism. •

After my foray into evolution education, I went on to other business, publishing more than 30 articles and eight monographs, including a study of the Kentucky River, a biography of Robert Worth Bingham, a history of Eastern Kentucky University, a history of education in Kentucky and finally, Irvin S. Cobb: The Rise and Fall of an American Humorist.

During this time, I also taught a full load of classes and, owing to my growing family, I graded correspondence courses and taught off-campus classes whenever available. For a short time, I directed the Oral History Center at EKU and, along the way, completed more than 600 interviews. I worked my way up to become a full professor. Well, I had a family to feed and educate.

Four and a half decades later, I don’t know much about the current teaching of evolution in Kentucky public high schools. I would assume that creationism receives emphasis in some private schools. This might be a good thing to study by a scholar much younger than I am.

Through all of this, I still believe “Jesus loves me.” The Bible is not a scientific text. My faith is built on knowledge as well as emotion. I am “Baptist born and Baptist bred and when I die, I will be Baptist dead.”

P.S. No, I do not believe that any form of dinosaur and mankind lived at the same time, much less walked together.

Readers may contact Bill Ellis at editor@kentuckymonthly. com.

BY WALT REICHERT

Get This Tree, Not That One gardening

So, it’s (finally!) that time of the year again. You’re at the garden center, and money is burning a hole in your pocket. Feel free to splurge on annuals and perennials, but remember that mistakes buying trees can be costly in both time and money. It may take several years before you realize that $300 tree you bought is a miserable specimen.

Allow me to offer some advice about buying trees.

Some Bad Guys

White pines soak up a lot of gardeners’ dollars. True, they are reasonably inexpensive, and they grow fast. So, they’re popular to grow as an evergreen screen to hide neighbors’ ugly lawns. But they just don’t thrive in most of Kentucky save the eastern mountain fringe. They don’t like our heavy, alkaline soil and frequent dry spells. They grow quickly, then die quickly. A 15-year-old white pine is a senior citizen.

A better choice for an evergreen shrub is arborvitae, especially the variety ‘Green Giant.’ They, too, grow quickly, are fairly inexpensive, and are hardier than white pines. Just don’t plant them in poorly drained soils, as they won’t survive. Another alternative to the white pine is the Norway spruce. It is a little slower growing but long-lived, and its dense, swooping branches will hide just about anything. Once again, please don’t buy Callery (Bradford) pears. Good nurseries stopped selling them years ago because they’re horribly invasive, and they fold up like umbrellas in the slightest of breezes. Unfortunately, they’re still sold, and until gardeners stop buying

them, they will continue to be. There ought to be a law against them, but there isn’t.

Don’t fall for the “ultra-fast growing” hype. Trees that grow quickly have weak wood, invasive roots, insect and disease issues, or all of the above. Hybrid willows and poplars are good examples. You sometimes see Paulownia (aka Empress tree) described as growing up to 12 feet in a year. Yes, it does, and it has leaves the size of Cincinnati. It also has invasive roots, drops limbs everywhere, and then it dies.

No super-fast-growing tree is really desirable, but our Kentucky state tree, the tulip poplar, is a reasonable alternative. It grows relatively quickly, doesn’t drop branches constantly, and is attractive to wildlife. In the magnolia family, the tulip poplar blooms in the spring and is a good tree.

A few other trees you may come across that you need to avoid are: Siberian elm—weak wood, twigs everywhere

Silver maple—roots that crack concrete and invade water lines

Weeping willow—succumbs to canker disease rapidly

Tree of heaven (Ailanthus)— stinks to high heaven, invasive

Mulberry—sends up its babies everywhere, don’t hang out washing anywhere near it.

Some Good Guys

Now that you know what trees you don’t want, here are some trees that are sociable and fun to be around. Good trees for wildlife—any of the oaks: burr, white, red, chestnut, etc.; beech; crabapple

Good trees for wet spots—swamp white oak, red maple, black gum (Tupelo), bald cypress, dawn redwood

Good trees for fall color—red maple cultivars such as ‘Autumn Blaze’ or ‘October Glory,’ gingko (male only), dogwood, sugar maple

Good trees for small yards—fringe tree, redbud, dogwood, yellowwood

Once you get your good tree home—whether it’s balled-and-burlap, container-grown or bare rooted—plant it properly and keep it well watered.

You’re going to need to dig a hole at least twice the diameter of the root ball or container. Spread the roots so they grow in all directions and refill the hole with the soil you took out. Water in the soil but do not stomp on it—that squeezes out the air the roots need to grow. Continue watering through the first summer and during dry spells for the next three years.

Unless you have planted a tree on a windy site, staking is not necessary and is usually detrimental. Mulching, though, is a good practice. Mulching recreates the forest environment trees thrive in—moisture is retained, and weed growth is suppressed. Mulching also keeps lawn mowers and string trimmers away from the tree’s trunk. More trees succumb to “string trimmer” disease than insects and drought. Just keep the mulch at least 2 inches away from the trunk of the tree.

But please don’t make a mulch volcano for your tree. If your lawn service does that, fire them. There ought to be a law.

But there isn’t.

Readers may contact Walt Reichert at editor@kentuckymonthly.com

GARY GARTH

Conservation Camps

Iam not a native Kentuckian but have lived in Kentucky longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, so perhaps you’ll afford me squatter’s rights to talk about a program with which I haven’t a shred of personal experience but a great deal of secondhand information.

It’s the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ Conservation Camp program. The program is generations old, having started in 1949 at Camp John Currie on Kentucky Lake. Camp Earl Wallace near Lake Cumberland opened a couple of years later, and Camp Robert C. Webb on Grayson Lake was added in 1969.

The goal for the kids, which I doubt has much changed since the initial summer of 1949, is a week of outside fun, complete with dirt, grime, splashing and squeals, all while gathering and honing some important outdoor skills.

If that sounds like fun, it’s because it is.

Conservation camp season runs for eight weeks, from June to August (no

camps are scheduled during the week of July 4). Individual camps run Monday through Friday.

The camps are open to Kentucky students in grades 4 through 6, and, according to the KDFWR website, students who are “no older than 13” as of April 1. The cost is $300 and—along with a slew of daily fun stuff— includes food, lodging, camper’s insurance, a junior sportsman’s license and transportation between the student’s school district and the camp.

The fun stuff includes classes and hands-on experience with archery, boating, fishing, paddling, nature exploration, outdoor survival skills and swimming.

Safety is paramount. Each camp is staffed with a camp director, camp superintendent, five conservation educators, 24 counselors, four counselor supervisors and three cooks. All camp staff receive a minimum of two weeks training, and each staff member is subject to a background check issued by the Kentucky State Police.

Attendees are closely supervised,

Canoeing and fishing are two of the numerous skills and activities campers enjoy at the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Camps. The weeklong camps are held throughout the summer.

and the week is fairly structured. The biggest challenge, according to several alumni and past staff members I talked with, is homesickness. While there is no sick like homesick campers, those suffering from this common malady are strongly urged to spend the first night, which typically cures the ailment. No camper is required to stay against his or her will.

Due to the construction of a new dining hall, Camp Wallace is closed for the 2025 season. Students who normally would attend Camp Earl Wallace will be eligible to attend Camp Currie or Camp Webb. Available dates can be found at fw.ky. gov/Education/Documents/CampWallace-County-Assignments.pdf

For more information about the Conservation Camp program, including financial assistance and options for sponsoring a student, go to fw.ky.gov/Education/Pages/ Summer-Camps.aspx or contact the Department of Fish and Wildlife at 1.800.858.1549. Each camp can host about 200 students per week.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KDFWR/RACHEL CUMMINGS

If you bagged a deer during the 2024-25 season, which closed January 20, congratulations! You helped nearly set a record.

The total season kill was 149,868 deer—second only to the astounding 155,730 whitetails that hunters checked in 2015. The recent take also surpassed the 10-year average of 143,442 deer bagged per season.

The strong harvest came in the face of wet, foul weather during the opening of gun season.

State wildlife officials were generally happy.

“The opening weekend of modern gun is traditionally responsible for our largest percentage of Kentucky’s overall deer harvest each year, so we’re very glad that hunters stuck with it, despite the weird weather,” said state deer program coordinator Joe McDermott. “We had a great turnout for modern gun season. We had a great season, even with subpar weather at times.”

The lion’s share of the annual season kill generally is taken during the November modern-gun season. During the most recent campaign, gun hunters bagged 107,392 deer. Archers took 16,662, crossbow hunters 14,020, and muzzleloader hunters checked 11,794.

One thing state wildlife officials were not overly pleased with was the 2024-25 buck-to-doe ratio.

Of the total deer kill, 63,797, or about 42 percent of the total, were does. State wildlife officials would like to see close to a 50/50 doe/buck harvest.

Kentucky’s sporting license year ended Feb. 28. Don’t forget to renew. Licenses can be purchased online at fw.ky.gov or at most county court houses and where sporting goods are sold. Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com

LAUREL RIVER LAKE

MARCH 2025

Jerry Garcia

First Farmers of the Barren River Valley

Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, through June 30, 270.745.2592 Ongoing Jerry Garcia Exhibit

Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, Owensboro, through March 28, 2026, 270.926.7891

3

Jim Gaffigan: Everything Is Wonderful Tour

Rupp Arena, Lexington, 859.233.3535

The Shamrock Tenors

EKU Center for the Arts, Richmond, 859.622.7469

Pink Martini

Lexington Opera House, 859.233.3535 Ongoing

Ongoing

Brilliant Exiles

American Women in Paris, 1900-1939, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, through June 22, 502.634.2700

Story by Story

Paul Sawyier Library, Frankfort, 502.352.2665

Portraits in Faith Exhibit

Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville, through April 30, 502.584.9254

Ongoing The Jackleg Testament

Part 2: The Book of Only Enoch UK Art Museum, Lexington, through June 21, 859.257.5716 Ongoing Option Expedition

Paramount Arts Center, Ashland, 606.324.0007 Ongoing

Broadway Show: Hadestown

The Carson Center, Paducah, 270.908.2037

Book Signing

George Graham Vest: The Life and Times of Dog’s Best Friend, Boyle County Public Library, Danville, 859.238.7323

National Quilt Museum, Paducah, through June 21, 270.442.8856 JigJam Irish Bluegrass Quartet

Norton Center for the Arts, Danville, 859.236.4692

Legends Series: Angel’s Envy Kentucky Derby Museum, Louisville, 502.637.1111

The Jesse Lees

The Lyric Theatre, Lexington, 859.280.2201

Comedian Drew Lynch

Louisville Home & Garden Show

Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, through March 2, 502.367.5000

Kentucky Crafted Market

Super Bull Returns Corbin Arena, Corbin, 606.258.2020

The Odd Couple

Woodford Theatre, Versailles, through March 29, 859.873.0648 A Taste of Ireland

RiverPark Center, Owensboro, 270.687.2770

Beauty and the Beast Bed and Breakfast

Barn Lot Theater, Edmonton, through March 30, 270.432.2276 ZZ

Alltech Arena, Lexington, through March 9, 502.892.3126

Steel Magnolias

Spotlight Playhouse, Berea, through March 16, 859.756.0011

The Infamous Stringdusters

Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, 1.800.765.7464

Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE Louisville Palace, 1.800.745.3000 Thy Will Be Done Symphony Hall, Paducah, 270.444.0065

Hindsight Arrives

For a man who’s three score and three, as Abraham Lincoln would have said, I’m more fortunate than I deserve. I have some stiffness in my knees and the occasional backache, but for someone who seldom exercises as he should, I’m lucky.

You won’t hear me complain much.

I’m healthy and grateful.

I used to be a sportswriter, and near the end of that phase of my career, I struggled doing play-by-play and keeping stats. I had to squint to identify whether it was No. 35 or No. 88 who made the tackle. From my post in the press box, they were starting to look the same: those threes, fives and eights. Depending on uniform styles, they might as well have been sixes and nines.

STEPHEN M. VEST Publisher + Editor-in-Chief

Early on, I was a statistician and scorekeeper. I kept the book for most of the teams I played for and, in high school, called in sports reports to the newspaper. Eventually, I found myself in the sports information department during the University of Louisville’s 1986 NCAA men’s basketball championship run with “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison, Jeff Hall and Milt Wagner. I covered an array of sports in Western and Northern Kentucky, Central Indiana and, eventually, Frankfort. My last fulltime sportswriter gigs were in Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill, South Carolina.

When I returned to Kentucky to work at The Blood-Horse, the famed Thoroughbred magazine in Lexington, I went to renew my driver’s license and failed the eye test, confirming that I struggled with distances. Editor Ray Paulick hired me pre-eye test. When I showed up the first day at work with my newly prescribed glasses, he said, “If you’d have had those during the interview, I would have offered you more money.”

Well, back to the story.

I attend Frankfort’s earliest church, catty-corner from Liberty Hall, where one of our members, Margaretta Brown, established the first Sunday school “west of the mountains” in 1810 and, with her husband, U.S. Sen. John Brown, the First Presbyterian Church in 1816. My distant cousin, George Graham Vest, attended the church and Sabbath School, where he memorized the four Gospels and

much of the Old and New Testaments. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, one of George’s classmates, attended First Prez. Visitors have included President Zachary Taylor and the Gen. Marquis de Lafayette

On most Sundays, I am in the back of the church, serving as an usher/greeter, the last line of hospitality and defense. Not far from my post sits a young woman whose last name rhymes with mine. For the past few months, her father, Steve, who lives elsewhere, has been on our prayer list.

Our old church does not have the best sound system, and each time his name is mentioned, parishioners or those listening to the online broadcast tell me they’re praying for me. It took me a while to understand why, and— confused—I’d say, “OK. Thanks.”

So, you see, I’ve worn glasses for more than 20 years. Each time I wear out a pair, I or my loving wife schedule an eye exam. Recently, we went.

They did the things they do. They had me stick my chin on the little bar and blew puffs of air into my eyes. They flashed bright lights and took pictures before the doctor administered a final exam.

“Can you read the letters on row three?”

“C-B-X-D.”

“How about row four?”

“Q-G-H-E.”

After six or seven attempts and having me cover my right eye and then left, he said, “Mr. Vest, what are you doing here?”

“Getting some glasses.”

“Why?” he said. “You don’t need them.”

“What?” I told him about failing my driving test and how I could have made more money if I’d had them sooner.

“You don’t need them.”

I imagined Clarence Odbody, AS2 (Angel Second Class) from Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, in a black-andwhite heaven, doing his job and seeing a flood of nonspecific prayers for healing coming in for me, a person with no compelling needs, intervening and applying them as he sees fit without asking his superior’s permission.

Said the eye doctor: “I don’t know what else to say. You have 20/20 vision.”

Vest can be contacted at steve@kentuckymonthly.com

KET HAS A NEW HOME IN

Along with facilities in Lexington and Frankfort, the KET Louisville Production Center is a commitment to educating, informing and inspiring Kentuckians of all ages. Visit KET.org/Louisville for more information.

Lake Cumberland

A mecca for outdoor recreation, arts, culture and experiences

It isn’t enough to be rich in land or infrastructure, in people or skills. In Somerset and Pulaski County, we’re also rich in experiences — offering a quality of life that is unmatched across the country.

65,000 surface acres of magnificent lake water

Hundreds of miles of trails and natural beauty

Abundant arts, entertainment and nightlife options

Decades of spirited history

At SPEDA, we are uniquely focused on enhancing quality of life to build an economically viable community for future generations.

Want to learn more? Let us lead you around.