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Your Community Recorder newspaper serving all of Boone County Michelle Bates-Smith and Kathy Moughler.
Volume 135 Number 50 © 2011 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Study paranormal at Big Bone Park
Big Bone Lick State Park naturalist and interim manager Todd Young won’t call it paranormal, but he will say that some weird things have happened around the park. You’ll have a chance to do your own paranormal investigation at this weekend’s paranormal ghost hunt and seminar. NEWS, A3
Diabetes educator shares experience
Joan Geohegan understands what it’s like living with diabetes. A registered nurse and certified diabetes educator with the Northern Kentucky Health Department, Geohegan has had Type 1 diabetes for most of her life. LIFE, B1
Program: Dropouts can drop back in
Students who dropped out of high school are getting a second chance at education. This school year Boone County Schools launched the Drop In program at the district’s alternative school. The Drop In program is designed for students who have either dropped out of high school or are in jeopardy of dropping out. SCHOOLS, A6
Check nutrients of non-dairy drinks
Dairy milk provides nutrients that are vital to our well-being. Today, there are many nondairy beverages on the market. Look to the label to see if the product you are choosing is providing the nutrients you expect. LIFE, B1
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Ferguson roast will be Oct. 6
By Stephanie Salmons ssalmons@nky.com
When former Boone County Judge-executive Bruce Ferguson was a “youngster,” he would visit the area that’s now Big Bone Lick State Park and would even drink the spring water. Ferguson, who served as judgeexecutive from 1963-1982 and again from 1986-1992, was instrumental in the establishment of Big Bone as a state park and served as president of the Big Bone Park Association in the early 1950s. “I don’t think many people gave us much hope of getting the state interested in a park,” he said. According to a previous release from the Friends of Big Bone organization, Ferguson worked with secretary William Fitzgerald to raise funds for the park’s establishment and in December 1958, a $5,000 check was sent to Asa Rouse to buy 16.67 acres of land which would become the park. Friends of Big Bone will host a dinner and roast honoring Ferguson on Thursday, Oct. 6, at Receptions Conference Center, Donaldson Road, Erlanger. The event kicks off at 5:45 p.m. Dinner will follow an hour later. Cost is $55. Anyone interested in attending can contact Shawn Masters, senior partner of the Merlot Group, for more information at 859-743-1003 or by emailing smasters@merlotgroup.com. Featured “roasters” will be Scott Kimmich, deputy judgeexecutive under Ferguson, and Asa Rouse. If there’s time they’d like possibly open it up to audience members, said Masters, who helped organize the event. “I think anyone that knows Bruce admires him,” FOBB president Pat Fox said. Since Ferguson was instrumen-
STEPHANIE SALMONS/COMMUNITY RECORDER STAFF
The Friends of Big Bone will honor former Boone County Judge-executive Bruce Ferguson with a dinner and “roast” on Oct. 6. tal in the creation of the park, it’s fitting FOBB hosts the event in his honor, she said. Proceeds from the night will go back to benefit the park in some way, she said. Fox is excited for the event, which has been “a long time coming,” she said. “It’s nice to honor one of your own who has done so much for the county,” Fox said. According to Masters, organizers felt this recognition was “long overdue for Bruce.”
An “icon” in Boone County politics for decades, it’s time Ferguson was recognized for his contributions to not only Boone County but Northern Kentucky, Masters said. “Bruce, in my opinion, laid the foundation for the successful growth Boone County has experienced in the past decade,” he said. Ferguson put Boone County and Northern Kentucky “on the map” and needs to be recognized for his early contributions that
“got Northern Kentucky where it is today,” Masters said. When asked to participate in the roast, Ferguson said his reaction was “mixed.” He’s never been interested in people using his name for fundraising, but Big Bone was “such an important part of my life, I consented,” he said. This is his first “official” roast, Ferguson said. “I trust that it’ll be the last,” he said. “I should be well done by now.”
Bean Bash dedicated to its founder
McBee, 78, praised as ‘great public servant’ By Nancy Daly and Stephanie Salmons ndaly@nky.com, ssalmons@nky.com
The Bean Bash, one of Boone County’s largest charity events, takes place Oct. 15 in Florence, but last week’s death of its founder will make for a noticeable difference from the 36 previous fundraisers. Bill McBee, 78, founder of the Bean Bash and a former state legislator from Boone County, died Sept. 20 at his home in Burlington. Organizers of the Bean Bash have decided to dedicate the Oct. 15 event at Turfway Park to McBee, whose red jacket or red sweater was his trademark at the daylong charity event. Judge-executive Gary Moore said at the Sept. 20 Boone County Fiscal Court meeting that McBee was a “great public servant.”
According to Moore, some of the major Boone County highways, like Ky. 18 and Ky. 237, were funded through McBee’s work. “Bill will be missed,” Moore said. “He’s a big part of our Boone County history and heritage.” McBee McBee was born in Burlington and graduated from Burlington High School and Georgetown College. After working in business and education for several years, in 1972 McBee, a Democrat, ran for a seat in the Kentucky General Assembly, where he served 19 years. After serving in the legislature, he worked as a lobbyist and in the 1990s ran into trouble in the Operation BopTrot corruption scandal in Kentucky. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role. In 1974, McBee started the Bean Bash as a political fundraiser. Its first location was the Mid Valley Pipe Line Park on Limaburg Road
in Hebron. It featured bean soup, tomatoes, slaw and corn bread cooked on site. With its success, the Bean Bash moved to Latonia Race Course, now Turfway Park, in the early 1980s. It transformed from a political fundraiser into a cause even closer to McBee’s heart, helping people with disabilities. McBee’s son, Steve, had a disability and benefited from Redwood School and Special Olympics Area 7. These organizations, along with BAWAC, continue to benefit from the Bean Bash. Steve McBee died in 2009 from leukemia. “Steve was involved with all three of the charities we raise the money for,” McBee told the Boone County Recorder in 2009. “He had a disability, which is why the Bean Bash headed in the direction it has taken. I think the best part of the Bean Bash is raising money for the charities, and the event gives people a good chance to see who is benefiting from the money they donate, because a lot of the peo-
See MCBEE on page A2
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