www.kentuckymonthly.com Display until 10/11/2022 SEPTEMBER 2022 with Kentucky Explorer + more Kentucky Reels Everett SeasonArtsPerformingMcCorveySeasonBegins IssueBourbonThe Celebrate Kentucky’s signature drink with a spirit-laced dessert such as Bourbon Panna Cotta with Spiced Peaches
atKentuckyHeritageJazzFestivalShakerVillage Free Admission to the Fest and Shaker Village all weekend! Enjoy food trucks, an outdoor bar & historic tours. Visit ShakerVillageKY.org for more information. Paid for by Tallgrass Farm Foundation September 17 Noon-10:00 p.m. September 18 Noon-6:00 p.m.
DEPARTMENTS 2 Kentucky Kwiz 3 Readers Write 4 Vested Interest 6 Mag on the Move 10 Across Kentucky 12 Cooking 45 Kentucky Explorer 56 Off the Shelf 58 Past PresentTense/Tense 60 Gardening 62 Field Notes 64 Calendar 16 Cheers to Bourbon Month! Bourbon lovers can commemorate the month with these spirited cocktails 18 Bourbon Barrels of Fun Fall signatureshowcasefestivalsKentucky’sspirit 24 Educating, Exploring and Enlightening The Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild reclaims bourbon history on behalf of the future 30 A Reel Fish Story A new book traces the history of the iconic Kentucky Reel 34 A Joyful Responsibility Everett McCorvey, who put UK’s opera program on the map, uses his platform to spread a message of love and acceptance 40 Overture, Curtain, Lights Comedy, drama, music, ballet and more—Kentucky’s new performing arts season has it kentuckymonthly.comall 1 in this issue16ON THE COVER Bourbon Panna Cotta, photo by Mackenzie Frank 12 SEPTEMBER
© 2022, Vested Interest Publications Volume Twenty-Five, Issue 7, September 2022 Stephen M. Vest Publisher + Editor-in-Chief 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, Mick Jeffries, Kim Kobersmith, Walt Reichert, Joel Sams, Tracey Teo, Janine Washle and Gary P. West Business and Circulation Barbara Kay Vest Business Manager Jocelyn Roper Circulation Specialist Advertising Lindsey Collins Senior Account Executive and Coordinator Kelley Burchell 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 $20 per year by Vested Interest Publications, Inc., 100 Consumer Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601. Periodicals Postage Paid at Frankfort, KY and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to KENTUCKY MONTHLY, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602-0559. Vested Interest Publications: Stephen M. Vest, president; Patricia Ranft, vice president; Barbara Kay Vest, secretary/treasurer. Board of directors: James W. Adams Jr., Dr. Gene Burch, Gregory N. Carnes, Barbara and Pete Chiericozzi, Kellee Dicks, Maj. Jack E. Dixon, Bruce and Peggy Dungan, Mary and Michael Embry, Thomas L. Hall, Judy M. Harris, Greg and Carrie Hawkins, Jan and John Higginbotham, Frank Martin, Bill Noel, Michelle Jenson McDonnell, Walter B. Norris, Kasia Pater, Dr. Mary Jo Ratliff, Barry A. Royalty, 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. Celebrating the best of our Commonwealth 1. Legend names Elijah Craig as “The _______ of Bourbon.” A. Originator B. Creator C. Father 2. What type of water contributes to the unique qualities of Kentucky bourbon? A. Soft B. Hard C. Medium 3. What percentage of bourbon does Kentucky provide globally? A. 45 percent B. 65 percent C. 95 percent 4. In what Kentucky city is the Urban Bourbon Trail? A. Lexington B. Frankfort C. Louisville 5. What is the dominant grain in bourbon? A. Corn B. Rye C. Barley 6. From what language did the word “bourbon” originate? A. French B. German C. Spanish 7. Bourbon barrels must be made from what type of wood? A. Maple B. Oak C. Birch 8. Fill in the blanks: “All bourbon is ________, but not all _______ is bourbon.” A. Rum B. Brandy C. Whiskey 9. In what year did Congress define bourbon as a distinctive United States product? A. 1972 B. 1964 C. 10.1958Where is Bourbon County in Kentucky? A. Eastern B. Western C. 11.CentralKentucky is considered the “_______ of bourbon.” A. Birthplace B. Origin C. 12.StartWhich movie action hero drinks good quality bourbon? A. Jon Snow B. John Rambo C. John Wick kentuckymonthly.com kentucky kwiz 2 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 Test your knowledge of our beloved Commonwealth. To find out how you fared, see the bottom of page 8. KENTUCKY BOURBON “Kentucky Kwiz” courtesy of Karen M. Leet, author of Sarah’s Courage, a Kentucky historical novel, and co-author of Civil War, Lexington, Kentucky, historical nonfiction, both from The History Press.
to
This handy guide to sipping in the Bluegrass State spotlights local breweries, wineries and, of course, distilleries. Discover unique ways to drink in Kentucky, creative cocktail recipes and more.
UNITING
On reading more about Stephen C. Foster, I discovered some facts about his songs worth remembering, including “My Old Kentucky Home.” Our state song was based on the famous abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and interestingly enough, Foster’s notes suggest he even considered the lyric, “Poor Uncle Tom, good night” before finally settling on “My old Kentucky home, good Fosternight.”wrote several other “plantation songs,” some in collaboration with his abolitionist friend, George Shiras. They apparently intended these songs to engender sympathies for enslaved people much as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Foster’shad.other songs in this genre included “Old Folks at Home,” “Oh! Boys, Carry Me Long,” “Old Uncle Ned” and “Lily Dale.” Another of these songs, “Massa in the Cold Ground,” tells a story of revenge in its fourth and fifth verses (excised by many publishers). The protagonist, a formerly enslaved person, happens on his former enslaver and kills Thesehim.songs later were included in the musical play Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which toured Northern cities in the 1850s. Foster’s songs were performed by minstrel shows. Some of these portrayed enslaved people sympathetically, while others cruelly ridiculed Thisthem.is what many of us remember most about Foster and his songs. Whatever Foster thought of these shows, no one knows. He wrote very little other than his songs. During the Civil War, Foster wrote marching songs for the Union Army, some dedicated to Abraham Lincoln I learned all of this from JoAnne O’Connell’s recently biography,published The Life and Songs of Stephen Foster. O’Connell writes that Frederick Douglass believed the plantation songs served their purpose well. As she quotes Douglass here, “The mere hearing of those songs would do more to express some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than reading whole volumes of philosophy on the subject could do.”
Tom Louderback, Louisville CONNECT. Find more at kentuckymonthly.com. Use your phone to scan this QR code and visit our website. Follow us @kymonthly
Readers Write KENTUCKIANS EVERYWHERE. We Love 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. Controversial Song I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed Steve Vest’s review of Emily Bingham’s My Old Kentucky Home: The Astonishing Life and Reckoning of an Iconic American Song (June/July issue, page 6). I, too, have conflicted feelings about the song. I love it but recognize that it may be hurtful to some. It’s a Again,quandary.itwasavery
good article. Abigail Keam, Fayette County•••
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While Gardner will continue that portion of the business, it will be from another location as hotel renovations have squeezed himIt’sout.fitting that a portrait that took more than 18 years to complete was the last one to come down. “It took a great deal of intestinal fortitude to do it year after year,” said Gardner, referring to Mark Haertzen, who first walked through the studio door on Nov. 9, 1989. “Sam had taken a photo of me, and I got this idea to have one taken of my son, Tyler, on his first birthday, draped in the same suit,” Mark said. For the next 17 years, Mark brought Tyler back for an annual photo until he grew into his dad’s suit. “It started as an idea for our yearly Christmas cards.” It started earlier than that. According to Mark, the idea germinated from a Haertzen family tradition that began in the 1960s in Lexington’s Lansdowne neighborhood, just off Tates Creek Road. “Every year, we took a family photo in front of the same white pine,” he said. “When we started, I was a kid and it was a sapling, and eventually, it was a full-grown tree. Our family grew, and so did the tree.
Mark and his wife, Debbie, mailed a white pine seedling with the Christmas photo and a note that read, “May your family grow along with this tree.”
Publisher + Editor-in-Chief 4 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
Around then, I saw a feature in Time magazine from the 1950s that showed a girl growing into her swimsuit. Maybe that’s where the idea took root.”
STEPHEN M. VEST
“Sam Mosley bought the studio from Gus and moved it to the Galt House when the hotel opened in 1975,” said Gardner, who worked for Mosley before eventually buying him out. “It was the longestrunning studio in the city— possibly the state.”
“We still get pictures of people in front of their trees from all over—California, Michigan, Maryland,” Mark said. The original “Tyler Tree” is in the family’s former backyard in Jeffersontown. Another, planted when Tyler’s brother, Curry, was born, grows in Oldham County. Mark recently dropped by Gardner’s studio to pick up the original negatives. A scrap of cardboard held some important handwritten instructions. “Distance—9 feet, 9 inches. 90 mm. 55”—height.”
“Those numbers are vital,” Gardner said. “Each photo must be shot from the same perspective, so there’s no distortion.”Theother key is a cooperative child. “I certainly didn’t love it as a child. My dad had to bribe me with Mountain Dew and French fries and rewarded me for putting up with it all, which I’m sure wasn’t easy,” said Tyler, who is
Located in a back corner of the western Rivue Tower, MGM Photography was for decades a destination for downtown executives needing portraits.
Time Lapsed vested interest W hen in early August photographer Bob Gardner shut the door to the studio he had operated since 1992, a run started by Gus Frank in 1945 at the corner of Louisville’s Third and Chestnut streets ended.
“I was sad to hear the studio was closing,” said Tyler, who, according to Mark, had no interest in continuing the tradition once he’d graduated from Oldham County High School. Neither did Curry, four years younger, who did a similar photo series decked out in University of Kentucky sports attire.
kentuckymonthly.com 5
Bernson did two stories on the Haertzens—one for WHAS and another for WDRB—and so did Bob Hill of The Courier-Journal, but Gardner wishes people knew the rest of the“It’sstory.really about the friendship we developed,” Mark said. “This became a part of our lives, and we came here every November for 20-plus years.”
“I now see how important—how cool—it was, and if I had a son [Tyler and his wife have a daughter], I’d probably keep it going,” Tyler said. “It’s part of our family’s identity,” which gives the whole exercise significance. Mark quipped, “If it weren’t special, would we all be together, talking about it 15 years after the last photo was taken?”
interesting,
From 1989 to 2012, the Haertzen family were regular visitors to MGM Photography, which until recently was located in the Rivue Tower of Louisville’s Galt House Hotel. Mark Haertzen and his sons, Tyler and Curry (yes, like the former University of Kentucky football coach), had annual portraits taken for the family Christmas card. now 33 and works in health care in Nashville. “It wasn’t until I was 8 or 9 and WHAS [Barry Bernson] showed up that I started to realize this was a part of something or maybe I remember it because I had to get dressed in front of a bunch of strangers.”
Massive Memorial SOUTH DAKOTA (right) Tammy Schmautz and Cindy Douglas of Muhlenberg County traveled to Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Rhine River Cruise
you
GERMANY ( left) Judy and Terry Faris of Wilmore cruised from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, with scenic stops in between. They are pictured at the Cologne Cathedral.
MAG ON THE MOVE 6 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
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. travel
it!
The Floating City VENICE, ITALY Marcia Jumblatt of Louisville and Jack Cooney of Prospect enjoyed the sights, charm and history of Venice.
Even when far away, you can take the spirit of your Kentucky home And when do, we want to see
with you.
you’re
Transplanted Kentuckian NEVADA Norine Robinson, a resident of Kentucky for 56 years, recently moved to Fernley, Nevada, which is known for its rugged terrain and wild mustangs.
The Hayes Family SOUTH AFRICA Emily Hayes (left) of Auburn in Logan County traveled to the Limpopo Province of South Africa with her son, Joel, and daughter-in-law, Sarah
Ancient Temple GREECE William R. Elam of Lexington visited the ruins of the Temple of Athena at Delphi, where the Oracle of Delphi resided. The Oracle gave guidancepredictionscrypticandtocity-stateofficialsandresidents.
kentuckymonthly.com 7
AnniversarySadlerAdventure
NIEW YORK CITY
ALASKA
travel Big Apple Fun
Peggy and Bill Riley of Lancaster took their six oldest grandchildren and the children’s mothers to New York City for Broadway shows, holiday lights and shopping. From left, Kristen Riley, Alexis Gamper, Courtney Sullivan, Jackson Sullivan, Ella Sadler, Peggy, Eve Sadler, Leah Riley, Bill, Vivian Sullivan and Ivy
Fred and Kelly Beagle of Alexandria celebrated their 30th anniversary with a dog sled ride in Chena Hot Springs, Alaska. Art Lecture
1. C. According to legend, Rev. Elijah Craig, a Baptist minister, created bourbon in 1789; 2. B. Noted for its limestone, Kentucky’s hard water is reputed to filter out impurities from the bourbon and add minerals such as calcium; 3. C. Kentucky is known far and wide as the “Bourbon State”; 4. C. Visitors can enjoy more than 40 participating bars and restaurants, most of which are downtown; 5. A. To be considered bourbon, whiskey must include corn as its primary ingredient—at least 51 percent; 6. A. The word likely is derived from the House of Bourbon, which governed France from 1589-1793 and 1814-1830; 7. B. Charred oak barrels give bourbon its distinctive color and flavor; 8. C. Bourbon is a type of whiskey, as are rye and Scotch; 9. B. According to the concurrent resolution adopted, bourbon must be distilled in the U.S., be 80 proof or higher, and not contain any flavorings or colorings; 10. C. Although there is only one bourbon distillery in the county, the area is within easy driving distance to many distilleries; 11. A. Elijah Craig founded his distillery in Fayette County, Virginia—now Scott County, Kentucky—a mere three years before Kentucky became a state; 12. C. Movie fans may have noticed John Wick’s choice of Blanton’s Single Barrel bourbon in several scenes and enjoy trying his favorite themselves.
NEW YORK CITY (right) Woodford County native and American art historian Dr. David Dearinger visited his former home of New York City to deliver a lecture at the New-York Historical Society. He is pictured outside the Whitney Museum of American Art. Answers:
8 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 Kwiz
kentuckymonthly.com 9 rise & ‘shine Visit Our Distilleries Kentucky Living Print Ad_V5.indd 1 7/28/22 11:59 AM Kentucky’s ultimate road trip destinationhome of the Corvette and so much more.
ATTENTION, HISTORY LOVERS
“We are excited to see the continued growth of tourism and the bourbon industry in Shelby County,” said Shelby County Judge-Executive Dan Ison Shelbyville’s historic downtown features bourbonthemed spots for dining, socializing, shopping and spending the night. Visitors can order from the dozens of bourbons available at the Old Louisville Brewery Barrel Room located in a reclaimed building on Main Street; dine at the Red Lion restaurant and specialty cocktail bar housed in a 200-year-old building; shop at WakefieldScearce Galleries, world renowned for its handmade sterling and pewter mint julep cups; and stay at the Bottled in Bond Airbnb located in a 19th-century building that was once a clothing factory or the charming Saddlebred Suites boutique hotel. For more information, visit facebook.com/VisitShelbyKY Bulleit Distilling Company
LLCMedia,StormsLivebyImage
September is National Bourbon Heritage Month and the ideal time for a bourbon-themed trip to Shelby County. Travelers can tour two distilleries—Jeptha Creed Distillery and Bulleit Distilling Company—stay in lodging centrally located to addditional distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, visit farms that grow and process corn used to make bourbon, and enjoy fine dining.
Registration on the day of the event is at 9 a.m., followed by the 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. program, book signings and a reception. The cost is $100 per ticket. Tickets may be purchased via check made payable to the NSCDA-KY Symposium, 202 Wilkinson Street, Frankfort, KY 40601.
DESTINATION
across kentucky 10 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
SHELBY COUNTY
The Filson Historical Society in Louisville will host the 2022 NSCDA-KY Kentucky Culture Symposium: Wicked Good! on Sept. 24. The event began in 2021 as The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The Commonwealth of Kentucky (NSCDA-KY), and the Liberty Hall Historic Site embarked on a new phase in their educational programming. This year, the symposium will focus on two of Kentucky’s conflicting identities: the Bible Belt juxtaposed with the Commonwealth’s best-known event, the Kentucky Derby, and its “sin industry” of gambling.
Affected counties Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Knott (Hindman is pictured above), Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Whitley may receive FEMA assistance.
It will take years for much of eastern Kentucky to recover from the devastation of the flooding in late July and early August. We must remember our neighbors and support them however possible. One way is by contributing to the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund at teamkyfloodrelieffund.ky.gov.
From unique bourbon experiences to experimental spirits, Kentucky brings a distinct flavor and finish.
W
12 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 cooking
A Flavorful Addition
ith its natural sweetness, bourbon lends itself perfectly to desserts. But the heady amber spirit isn’t limited to enhancing afterdinner treats and can level up entrées as well. This is evident in Uncle’s Drunken Noodles—a spicy, savory, Thai-inspired dish created by Chef Christian Gill , the owner of Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey in Union.
Guy Fieri ’s Guy’s Grocery Games and Beat Bobby Flay , a one-on-one cooking contest between a guest competitor and the celebrity chef. A veteran of several of the network’s cooking series, Gill has competed in Guy’s Big Project and won the 2019 Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge and the “Comfort Food Cook-Off” episode of Guy’s Grocery Games in 2018.
Gill’s Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey was one of several northern Kentucky-based establishments that contributed recipes for this column. Enjoy!
Fans of the Food Network will recognize Gill, who appeared in two cooking competition shows this past summer: restaurateur and television host
1. In a large skillet with high walls or a wok, heat canola oil. Crack eggs into the hot oil and scramble.
Uncle’s Drunken Noodles
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2. Once eggs are almost cooked, add the Uncle Nearest to cook off the alcohol.
4. Add the sauce and basil leaves, and continue to cook for six minutes or until the sauce coats and cooks into the noodles.
15 Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped
1½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved Sauce
1 16-ounce package wide rice noodles (cook according to package directions ahead of time and chill immediately)
1 cup julienned white onion
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons sriracha sauce
5. Add tomatoes, plate and enjoy with an Uncle Nearest cocktail of your choice! For the sauce: In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside. The longer it sits, the better it gets!
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 serrano peppers, thinly sliced (leave seeds for a spicier drunken bowl of fun)
1½ cups fresh Thai basil leaves
SERVES 8 Noodles
3. Add garlic, onions, peppers and noodles to the hot skillet and quickly fold and toss ingredients.
Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey
9030 U.S. 42, boomtownbiscuitsandwhiskey.com859.384.5910Union
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons minced garlic
Courtesy of Chef Christian Gill of Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey, Union Top, Chef Christian Gill; above, Gill with host Guy Fieri on Guy’s Grocery Games.
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
kentuckymonthly.com 13
4 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
1½ cups NearestUncle1856 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
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14 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 NEW RIFF DISTILLING’S CottaPannaBourbonwith 1½331½2111¼SERVESPeachesSpiced6cupNewRiffKentuckyStraightBourbonWhiskeyenvelope(2teaspoons)unflavoredgelatincupwholemilkcupheavycreamteaspoonsvanillaextractcupsugarcupcrèmefraîcheorsourcreampeaches,pitted,peeledandsliced(canusefrozen)tablespoonsbrownsugar,ortotasteteaspooncinnamontablespoonNewRiffKentuckyStraightBourbonWhiskey,ortotaste
1. Place 6 martini or wine glasses on a tray and set aside.
5. Divide mixture among glasses. Cover and chill until set, at least six hours or overnight.
2. Pour bourbon into a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir gelatin mixture into milk mixture. Stir in sugar. Cook and stir over low heat just until sugar and gelatin dissolve, about two minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in crème fraîche or sour cream.
newriffdistilling.com859.261.7433
New Riff Distilling Distillery Way, Newport
6. Toss peaches with brown sugar, cinnamon and bourbon. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Top each panna cotta with peaches.
3. In a heavy saucepan, combine milk, cream and vanilla extract. Bring to a simmer.
Courtesy of the New Riff Distillery Culinary Team
kentuckymonthly.com 15 Proud to call Kentucky home. Specialties Offered: • Certified Nurse-Midwife • Family Nurse Practitioner • Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner • Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Frontier.edu/KyMonthly #3 Best Online FNP Master’s Program Make a Difference as a NurseFamilyPractitioner 1 10-inch unbaked pie shell 2 cups pecans 1 cup chocolate chips ½ cup sugar ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup corn syrup ½ teaspoon vanilla 1 cup bourbon of your choice 3 eggs ¼ cup flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon bourbon salt 1. Combine pecans, chocolate chips, sugar, browsn sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and bourbon in a large saucepan and heat over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. 2. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, flour, baking powder and bourbon salt. 3. Fold warm mixture into flour mixture and pour into pie shell. 4. Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven. The Tousey House Tavern 5963 North Jefferson Street, Burlington touseyhouse.com859.586.9900 Courtesy of Chef Jonathan Weiss of The Tousey House Tavern, Burlington Kentucky Bourbon Pie
Close-up of Marge’s Bourbon Slush in front of the blue-andwhite modern toile wallpaper that Emily Wolff, owner and creative director of The Standard Covington, hand drew. Wolff with a glass of Marge’s Bourbon Slush in front of a commemorative mural that Wolff created for the restaurant. The mural focuses on the garage’s history and uses items found in the space during construction.
Cheers
The thebehindstorydrink The CovingtonStandardwas once a small garage and auto-service station owned by Butch Ostendorf and his wife, Marge . They were local celebrities with a smile and a story for everyone, and the restaurant has brought their legacy to life with the art throughout the establishment as well as Marge’s signature drink, The Bourbon Slush, on the bar menu.
16 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 BourbonMarge’s Slush The Standard Covington’s version of Marge’s Bourbon Slush SERVES 4-6 1¼ cups bourbon 1 cup green tea 1 cup simple syrup ¾ cup orange juice ¼ cup lemon juice ¼ cup water Combine all ingredients well and place in a freezer-safe container. Chill in a freezer for two hours up to overnight to achieve a partially frozen final product.
Note: Marge’s original recipe included 6 cups of water, two tea bags and juices.
to Bourbon Month!
The Standard Covington 434 Main Street, Covington facebook.com/thestandardcov859.360.0731
kentuckymonthly.com 17 Now You Sesame, Now You Don’t 2 ounces sesame-infused Angel’s Envy bourbon 1½ ounces grapefruit juice ¼ ounce allspice dram ¼ ounce falernum ½ ounce cinnamon-vanilla syrup ½ ounce 2 angosturalime juicebitters Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Pour into a snifter with ice. Add a mint sprig and a lime wedge dipped in black sesame seeds to garnish. The Beast 2 ounces beast fat-infused Elijah Craig (instructions below) ¼ ounce 3D Valley Farm maple syrup 2 house bitters Orange peel, for garnish In a cocktail pitcher, stir together first three ingredients 25-30 times. Strain into a large rocks glass. Add one large ice cube. Express oils from orange peel and use peel to garnish. For beast fat-infused bourbon: Melt 2 ounces of fat rendered from cooked meat into 750 milliliters of bourbon in a freezer-safe container. Stir every 15 minutes for an hour. Place in freezer for at least 12 hours before using. Betty’s Meletti 1½ ounces Meletti Amaro 1 ounce Castle & Key Restoration Rye Whiskey ¼ ounce St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram 2 dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6 Stir together ingredients and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with smoked orange peel and smoked rosemary. September is National Bourbon Heritage Month Bourbon lovers can commemorate the month at a Kentucky festival—such as those profiled on pages 18 23—or by mixing up Marge’s Bourbon Slush or the cocktails below (recipes courtesy of Louisville’s Everyday Kitchen ), in the comfort of your home. Everyday Kitchen 552 East Market Street, Louisville everydaykitchen.com502.805.7345
18 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 BY DEBORAH KOHL KREMER FUNOFBARRELSBOURBON Fall signatureCommonwealth’sshowcasefestivalsthespirit
kentuckymonthly.com 19
F estivals across Kentucky celebrate foods, music, arts and crafts, books, nationalities and ethnicities, flowers and, of course, the greatest two minutes in sports—the Kentucky Derby. So, what could be better than a celebration focused on bourbon, our native spirit? Along with the three-day extravaganza that is the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, other upcoming events incorporate bourbon samples, chats with distillers, music, food and, of course, fun.
M eander along the banks of the Kentucky River and sample your favorite bourbons as well as those you may not yet have tasted at the Bourbon on the Banks Festival in Frankfort.
SEPT.Bourbon on
Celebrating its third year, the event will include more than 50 participating distilleries and plans to welcome 1,000-plus guests. Distillery and food trucks and tents will be set up along Riverview Park, with acoustic musicians playing along the route. For those who don’t imbibe in bourbon, microbrewers and wineries will be on hand offering alternatives.
FestivalBankstheonBourbon
Attendees will receive tickets for 16 samples with the price of admission. With the large number of distillers on hand, guests are encouraged to plan accordingly. “We don’t want people to think they will get a sample from each distillery,” said Diane Strong, the event director. “We want them to think about which ones they want to try.”
Strong encourages guests to visit with the distillers and learn more about their products. New to Bourbon on the Banks this year is the sale of bottled spirits.
SEPT.
20 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
The organizers of the nonprofit Bourbon on the Banks event will help fund a scholarship to the fermentation and distillation program at Kentucky State University and provide scholarships to students from Franklin County interested in attending any accredited college or university that offers a degree or certification in distillation and/or fermentation science. (For more information on these scholarships, and“Wehave,withoutbourbonoakworksInitiative,makebourbononthebanks.org/scholarshipvisit.)Thisyear,theorganizerswilladonationtotheWhiteOakanonprofitgroupthattopreserveandsustainwhitetrees,whichareusedtomakebarrels.“Youcan’tridethisbourbonwaveacknowledgingtheimpactwebothgoodandbad,”Strongsaid.believestronglyingivingbackappreciatingtheride,forsure.” the Banks Festival 30-OCT. 1, RIVERVIEW PARK, FRANKFORT BOURBONONTHEBANKS.ORG
“People will be able to taste it and then purchase a full bottle and take it with them,” Strong said. “Where else can you go and have the opportunity to purchase so many rareStrongbottles?”said that some of these bourbon makers sell bottles only at their distillery, so this is a great opportunity for them to reach new customers.Thefestival kicks off from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, with a VIP Reception & Bourbon Auction at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History and a free, familyfriendly, circus-themed event called Bourbon Street on Broadway in downtown Frankfort, which begins at 6:30.Also on tap for Friday evening is the Ingram River Aged Pub Stroll, in which attendees can visit participating downtown locations to partake of a craft cocktail made with O.H. Ingram River Aged Whiskey. The Riverview Park activities take place on Saturday, Oct. 1, from 1-6 p.m.When the park festivities end on Saturday, attendees are invited to keep the party going at the Goodwood Brewery Afterparty in the streets of downtown Frankfort. Festival-goers can walk from the festival to the party or take a free golf cart shuttle. This event features live music and food in Frankfort’s new Mix District, an area that allows downtown restaurants and bars to sell drinks to go in specially designated cups.
G uests at Bowling Green Bourbon & Brewfest will sample spirits and beer at the home of the Hot Rods minor league baseball team. “The ballpark is a great space for this event,” said Ashlee Wilson, the team’s director of marketing and corporate partnerships. “It is outdoors but also contained. Vendors can set up on the main concourse, and our concession stands can be used as booths.”
The ballpark is in downtown Bowling Green, and organizers say holding the event there is a great way to show off the town as well as Kentucky’s spirits and beer. “The majority of our distillers, brewers and vendors are local to the state,” Wilson said. “We pride ourselves on supporting our local, regional and statewide businesses.”
Bourbon & Brewfest usually sells 2,500 tickets, with 400 of those VIP. Along with the five additional punches, the VIP level includes admission one hour early and exclusive upstairs club-level access, where ticket-holders may enjoy a complimentary food buffet and sample special-release bourbons and craftBourbonbeers.
This annual four-hour event brings together distilleries, breweries and wineries to give attendees the opportunity to sample drinks.
Food vendors and small businesses will sell their products in pop-up-style shops. Wilson said that in previous years, participants have featured creative, hand-crafted, spirits-related items such as bourbon-barrel home décor and soaps made from beer. Boutiquestyle vendors will sell jewelry.
General admission includes a punch card for 20 samples, while VIP admission buys 25 samples. “A punch allows for one sampling, which is a 1-ounce pour of bourbon or a 3- to 5-ounce pour of beer,” Wilson said. “We have other vendors who have specialty cocktails available, so that will be three to five punches, based on the alcohol level in the drink.”
OCT. BOWLING15 GREEN BALLPARK, BOWLING GREEN BGBREWFEST.COM Bourbon
& Brewfest will offer the Safe Ride Home Program, in which attendees get a QR code to receive a $15 discount for an Uber ride. Wilson said it is a way for event organizers to say, “We want you to come out and enjoy yourself, but please get home safely because we want to see you again next year.”
BourbonOCT.& Brewfest & Brewfest
Andi Oustalet, the event developer, explained that the idea was generated from looking at food and spirits festivals in Louisville and realizing there was room for something new. “This will hit that sweet spot of an elevated, elegant weekend, pairing distillers and pitmasters,” she said. “Then, we challenge the distillers to come up with a craft cocktail that will go with whatever protein the pitmasters areLocalserving.”and well-known chefs are scheduled to participate. Some of the big names include George “Tuffy” Stone, Will Avelar and Wing Lam, who have achieved recognition through competitions, the Food Network, or the restaurants they own. They will offer various types of barbecue, with selections ranging from traditional to innovative.
“The varieties include Moroccan, tandoori, vegan, oysters—really anything that can be cooked with smoke and fire,” Oustalet said. “Much like wine is paired with food, we’re pairing bourbon cocktails with barbecue.”Attendees will be treated to live music. Designated tents will cater to educational sessions for bourbon bourbonNOV. & barbeque Louisville
22 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
T ake a variety of seasoned pitmasters and their slowroasted meats, add some famed distillers serving cocktails made with Kentucky bourbon in Louisville’s gorgeous Waterfront Park, and you have the makings of a great new party. This is the inaugural year for Bourbon & Barbeque Louisville. The plan is to pair tasty cocktails with dishes prepared with smoke and fire created by local pitmasters and traveling barbecue circuit teams from around the country.
kentuckymonthly.com 23 Bourbon & Barbeque NOV. WATERFRONT10-12 PARK, BBLWATERFRONT.COMLOUISVILLE WildernessTrailKY.com / Danville, KY Wilderness Trail Distillery encourages you to sip responsibly aficionados and distillers. In one tent, festival-goers can watch and participate in live podcasts, and, since the festival is during the height of football season, there will be a lounge tent with televisions and comfyAdmission,seating. which will be limited to 2,000, includes a wristband that covers all food, drinks and entertainment for both days. “This is a kickoff to the holidays and an event you can attend with your friends,” Oustalet said. “It is not a competition for the pitmasters; it is a celebration of bourbon and barbecue.” Q
24 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 The Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild reclaims bourbon history on behalf of the future ExploringEducating, Enlightening& BY JOEL SAMS
K ayla Bush is one of the most individualstenaciousyou’ll ever meet, according to Rob Beatty, the founder of the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild. And she’s the perfect example of why his organization exists.
This was the kind of outcome Beatty hoped for when he founded the Guild in 2018. The Guild’s goal is to educate minority consumers about bourbon and the essential role people of color have played in the industry’s development. Since its founding, Guild membership has grown, and so has the organization’s impact and reach. Funded by major partnerships across multiple sectors, the Guild funds scholarships for
Bush joined the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild at the suggestion of one of her professors. She said the group opened her eyes to the contributions African Americans have made to the development of bourbon through the centuries, and the Guild has helped her make professional connections. “It’s been a really cool experience and learning path,” Bush said. “I learn something new every time we link up.”
kentuckymonthly.com 25
Bush is a full-time student at Kentucky State University majoring in journalism and mass communications with a certificate in distillation and fermentation. She’s also an intern at Buffalo Trace Distillery, where she scours the archives for stories of African American contributions to Kentucky’s signature industry.
Become a partner organization
Beatty said the organization welcomes all comers to honor the past, learn more about bourbon, and prepare the next generation of minority leaders in the industry.
Honoring the Past
Businesses large and small can join the ranks of partner organizations such as Truist Bank, Kentucky State University, the University of Kentucky, Jack’s Sandbar and Grill, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Uncle Nearest Distillery, William Tarr Distillery and New Riff Distillery. Partner organizations collaborate on projects, support the work of the Guild, and fund scholarships.
Become a member Membership is open to everyone, said Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild founder Rob Beatty. The annual membership fee includes monthly tastings and classes as well as quarterly special events, often with master distillers and founders. Firstyear membership (ages 21+) costs $150 for an individual or $275 for two members of a household. Visit kentuckyblackbourbonguild.com for more information.
Left, at the release of The Untold Story of Kentucky Whiskey, Chapter 1, were, from left, co-founder and vice president of the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild Board Mike Adams, Gov. Andy Beshear and Rob Beatty, founder and KBBG Board president; below, a large group of Guild attendedmemberstherelease.
“We’ve got neurosurgeons; we have students and everything in between,” he said of the Guild membership. “We have all education levels; we have all colors. We’re just a very welcoming group—it’s about the community.”
Donate to scholarships
A primary impetus for founding the group, Beatty said, was educating the public about the essential role African Americans have played in the development of the bourbon industry from its beginning. Members say it’s working. “I’ve really enjoyed learning a lot about the African American contribution to the bourbon industry,” said Guild member Latrice Anderson, a nurse and principal partner of Oasis Mobile Hydration. One story Anderson mentioned is that of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the enslaved master distiller who taught Jack Daniels the whiskey-making craft. While Green’s contribution is Ways to Get Involved with the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild
Named in honor of Freddie Johnson, a third-generation Buffalo Trace employee and Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee, the Guild’s Freddie Johnson Minority Scholarship supports minority students who are pursuing their next level of education in the distillation and fermentation industry. Donate online at kentuckyblackbourbonguild.com.
26 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 minority students who are entering the fermenting and distilling professions. Members enjoy quarterly tours with master distillers and founders, monthly tastings with brands, and much more.
Make It Like Jake
Jake’s Barrel Wood Chips
Jake’s Smoked
Jake’s Whiskey Sour
3. Light small pile of Jake’s Barrel Wood on burn board. Cover with serving glass to extinguish and smoke glass.
4. Stir all ingredients in mixing glass for 30-45 seconds.
4 drops Jake’s Leather and Tobacco Bitters
4 drops Jack Rudy Aromatic Bitters
6. Strain mixing glass ingredients into the smoked glass. Garnish with orange peel from the mixing glass and add Luxardo cherry to the top.
2. Lightly toast orange peel with flame and squeeze over top of mixing glass. Add orange peel to mixing glass.
1 Luxardo cherry, for garnish
In 2017, entrepreneur Fawn Weaver honored Green’s legacy by founding Uncle Nearest, a distillery based in Shelbyville, Tennessee. According to Forbes magazine, the distillery’s Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is “the best-selling African American-founded spirit brand of all time.” The distillery is also a partner of the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild.
1½ ounces Jake’s Knob Creek Rye Barrel Pick ½ ounce agave nectar
When the Guild launched on Dec. 19, 2018, its first tasting for members and potential members featured Uncle Nearest whiskey. (See page 13 for a recipe that features Uncle Nearest whiskey as a key ingredient.)“Beinga member … has really opened my eyes to even more African American contributions to the bourbon partneredAndersonindustry,”said.TheGuildrecentlywithCastle & Key Distillery near Frankfort to create a five-year special whiskey release called The Untold Story of Kentucky Whiskey. Chapter 1, which was released last year, featured historical content on the label developed in partnership with the Guild. Bottle sales benefited a diversity in distilling scholarship created by Castle & Key, and the distillery donated bottles to the Guild to use in fundraising for its own Freddie Johnson Minority Scholarship. This year’s release, Chapter 2, continues the historical narrative with a wheated bourbon. Net proceeds from Chapter 2 will fund the Freddie Johnson Minority Scholarship. Exploring Bourbon The Guild isn’t focused only on history; it also has a mission to educate members about bourbon as a beverage. Each month, members enjoy a workshop called the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild Institute of Bourbon Training.
5. Remove serving glass from burn board and add large cube of fresh ice.
Jake’s Burn Board
1. Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add rye, agave and bitters.
1½ ounces
Old Fashioned
At a recent tasting event for the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild, Jake’s Cigar Bar
1792 Full Proof Single Barrel Select 1 ounce fresh egg white, beaten 1 ounce pure agave nectar
1 ouncelemonfresh-squeezedjuice
1 Luxardo cherry, for Combinegarnishallingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain over fresh ice and garnish with a Luxardo cherry and cherry drizzle.
kentuckymonthly.com 27 well-documented, the bourbon industry only recently has begun to recognize him as a trailblazer in American whiskey.
1 wide slice orange peel for garnish, pith removed
below,membercocktailsservedNicholasvilleinuptwothathavebecomefavorites.EnjoytherecipescourtesyofownersJacobandAutumnGlancy
George , a Guild member who recently retired from her role as managing attorney for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. “I always appreciate, when brands come to do tastings, that they make sure that they make us aware of any contributions that African Americans have had to their particular brand and then the bourbon industry in general.”
28 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
Bush said that she’s learned more about flavor profiles as well as spices and herbs that pair well with bourbon. “That was all brand new to me and a really cool experience,” she acknowledged.Andersonsaid the emphasis on learning sets the Guild apart from other bourbon clubs. “We have the educational piece once a month, the distillery tours that we do, the tastings that we do for different brands,” she said. “It’s way more than just the socialization of it— you’re getting a lot more knowledge behind that, too.”
“It has definitely exceeded my expectations in terms of being introduced to the different brands and learning how to know the bourbon and figure out a flavor profile,” said Glenda Humphrey
Sessions are led by bourbon expert Tim Knittel, the founder of Distilled Living—a company that educates hospitality industry professionals and anyone interested in learning about bourbon—and adjunct professor in Midway University’s bourbon studies program.
The Guild’s scholarship honors
Through its Freddie Johnson Minority Scholarship as well as professional connections and industry partnerships, the Guild connects young people to careers in the bourbon industry. Bush said it helped her make connections to land her internship at Buffalo Trace, and she encourages other students to take advantage of what the Guild has to offer. “I just want everybody to know the opportunities that come with it— the fact that you can gain paid internships, the fact that you can build relationships with other professionals that are in the industry and can learn so much about this $8.6 billion industry in Kentucky,” she said.
kentuckymonthly.com 29
Preparing the Next Generation
Freddie Johnson, a thirdgeneration Buffalo Trace employee and Bourbon Hall of Fame
inductee.Johnson, who started working at Buffalo Trace in 2002, traces his lineage much further back. His father, Jimmy Johnson Jr., worked at the distillery alongside famed master distiller Elmer T. Lee. His grandfather, Jimmy Johnson Sr., worked for Col. Albert Blanton at what was then the George T. Stagg distillery. Even as a child, Johnson said, the distillery was his “playground,” and he’s honored to be part of an effort that will help a rising“Wegeneration.walkthis earth, and you never have any idea of the impact that you’re going to have on others,” Johnson said, reflecting on having a scholarship named in his honor. “That’s probably the most humbling piece of this whole thing.”Beatty has big dreams for the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild. He wants to create regional chapters, launch a bourbon certificate program, hire a full-time executive director, build and maintain archives, and open a museum.
Q Event!ReleasetheAttendBottle Castle & Key Untold Stories of Kentucky Whiskey: Chapter 2 SEPT. 20, 5:30 P.M. KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM 704 CENTRAL AVENUE, LOUISVILLE Purchase tickets kentuckyblackbourbonguild.comat EXPLORE kentucky's wineries VineyardsBoucherie&Winery 6523 Keyway Drive Spottsville, KY boucheriewinery.com 270.826.6192 Purple Toad Winery 4275 Old US Hwy. 45 S Paducah, KY purpletoadwinery.com 270.554.0010 B&BPlantationSpringhillandWinery 3205 Springfield Rd. Bloomfield, KY springhillwinery.com 502.252.9463 Experience the best Kentucky has to offer at Talon Winery. Choose from over twenty locally created wines, stroll through the vineyard and enjoy live music every weekend. Come for the wine, stay for the atmosphere. Open daily! 7086 TATES CREEK ROAD, LEXINGTON, KY talonwine.com, 859.971.3214 more to explore
Hearkening back to Nearest Green, Beatty said the Guild’s focus on Black history is deeply connected to its mission of preparing a new generation to lead. “[Nearest Green] is not only an African American hero; he’s an American hero, based on his contribution and the lineage that he left behind,” Beatty said. “Our pipeline that we build through Kentucky State University, through Buffalo Trace, Pinhook, Fresh Bourbon—that’s continuing to honor that lineage that Uncle Nearest started so long ago.”
A Reel Fish Story
Todd E.A. Larson, a fishing historian and publisher of Whitefish Press, edited the book and contributed some important historical details.
Published by Whitefish Press in Cincinnati, the 142-page softcover book is richly illustrated with drawings, paintings and 109 highquality black-and-white photographs of some of the rarest Kentucky Reels.
A new book traces the history of the iconic Kentucky Reel
30 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
• • •
A Brief History of Baitcasting, Bass Fishing and the Kentucky Reel details the early history of bass angling in the Commonwealth and the origin of the Kentucky Reel, America’s first multiplying fishing reel. Co-authored by Kentucky Reel collector William Hinkebein and outdoors writer Art Lander, it’s a compelling story that has been overshadowed by the many sports and cultural traditions that Kentuckians are known for around the world such as distilling bourbon, the Kentucky Derby, Thoroughbred breeding and racing, college basketball, Bluegrass music and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
A Brief History of Baitcasting, Bass Fishing and the Kentucky Reel retails for $24.95 and can be purchased online at whitefishpress.com
Part one of the book covers bass fishing and baitcasting in early Kentucky. Chapters detail the state’s bountiful waters and the life history of the black bass in central Kentucky streams. Three towns—Paris, Cynthiana and Frankfort, all located on high-quality streams—were the cradle of early fishing for food and sport, launched the state’s enduring bass-fishing culture, and led to the birth of the Kentucky Reel. Early bass fishing in the state was in the form of stream fishing, casting with live bait, usually minnows seined from tributary creeks. The term “baitcasting” became widely associated with the Kentucky Reel, a multiplying reel that was geared so that its spool rotated multiple times with each turn of the reel’s crank. This made it possible to cast a baited hook farther because the line flowed more freely off the reel’s spool.
Renowned reel maker Benjamin C. Milam, likely fishing with one of his creations.
kentuckymonthly.com 31
• • •
The Kentucky Reel makers and the dates that they worked, as can best be determined, are: George W. Snyder and Family (1810-1848) Jonathan F. & Benjamin F. Meek (1834-1852) Meek & Milam (1852-1882) Benjamin C. Milam (1880-1904) Benjamin C. Milam & Son (1880-1928) J.W. Hardman (1843-1845) James L. Sage (1848-1900) T. Dalton (circa 1870s) Benjamin F. Meek (1883-1892) Benjamin F. Meek & Sons (1892-1898) Benjamin F. Meek & Sons and Blue Grass Reels (1899-1916) Sylvanus Meek (1886-1910) James J. Deally (1892-1901) Granville E. Medley (1892-1915) Frank Fullilove (1905-1910) George W. Gayle & Son (1882-1948) James A. Henshall, the author of Book of the Black Bass (published in 1881), wrote that this style of fishing “constituted the pleasure and perfection of bass angling.” Henshall described early bass fishing tackle and techniques in his classic book and provided insight into how the Kentucky Reel became world famous. To the affluent, land-holding upper class, influential businessmen, civic leaders and politicians who owned Kentucky Reels, they became treasured heirlooms. Some early distillers had ties to the early makers of Kentucky Reels. Frank Stagg, the son of famed distiller George T. Stagg, married Ann Milam Keenon, the granddaughter of renowned Kentucky Reel maker Benjamin C. Milam. The younger Stagg, who was the financial director of Stagg’s O.F.C. Distillery, fished with a reel passed down in his family for generations. That reel eventually became part of the collection at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort. The second part of A Brief History of Baitcasting, Bass Fishing and the Kentucky Reel features biographies of the reel makers and details about their reels. Kentucky Reels were made by individuals and families in six counties in central Kentucky—
THE CRAFTSMEN
MEET THE AUTHORS Reel collectors, anglers and history buffs can meet William Hinkebein (above right) and Art Lander (left) and obtain signed copies of A Brief History of Baitcasting, Bass Fishing and the Kentucky Reel at these events:
Join the country’s most knowledgeable collectors of antique fishing reels for a show at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort on Sept. 21-24, presented by the Old Reel Collectors Association (ORCA). Attendees will get to see historic reels and fishing tackle, with many items dating to the 1800s, and they can bring their own antique tackle to have it appraised at no Guestscharge.interested in selling their antique fishing tackle can participate in the ORCA Auction. Open only to ORCA members, the auction is attended by many of the country’s top collectors. For more information, call Ron Gast at 407.496.7940.
SEPT. 22, 5-7 P.M. Liberty Hall, 202 Wilkinson Street, Frankfort Enjoy an evening by the Kentucky River, where the story of the Kentucky Reel began. The $30 admission includes hors d’oeurves, a drink ticket and a signed copy of the book.
Q
SEPT. 28, 7 P.M. Frazier History Museum, 829 West Main Street, Louisville This event features bourbon tastings of Stagg Jr., Blanton’s and E.H. Taylor and a signed copy of the book. For more information, go to fraziermuseum.org
32 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 Bourbon, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln and Owen—and in Christian County. The first Kentucky Reel was made by George W. Snyder around 1810 in Paris, and the last was by Clarence Gayle, who crafted reels in Frankfort until 1948. Kentucky Reels were handcrafted, produced before the introduction of interchangeable parts, so each reel was unique. While reels were constructed to a set of specifications, no two had the same exact dimensions.Ithasbeen suggested that the reel spool arbor (bar) was made first, and that determined the length of the pillars that connected the head plate to the tail plate, creating the frame of theReelsreel. were assembled one at a time but not necessarily in the order of their serial numbers, since head caps or tail plates, where the serial numbers were stamped, would be made in batches and stored until needed. Because the threads of screws varied, the screws were numbered and could be placed only into the corresponding tapped holes. Kentucky Reels were made by first-class artisans competent in precision engineering and machining, men skilled in trades that made them familiar with fabricating small parts from steel, iron and the alloys of other metals that were used to make the reels. These would include gunsmiths, watchmakers, jewelers, locksmiths and silversmiths.
The precision workmanship and beauty of Kentucky Reels were admired in their time, and they have captivated many people through the display of collections carefully curated over decades into the 21st century.
OCT. 29 Kentucky Book Festival, JosephBeth Booksellers, 161 Lexington Green Circle, Lexington Admission is free. Find out more about the event at kentucky-book-festivalkyhumanities.org/programs/ Antique Fishing Tackle Show
To purchase tickets, visit libertyhall.org
TICKETS $25 ADULTS, $11 YOUTH OPEN EVERYDAY FROM DAWN TOdiscoverDUSK +70oversculptures30acres
34 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
D r. McCorveyEverett has been a force on the Lexington music scene since 1991, when he was tapped to lead the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre. Growing up in Alabama, he had an early, deep and persistent connection to music, and he has found the Commonwealth to be a good place to share his passion. “When I moved to teach at UK, I noticed right away a major talent for singing and music in Kentucky,” he said. As an arts leader in the state, McCorvey has been a faithful member of the Kentucky Arts Council for more than two decades. He was elected chair of the board this year. In that role, he looks forward to supporting artists and generating excitement for the arts in the Commonwealth. “I am very honored to have been appointed by both Democratic and Republican governors,” McCorvey said about his years of service. “The arts cross political lines because they can be enjoyed and shared by all. They make Kentucky a better place to live and work, a better place to grow.”Many art forms and styles are within the purview of the Kentucky Arts modernCouncil—fromsculptureto live theater to jazz music to folk dance. Its members work with the state legislature to write and promote arts-related policies and ensure that residents of every county in the abenefitCommonwealthfromthearts.TheArtsCouncilplayedroleintornadorecovery
A Joyful Responsibility BY KIM KOBERSMITH
Everett McCorvey, who put UK’s opera program on the map, uses his platform to spread a message of love and acceptance
36 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 in western Kentucky. The December 2021 tragedy resulted in losses for artists and art businesses.
Graduates began winning esteemed positions in the MARK
recruiting additional faculty such as experienced vocal coaches and those with their own performing careers. Shifting venues to the Lexington Opera House raised the quality of performance opportunities for university students. With that accelerated training and experience, students began to win major competitions across the country, with the first being the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York City in 1994. Industry experts came for master classes and took word back to their circles that Kentucky was, as McCorvey called it, “a hotbed of young singers.”
CORNELISON | UKPHOTO
Kentucky is home to a strong musical tradition— from marching bands to country artists to classically trained educators. But many of the brightest and best leave the state to make their way professionally. “The arts can be a major economic driver and have the ability to be a magnet, drawing people to the McCorveyCommonwealth,”said.“We need to figure out how to keep those artists here, to create an environment where they can live and work.”
As Kentucky Arts Council chair, McCorvey will continue his legacy of innovative leadership, a legacy he began at UK Opera Theatre. He has grown the thecountry.mostrecognizedunknownstrategicallyprogramfromvirtuallytonationallyasoneofthevibrantintheHebeganlayingfoundationby
“In the last couple of years, groups all over the Commonwealth found ways to connect with their audience,” he said. “The arts provided a balm to so many people who were isolated. Now, audiences are growing all over the state, and people want to participate.”McCorvey is concerned about the future of arts funding. With money from the General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, KAC creates programs and administers grants that benefit artists and arts organizations. He said the Council’s annual allocation from the General Assembly has dropped from $4 million (about $1 per person in Kentucky) to $1.6 million during his 20 years with the Council.
Because there is no national crisis funding for the arts, the KAC made a special application to the National Endowment for the Arts for emergency assistance. This kind of funding is now seen as a potential national model for supporting artists in crisisMcCorveysituations.finds it an exciting time to be in the arts as the world begins to emerge from the pandemic.
• •
•
BOUNCE, McCorvey hopes to engage a new audience of basketball fans with opera. The show is performed on a basketball court and grounded in contemporary issues. “Talking about gun violence and how to make change is an important addition to the BOUNCE journey,” he said. “Lots of organizations are supportive of furthering this conversation through theInshow.”hisyears at UK, McCorvey has garnered recognition for innovative teaching and visionary directing and for his contributions to the Commonwealth. His honors include the UK Libraries Medallion for Intellectual Achievement in 2018, the Lexington Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, and the 1998 Acorn Award presented by the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education.•••
BOUNCE: the Basketball Opera, McCorvey reached out to director Grethe Holby about getting involved. “UK is the basketball mecca of the universe,” he said. “I really wanted to bring these two worlds together.” That discussion led to a yearlong collaboration. The show’s composers came to Lexington and worked on songs with students. The world premiere of BOUNCE was at UK, with McCorvey serving as the music director and conductor. “At our first round of auditions, not a soul showed up,” he said. “It was a challenge finding opera singers that could playThroughbasketball!”
kentuckymonthly.com 37 Live Music Food Vendors Craft Beer & Wine Car Show Arts & Crafts and More! RICHMOND.KY.US/MILLSTONEFEST Live Music Food Vendors Craft Beer & Wine Car Show Arts & Crafts and More! October 1, 2022October 1, 2022 Presented by Dreaming Creek Brewery We are rocking and rolling in Downtown Richmond at 2nd Annual Millstone Festival. field. At a performancerecentofPorgy and Bess at the Met, eight former UK singers gave debut performances in one asWildcatthebasketballanand,programcollaborationperhapsstudied“Singerscareer,”fortheandplayer“Wehavefoundationproductions,shows,OperaforwardcommunityThenight.LexingtonhassteppedinsupportoftheTheatre,attendingunderpinningmajorandcreatingasoallstudentsthemeanstoattend.arenowamajorintheoperaworldrecognizedasoneoftopplacesnationallystartinganoperaMcCorveysaid.allovertheworldatUK.”FortrueUKfans,themostexcitingforthemarriesoperayes,basketball.(Asaside,McCorveylovesandoftensingsnationalanthemforgames.)Assoonheheardabout
The UK Opera Theatre’s presentations of “It’s a Grand Night for Singing.”
“Each of us on Earth has been given special talents,” he tells his students. “Find out your gifts and use them to make your community, the world, a better place.”
Q
38 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER
UKPHOTOS|CORNELISONMARK
2022 McCorvey is involved in a dizzying array of music projects reaching beyond Kentucky as a performer, director, teacher, producer and administrator. The indefatigable McCorvey takes to heart his father’s favorite adage: “Love your work and you will never have to work a day in your life.” He said of his many projects, “I am still waiting to work my first day. This is all just restorative play.” When this writer caught up with him in July, McCorvey was teaching at the Bay View Association Music School in Michigan. Then he was off to New York to direct a production of BOUNCE: the Basketball Opera. Also in New York, McCorvey serves as the artistic director of the National Chorale. He was honored to conduct the group for New Jersey’s Commemoration9/11 on the 20th anniversar y of the attacks last year at Liberty StateOnePark.project that is near and dear to McCorvey’s heart is the American Spiritual Ensemble, of which he is the founder and musical director. Since 1995, this group has embarked on 35 tours, performing 600 concerts around the world and fulfilling his dream of preserving American Negro spirituals. It remains the only professional ensemble dedicated to the genre. Alongside a career of teaching and directing, McCorvey is an active tenor soloist. He has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, the Kennedy Center and Radio City Music Hall, as well as in Italy, England, Spain, the Czech Republic, China, Brazil, Ireland, Portugal, Mexico and McCorvey’sPeru.deep well of musical leadership springs from more than passion. So many doors were closed to people of color when he was growing up. He watched his parents get involved in the civil rights movement, and he doesn’t take his own opportunities for granted. He feels a joyful responsibility to celebrate his musical gifts by spreading a message of love and acceptance.
HISTORIC SITE
An Evening by the River at Liberty Hall
Join us at the place where it all began - the home of Judge Mason Brown. In the spring of 1835 Brown came into J.F. Meek’s watch shop in Frankfort to have a fishing reel repaired but decided instead to prevail upon his friend to make him a new and better one. Brown was elated with his new reel and word spread that his “soul was filled with joy” over it. This friendship launched the career of J.F. and B.F. Meek as famed reel makers. Ticket prices include a signed copy of the new 152-page lavishly illustrated soft-cover book, light hors d’oeuvres, a drink ticket, and an evening by the beautiful Kentucky River on the grounds of Liberty Hall. Tickets $30 at libertyhall.org
Featuring discussion with authors William Hinkebein and Art Lander
Thursday, Sept 22 - 5 to 7 p.m. andABriefHistoryofBaitcasting,BassFishingtheKentuckyReel
kentuckymonthly.com 39 THIS IS KITCHENEVERYDAY, reimagined. Explore our selection of 80+ bourbons and our brand-new menu, available now! Join us for all-new expanded menus featuring modern comfort food with lots of Louisville flair. From Wild Mushroom Stroganoff to Skillet Cornbread to the best Chicken Salad Wrap you’ve ever had, there’s something for everyone here! Book your table now and be the first to try our new menu items: Cafe: Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm | Dinner: Tuesday – Saturday, 5:00 – 9:30 pm 502-805-7345 | EVERYDAYKITCHEN.COM/LOUISVILLE |
BY JACKIE HOLLENKAMP BENTLEY
The Spotlight Playhouse, Berea 859.756.0011
THROUGH OCT. 25 L Brad ComedyBrownMagic Show Barnwood Bravo Theater, Dry 859.903.9477Ridge kellieshomestead.com
Overture, Curtain, Lights L L L
OCT. 27-29 L The Rocky Horror Show Playhouse in the Park, Murray 270.759.1752 playhousemurray.org Toast again to meatloaf (or the late rockstar Meat Loaf, if you’re reminiscing about the original film version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) with the timeless off-beat classic that tells the tale of Brad and Janet as they seek refuge in Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s creepy mansion.
OCT. 20-30 L Young Frankenstein Barn Lot Theater, Edmonton 270.432.BARN (2276) barnlottheater.org You’ve seen it on the big screen. Now head to south-central Kentucky to see the stage adaptation of Mel Brooks’ hilarious “sequel” to the classic horror tale. The Barn Lot’s production is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International. Monty Python, Mozart, the Mouse King, and even some Meat Loaf and Mel Brooks are on the bill for the 2022-2023 Kentucky performing arts season. Whether you appreciate comedy, drama, foot-tapping music or any and all in between, stages across the Commonwealth will offer shows for every taste and preference. Here’s a brief selection.
thespotlightplayhouse.com
The Spotlight Players Acting Troupe presents the story of Hannah, a sometimes lonely 10-year-old girl, who embarks on a mysterious time-jumping adventure.
OCT. 9 L Chonda Pierce: Live in Concert
SEPT. 23-25 L The Broken House
The Mountain Arts Center, Prestonsburg 606.886.2623 or 888.MAC.ARTS macarts.com Comedian, television hostess, author and actress Chonda Pierce has been making audiences laugh for more than two decades. Known as the Queen of Clean, Pierce takes the Mountain Arts stage in October to share her life experiences with laughter and positivity.
40 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
Comedian Brad Brown combines family-friendly humor and magic to entertain crowds around the world. Through Oct. 25, Brown takes the stage at the Barnwood Bravo Theater at Kellie’s Homestead Restaurant in Dry Ridge. Performances include escapes, comedy magic, and sleight of hand.
kentuckymonthly.com 41 DEC. 8 The Prophecy Show RiverPark Center, Owensboro 270.687.2770 riverparkcenter.org Ready to get into the holiday spirit? Head to Owensboro for one of the longest-running tributes to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, featuring beloved Christmas music. L L L NOV. 13 Step Afrika! Norton Center for the Arts, Danville 877.HIT.SHOW nortoncenter.com Step Afrika! presents award-winning percussive performances with its blended styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities, traditional West and South African dances, plus an array of contemporary dance and art forms. L L L Comedy, drama, music, ballet and more— Kentucky’s new performing arts season has it all
42 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 All Things Kentucky in One Place. Only in Oldham. OldhamKYEvents.com • 800-813-9953 Director@TourOldham.com Plan an October Getaway OldhamtoCounty! Front Porch & Park Concerts Quads Car Shows Ghost Tours & FarmAntiqueStorytellingShowsTours Check our website for upcoming events! ONLY 20 minutes from Louisville QUILT MUSEUM .ORG Downtown Paducah Kentucky Growing into the Light (detail) by Louise Harris NOV. 5 L Churchill, Starring David Payne Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center, Bowling Green 270.904.1880 theskypac.com Acclaimed British actor David Payne, who brought you An Evening with C.S. Lewis in 2021, returns to SKyPAC with a touching homage to Winston Churchill DEC. 3-4 L The Lexington Ballet presents The Nutcracker EKU Center for the Arts, Richmond 859.233.3925 lexingtonballet.org It wouldn’t be the holidays without a production of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Christmas masterpiece. The Lexington Ballet brings to life the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Snow Queen and, of course, Marie and the Nutcracker Prince as they battle the Mouse King and travel to the Land of Sweets. JAN. 19 L On Your Feet! The Carson Center, Paducah 270.450.4444 thecarsoncenter.org This exhilarating musical follows the true story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, L L L
L Opera’sKentuckyCinderella Brown Theatre, Louisville 502.584.4500 kyopera.org This rendition of the classic rags-toriches tale, with music by Gioachino Rossini, is described as “bubbly, melodic, and hilarious.” Follow Cinderella’s journey as she defies her wicked stepfather and hateful stepsisters to win the heart of her prince.
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Heart & Vascular Institute (606) 430-2201 | pikevillehospital.org
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The Giver Bomhard Theater, Louisville 502.584.7777 stageone.org Stage One Family Theater brings to life Lois Lowry’s futuristic novel about a society that has tried to relieve its citizens of choices to ensure “sameness.”
The 39 Steps Woodford Theatre, Versailles 859.873.0648 woodfordtheatre.com What do you get when you combine Alfred Hitchcock, Monty Python and a spy novel? The answer is The 39 Steps. This stage production is a fast-paced whodunit perfect for anyone who loves the magic of theater.
JAN. 28, FEB. 4 + 11
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multiple Grammy Awardwinning musicians best known for launching the popularity of Latin music in the 1990s.
FEB. 10-19
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L Louisville Ballet Spotlight Series: Women in Focus Brown Theatre, Louisville 502.583.2623 louisvilleballet.org
The Louisville Ballet’s presentation of new works was created by a team of women-only choreographers—Ching Ching Wong and Andrea Schermoly as well as set, costume and lighting designers. This production features work by the recipient of the Louisville Ballet 2023 Dysart Award, an annual honor presented to rising choreographers.
The Power of Influence
The Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center, Lexington lexphil.org/the-power-of-influence
Nationally-Recognized Heart Care
FEB. 24 + 26
With works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Igor Stravinsky and others, The Power of Influence explores how artists are affected by external sources, with each piece presenting a direct dialogue with influences from the past and present.
44 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 Santa Claus, Ind.HolidayWorld.com/Halloween
The 1901 Kentucky Derby was the 27th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on April 29, 1901. K E NTUCKY E XPLORER A section for Kentuckians everywhere … inside Kentucky Monthly. Featuring Things Old & New About Kentucky Volume 37, Number 7 – September 2022 All KentuckyAbout Your Letters -- page 46 Ruth Rabold of Bowling Green -- page 50 Adolph Rupp, Kentucky’s Coach -- page 55 “I Remember” By Our Readers and More! The soda fountain and candy counter at Consolidated Drug Store in Ravenna in Estill County,1930. Photo courtesy of the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
46 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER Adsmore, a home built in 1850 in Princeton, is on the National Register of Historic Places. FOUNDED 1986, ISSUE 335, VOLUME 37, NO. 7 a magazine published for Kentuckians everywhere Charles Hayes Jr. • Founder Stephen M. Vest • Publisher Deborah Kohl Kremer • Editor Rebecca Redding • Typographist Kentucky Explorer One-Year Subscription to Kentucky Monthly: $20 Letters to Kentucky Explorer Letters may be edited for clarification and brevity. Looking for Morgan County Connections
— DEBORAH KOHL KREMER
This is similar to the slipcovers that I grew up with. Of course, they were always removed if company was coming!
I am looking for any information regarding the Whitt, Adkins or Maguire families from 1800-1930 in Morgan County—particularly Boone Whitt, my great-great-grandfather, who was murdered in 1927. His spouse was Ada Maguire and I’d like to know if anybody knew them or of them, or if anybody has any information on Boone Whitt Sr. (aka, Daniel BooneAnyWhitt).information about the above surnames would be most helpful. My email address is cheyanestark@gmail.com. Cheyane Sladek Iowa City, Iowa
Hello, I am looking for information on John McGuire (1756-1836); his father, if that’s known; his wife, Nancy Holden (b. 1756); their son, Samuel McGuire (1791-1872); Samuel’s wife, Jaenetta Ferguson (1787-1865); Jilson P. McGuire (1815-1858); and Jilson’s wife, Sarah Keeton (18191897). The three couples listed are my sixth-, fifth- and fourth-great-grandparents.Johnmigratedfromsomewhere on the East Coast after fighting in the Revolutionary War and settled in Kentucky later in life. He was born in Ireland; the rest were born and died in Morgan County, as far as I can tell. I know the graves of many of them are in and around West Liberty, but I’m not exactly sure where. John died in Robertson County. I am mostly trying to see if I can gather any more information on those listed as well as any information anyone may have on the paternal lineage of John McGuire, or anything anyone has on his migration here from Ireland. I came across a snippet of the Kentucky Explorer from January 1997 on Ancestry.com that mentioned my ancestors listed. Austen Cline 4100 Weeks Park Lane, Apt. 164 Wichita Falls, Texas austenjcline@gmail.com76308
In memory of Donna Jean Hayes, 1948-2019 Please send letters to Editor Deborah Kohl Kremer at deb@kentuckymonthly.com or mail to Deb Kremer, Kentucky Monthly, PO Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602. Isn’t it funny how everyday items you grew up with get replaced with new items, and then you almost forget about how things used to be? When I was growing up, every home had a television antenna on the roof, a tea kettle on the stove, and awful clear plastic, stick-to-the-back-of-your-legs slipcovers on the living room couch. The coffee grinder photo in this month’s “I Remember” section made me think of this. Probably every home had one, and then—poof!—ground coffee became available in stores, and the coffee grinder was a thing of the past. What item was a staple in your home that is now no longer needed? I hope you enjoy this month’s issue. We have an interesting story about Ruth Rabold. If that name sounds familiar, she was the wife of Earl Rabold, whose turn-of-the-century photographs of Bowling Green have graced our covers recently. Ruth, a dynamo in her own right, shared her gifts, too. We have a tragic story about a Civil War injury, a chiropractor in Iowa who was fascinated with Mammoth Cave, and a couple of articles that will make you love Kentucky even more. We love to share your memories! You can reach me at deb@ kentuckymonthly.com or mail items to Kentucky Monthly, Attn: Deb Kremer, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602-0559.
• • •
A Summer Morning at My
By Catherine Essex BloomfieldNorthern Ireland in the County of Donegal, the Ulster Province, is the home of my Daugherty ancestors. Their name varied from 1600-1800 and included Darty, O’Daugherty and Daugherty, and it is the most common name in Northern Ireland. The landscape was beautiful in northeast Ireland with its rock walls and scenic churches built from rocks designed by stonemasons. It was the perfect place to raise sheep and other livestock. Wealthy landowners rented land to tenant farmers to raise potatoes. A family’s livelihood and survival depended on the crops of potatoes to feed them. The Irish Potato Famine, which spanned from 1845-1855, drove numerous farmers and stonemasons from Ireland to settle in America. Many were poor and suffering from diseases. My Daugherty family starts with William Daugherty, born in 1801 in Ireland, and Rosanna, also born in Ireland in 1810. In 1860, they arrived in Irvine, in Estill County. They had three sons—Samuel, born in 1838, who was my great-grandfather, and his brothers, John and William Francis. William and Samuel grew up to be stonemasons. For many years, I have researched about the stonemasons in Kentucky. This year, while reading a book about the rock fences here, I was surprised to find a list of stonemasons in Lexington. There, I found the name of my great-greatgrandfather William Daugherty and great-grandfather Samuel Daugherty listed. I have recorded data showing they were owners of one of the first rock quarries in Lexington. If I could go to Ireland and see the beauty of the rocks and the churches, a dream would be fulfilled. To see the rock walls and the beauty of the green landscape would be a connection to my ancestors.
Home
Muhlenberg County was named for Gen. John Peter Muhlenberg, a hero of the Revolutionary War.
Irish Stonemasons Leave Gift for Kentucky
September 2022 47
Reprinted
By Dee Pierre BrooksvilleThismorning, I sat on my cozy back porch and was struck by the life and beauty around me. I admired the decades-old trees with the enormous trunks reaching up towards the sky; the birds that caused the clothesline to dance up and down as they landed or launched themselves from it; the beloved bright red Kentucky cardinals, who vied with the blue jays, red-wing blackbirds, crows, tiny bright yellow and gray finches, who competed with the “Big Guys”—red-headed woodpeckers all anxious to get their turn before the feeders become empty. Doves and other species of birds were foraging seeds that had fallen on the ground, occasionally joined by a hungry raccoon or squirrel.Onmy porch, young bees venturing out from the hives my son set up were buzzing happily about me, fearless, as if they knew I would not dare to take a swat at them. I could see their hives from my vantage point, one named “Bee Haven” and the other “Bee Loved.” Meanwhile, tiny hummingbirds were watching me as I sat, perfectly still, about 3 feet from them as they drank the sugar-and-water mixture from their feeder. In the distance, I could see the beautiful rolling hills of my beloved Kentucky, covered with the various shades of green of the grass and trees as one hill descends to its base and another rises, heading in the opposite direction. Wildflowers of white, yellow and blue abounded in the unmowed space of the hill on which the house sits, leading to woods from which come deer, wild turkey, raccoons, squirrels and chipmunks. If I am lucky, maybe the mama doe will appear from the woods with her baby fawn. If the little fawn gets hungry in the open area of the trip up or down the hill, mama will pause, look alertly around her, watching for predators, human or animal, and wait patiently until her little one’s hunger is sated before continuing into the safety of the woods. What a wonderful way to start the morning, sipping coffee grown cold. I am overwhelmed by the beauty of it all and appreciate our awesome God for this little part of his creation. with permission from The Bracken County News Kentucky
Living in Kentucky, I am aware that my ancestors left a part of the landscape here—the rock fences dotting the landscape. Stone fences are found all over Kentucky, thanks to the many stonemasons from Ireland.
4 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER48 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER “I Remember” By ReadersOurSend in your memory today!
Items Made to Last
The Johnson farmhouse on Big White Oak Road in Greenup County was our home from July 1920 to August 1942. In the early mornings, coffee brewing on the wood-burning cookstove woke us up with such a wonderful smell that made our house feel like a home. I’d get dressed and go to the source of that smell in the kitchen.Thecoffee beans, which were purchased whole, needed to be ground into a powder. The coffee grinder was a square wooden box with a dish and a handle on the top. When the handle was turned, the gears in the bottom would grind the beans into powder, which would fall into a drawer at the bottom. The powder was then placed in the metal basket in the coffee pot. The lid of the pot was a clear glass dome, and we kids loved to watch that hot coffee bubble up into it. Dad and Mom were the only ones who drank coffee at our home, and it was given to friends who came for a meal. Dad had a game he played with his coffee cup. When it was empty, he turned the cup over in the saucer and gave the cup a few turns, which caused the leftover coffee to form designs. He also played with the bubbles when Mom poured coffee into his cup. If the bubble was big, he would place a finger in it and then put the finger in his pocket saying it was $100 and the smaller bubbles were smaller amounts. We kids loved these games Dad played with his coffee.An example of a coffee grinder from the 1920s. By Ronnie Doyle, Park City
Pictured are, front row from left, Michael Atkinson, Richard Craine, teacher Mr. Collivar; back row from left, Luther Wilson, teacher Mr. Henderson, Ronnie Doyle and an unidentified student. Above, Ronnie’s hammer and nail box in 2022, still in good condition and still being put to good use 65 years later.
By Lois Wilcox, Piqua, Ohio
The above photo is of the Park City High School agriculture freshman class of 1957-58. The freshman project for shop class was to construct a hammer and nail box. This item was much needed on the farm to keep certain tools together for repair projects.
Making Coffee on the Farm
Jefferson Memorial Forest, located in the Knobs region of southern Louisville, covers 6,500 acres to Deborah Kohl Kremer at deb@kentuckymonthly.com or mail to Kentucky Monthly, Attn: Deb Kremer, P.O. Box 559, Frankfort, KY 40602.
… Send memories
By Gwen Dick, ParmleysvilleMonticelloHighSchool
in Wayne County opened in the 1930s. Leroy Huston Smith (1871-1948) was a trustee and volunteer, and he never billed the board of education for his time. He was a carpenter and skilled workman, and he made all needed repairs around the school. Before the school opened, a well was drilled for water because the spring was about a mile away. This well was drilled about 150 feet deep in solid rock, and it came in dry. Mr. Smith hauled water in a jolt wagon from a cold spring and filled up the well, which held a considerable amount of water. When the supply was exhausted, he repeated the action.
The average attendance in 1939 was 66, but smaller schools—such as Beaver Creek School, Bell Point School, Gophertown School and Mount Pisgah School—were closed to increase the school census at the new Parmleysville High School.
Parmleysville School
Tending the Sick in the Early 1900s
September 2022 49
Back when I was a child, we depended on home remedies when we got sick, as did most people in Wayne County. Many of us were miles from a doctor. We in Steubenville were lucky, as we were just 5 miles from town and just 2 miles from the doctor at Mill Springs. We didn’t call a doctor unless we were really sick and the home remedies hadn’t worked. Most of our parents and grandparents doctored all of our cuts and stubbed toes with either turpentine or coal oil. Both were good, and I never remember a case of lockjaw or blood poisoning. If we got stone bruises on our feet from going barefoot, a poultice of egg yellow and salt was bound to it. We always got a dose of worm medicine in the spring. This was made from worm seeds gathered from a bush and cooked with molasses, and it tasted awful. We also had to take a round of sulfur and molasses each spring. This looked good but tasted terrible. If we got a cold, we were given a dose of castor oil with a few drops of turpentine. It didn’t do any good to rebel; we had to take it. Castor oil was considered a great medicine and was taken if we had a fever. Sometimes quinine was given but mostly to grown-ups. Maybe they wouldn’t take the castor oil and turpentine for coughs and colds. There were many different homemade cough syrups: horehound was the favorite, made with brown sugar, and it didn’t taste bad. Mullins leaf made a good cough syrup, too. Rat vein was the best in our family. It was one that we had to go into the woods to get. It was a small evergreen—kind of like wintergreen. It really did make a good cough syrup. For babies, they used to make tea from catnip, and it would really make them sleep. They also made baby’s tea from something called wall ink. It grew on rocks in the woods. If our cold got really tight, out came a flannel cloth covered in lard, kerosene, turpentine and camphor and pinned to our chest. It smelled awful, but it must have worked because we never had a case of pneumonia in our family. I remember how Mother doctored Gussie and me when we had the whooping cough. She got a quart of vinegar and put mixed spices in it and as much brown sugar as would dissolve in it. When we felt a cough coming on, we would run and take a spoonful or two. It tasted good, and we had light cases of whooping cough. Whiskey was used as medicine at our house, besides the bottles of camphor and asafetida, which was made out of whiskey. We always had a half-gallon of what they called bitters. This was a half-gallon of whiskey with all kinds of roots and herbs. I don’t remember them all, but I know it had slippery elm bark, hickory bark, cherry bark, yellow root, black snake roots, may apple roots, sarsaparilla root, and heaven knows what else. My mother was quite a baby doctor in our community. I suppose they thought if she could raise 13 without losing one, she must be good. There was one remedy I am sure Mother never used on her children, but people believed in it. If a child had tiny white blisters in its mouth, also called thrush, people would take the shoe of a person not related to them, put in a little water, and slush it nine times from toe to heel. Then give it to the baby’s mother to be given to the baby. Mothers also used to chew the food and then take it out of their mouths and give it to the baby. I have seen women do this. My mother said it always made her sick to see it. But in spite of the lack of doctors and no vaccines or wonder drugs, mothers managed to raise some healthy children.
… and is the largest municipally run forest in the United States.
This is an excerpt from Lest We Forget, a booklet written in 1974 by Lynnie Davis White of Steubenville in Wayne County. She assembled memories and typed (or had them typed) and copied them to create a 70-page booklet that she dedicated to her grandchildren. It does not give the year of her birth, but it appears she was born around the turn of the 20th century. This woman, the youngest of 13 children, wanted to share with her family what it was like growing up without electricity, running water, a telephone or heat.
6 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER50 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER
Sept. 2, 2022, is the 40th anniversary of Ruth Rabold Day in Bowling Green. Ruth was perhaps the most accomplished female landscape designer in Kentucky history. Ruth was the wife of photographer Earl D. Rabold, who was featured in our May issue, “The Talented Mr. Rabold,” and was the greatgrandmother of the author. By R. Nicholas Rabold Bowling Green Ruth F. Rabold blazed the trail for professional women in the early 20th century—leaving behind an enormous legacy that touches the lives of thousands of people in Bowling Green and Warren CountyAlthoughdaily.she is now best remembered for her landscape and floral design work, Rabold was not least a talent scout. Indeed, in 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression, Rabold recruited architect James Maurice Ingram to build the local landmark that has become known as The Rabold House. In 1933 or ’34, she recruited landscape architect Robert Swan Sturtevant to aid her in implementing the surrounding garden, particularly employing his expertise in the arrangement of her collection of irises. Ingram, who recently had graduated from Notre Dame University, was a newcomer who went on to design many of what are still regarded as the finest houses and buildings in southcentral Kentucky. Sturtevant, however, was no upstart. He had two Harvard degrees, had trained at the Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm, and was a founder of the American Iris Society.Importantly, Sturtevant served as a professor at the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture—one of the first institutions in the world to open the field of landscape architecture to women. The
Barren River Lake covers about 10,000 acres and has 141 miles of shoreline.
Ruth Rabold
SquareBowlingSturtevantGardenpresidenthercoincidence.collaborationRabold–SturtevantwasnoPleasedwithhisassistanceinprivategarden,Rabold—asoftheBowlingGreenClub—nextconvincedtohelpherrestoreGreen’sFountainPark.Onlanddonatedby Robert Moore in 1797, the park originally was laid out from 1870 to 1872 by John Cox Underwood. It was then christened “Fountain Park,” but the landscape was no professional affair. The original stone fountain deteriorated so rapidly that a new one was required in less than a decade. In 1881, the marvelous cast-iron fountain—capped by Hebe, Goddess of Youth—was installed, as well as the four cast-iron statues encircling the basin. These depict Ceres, Goddess of Grain; Pomona, Goddess of Fruit; Melpomene, Goddess of Tragedy; and Flora, Goddess of Unfortunately,Flowers.the park again was in perilous condition by the 1920s. It was used not only as a stockyard, but also, at times, an abattoir. Rabold famously considered the condition of the park, as well as certain other landscapes in Bowling Green, a “publicRabolddisgrace.”changed that. Working under Sturtevant’s gaze, she oversaw the complete overhaul of the park’s landscape—the results Above right, Ruth Rabold in the Rabold Garden, 1933; right, the Rabold Garden in 1934. The rock garden was cutting edge for its time, comparable to those designed by Beatrix Ferrand at Yale University in the same period. Note the Sturtevant addition of Landscapeirises. designer added beauty to Bowling Green
Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass, was born in Rosine on Sept. 13, 1911, and died on Sept. 9, 1996. including specimen magnolia, linden and ginkgo trees covering gravel paths lined with cast-iron benches brought in from Charleston, South Carolina, interspersed with flower beds filled with her favorite rubrum Japanese lilies.
September 2022 51
While Rabold was not a formally trained landscape architect, she was a remarkable talent with a keen mind. She built her career on years of independent study throughout the United States and Europe. Feeling that she had exhausted domestic sources of inspiration, in 1937, Rabold traveled from New York, New York, to Southampton, England, aboard the R.M.S. Queen Mary. It was a grand tour. Her diary entry from June 23, 1937, her day of departure, notes “[a]t last, the day of days has arrived … the celebration is terrific.”
Upon arrival in England, Rabold studied the Kensington Palace Gardens; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Gardens; Lancelot “Capability” Brown’s landscape garden at Blenheim Palace; and even William Shakespeare’s garden at New Place. Upon crossing the English Channel, Rabold went on to study numerous continental gardens. One, of course, was Rabold’s favorite: “Versailles is … gorgeous beyond description … [and] poignantly connected to the story of Marie Antoinette.” Rabold’s work was of such quality that she went on to help design many Bowling Green and Warren County parks, golf courses and streetscapes—in some cases, entire neighborhoods—as well as residential landscapes across theHercountry.services were not inexpensive.
On March 20, 1957, Estelle Jackson of the Louisville Courier-Journal recorded, with regard to the gardens at The Rabold House alone, “Mrs. Earl D. Rabold of Bowling Green, who laughs herself off as an amateur, has a green thumb that one professional estimated as being worth $30,000.” That would be well over $300,000 today. Landscapes are by their nature transient, and Rabold’s broader work is now largely altered. But in south-central Kentucky, her vision has endured. She was instrumental in the founding of the Bowling Green Beautification Commission (Operation PRIDE), which continues to oversee all major beautification projects in the region today, and the Hobson House museum—Riverview at Hobson Grove. She was one of the earliest donors to the Landmark Association of Bowling Green and Warren County and donated funds for the 1980s restoration of the Capitol Arts Center on Fountain Square. In recognition of her “many contributions and achievements” for the city of Bowling Green, then-Mayor Harold A. Miller proclaimed Sept. 2 “Ruth Rabold Day.” A plaque at the Main Street entrance to Fountain Square Park—her most famous work—commemorates the community’s appreciation for Rabold’s nearly six decades of service. The plaque is located directly in front of the Barclay-Rabold Building and across from the Princess Theater, where her husband’s photographs laid undiscovered for nearly a century. Rabold died in 1986, but her legacy of beauty is everpresent in Bowling Green and Warren County—most notably at Fountain Square Park and Riverview at Hobson Grove, both of which incorporate her ubiquitous mixture of wrought iron and cast iron. Her chief protégé, M. Mitchell Leichhardt, designed the gardens at the Baker Arboretum implementing many of the same design tactics he learned with Rabold at The Rabold House.
Rabold’s favorite lily, Lilium speciosum rubrum, continues to bloom in Fountain Square Park. Above, Fountain Square Park prior to the Rabold restoration, circa 1925. Notice the livestock behind fencing in the foreground. Left, Fountain Square Park after the restoration, circa 1940. Note the native linden trees (Tilia americana) around the fountain. Photos courtesy of the Special Collections Library at the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University.
The Civil War Pension Records of
52 KENTUCKY MONTHLY NOVEMBER 2020 Barren River Lake nearl Bowling Green covers about 10,000 acres and has 141 miles of shoreline. 52 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER
John Heinrich Ling
By Norma Jean Baumbach Greiser njgreiser@yahoo.comAlexandria C
orp. John Heinrich Ling, also known as Henry, enlisted in the Union Army on Oct. 23, 1861, and was discharged on Jan. 3, 1865. Ling’s pension records report he that “mustered into service at Camp Pope” on Dec. 14, 1861. He served in the Union Army Company I, 15th Regiment Kentucky Infantry Volunteer. There are no known photos of Ling, but his military records describe him as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with blue eyes, dark hair and an olive complexion. Ling was born on July 1, 1824, in Hesse Cassel, Germany. He married Anna Catharina Moeller on May 19, 1851, in Germany, and immigrated with her to the United States in 1854. He and his wife lived for a time in New York City and then followed family members to the Ohio Valley. The couple had 10 children—four girls and six boys. Two children were born in New York, one in Ohio, and the rest in Newport, Kentucky. Prior to and after his time in the military, Ling worked as a laborer. His military pension records indicate he was pensioned and received $4 per month. He was at the Battle of Perryville on Oct. 8, 1862, and suffered a serious wound from a lead ball that penetrated the facial bone along the right side of his nose. Due to this wound and subsequent health problems, Ling requested a pension increase and applied for an Invalid Pension on July 1, 1879. The pension-increase documents included testimony from Ling and two witnesses. These notarized documents were necessary to back up the information provided by Ling. Both affiants were in the battle with Ling and were eyewitnesses to the incident. There was only one commissioned officer who was present when Ling was wounded. The officer died prior to Ling’s request for a pension increase. As there were no other officers at the scene who could provide proof that Ling was wounded in battle, the assistant adjutant general on Aug. 27, 1875, ruled the “rolls and returns failed to show that Corporal Ling was wounded in that action.” The company muster rolls list Ling as absent and sick and at times in different hospitals in Louisville, Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee. There is no mention of why Ling was in the hospitals. He stated in his affidavit, dated Feb. 4, 1885, that, “in the Battle of Perryville, 1862, the ball passed clear through the lines of my nose, and then about two or three months ago the ball dropped from its lodging into my throat and was ejected from my mouth and I still have the ball in my possession.” According to a doctor’s report, the ball was lodged in Ling’s face for 22 years. One witness said Ling left the ranks after being wounded and was heading in the wrong direction. The witness said that when he “took hold of Corporal Ling and pointed to him what course to take, there was blood running down his face from the wound. The wound appeared to confuse him and that was the cause of his taking the wrong direction.” Both witnesses clearly saw the event. Also in the pension records was a health statement from a medical examiner of the U.S. Bureau of Pensions dated July 14, 1890. The doctor affirmed that “he has attended to Henry Ling for 30 days and found he was suffering from inflammatory-rheumatism and that Mr. Ling is bedridden. He had palsy and a constant nasal infection due to a gunshot wound to the right side of his face. The medical examiner stated Henry was totally disabled and needs constant attention of a nurse.” Ling died on June 28, 1895, at his home on Brighton and Patterson streets in Newport. Henry was 72. The physician’s certificate lists the cause of death as heart failure.There was no indication that Henry received an increase in pay due to his disability. After his death, Anna requested a widow’s pension through the U.S. Pension Agency. She received $12 a month until her death in 1900. The medical reports and affidavits provided by friends in Anna’s pension request list the ailments that Henry suffered due to the gunshot wound: “Henry was confined to his house and bed. He became breathless and weak upon slight exertion. He required daily care from another person and for the past two years he has not been a square from his residence.” Another affiant “declared he knew Henry immediately upon his discharge in 1865 at which time he was suffering from rheumatism and disease of chest and overall pains. He was a constant sufferer and disabled from the performance of manual labor.”
John Heinrich and Anna Catharina Moeller Ling are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate. There is a Civil War veteran plaque on the plot, and the Lings’ grave marker records Henry’s time in the Army.
Henry and Anna are my great-great-grandparents. Their daughter, Elizabeth, married George Baumbach, and the couple are my great-grandparents. They had a son, William Charles, who married Rose Verax. They are my grandparents. Their son, William Earl Baumbach, married Mary Catherine Enzweiler, and the couple are my parents. The sources of this information are Henry’s Civil War pension records, Federal Census records, birth records from the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church in Newport, and 40 years of genealogy research. To the best of my knowledge, this account is true and accurate.
September 2022 53
B.J. Palmer: Chiropractor, World Traveler and Mammoth Cave Enthusiast
Palmer occasionally gave talks on Mammoth Cave to his class assembly at the college. On May 7, 1908, he presented an illustrated lecture on Mammoth Cave in front of a large crowd at Duncan’s Business College in Davenport. There was so much interest in this talk that “even the largest room at the Palmer School was unable to hold the crowd.”
Palmer illustrated the lecture with more than 100 views of Mammoth Cave that he recently aquired during his visit. In 1910, the Palmers returned to Mammoth Cave. On this visit, a photo was taken of them with the “cave” donkey by Mammoth Cave resident photographer Harry M. Pinson. Written on the front of the photo postcard is: “Mrs. & B.J. Palmer at Mammouth [sic] Cave, Ky., Sept. 15, 1910, When Will We Three Meet Again.”
The Palmers had several postcards made from the original negative that they gave to family and friends. The original photo from the negative can be found today on the mantel of the Palmer residence in Davenport, Iowa, which is open to the public for tours.Palmer gave another lecture on Mammoth Cave in Davenport in October 1910, not long after his third visit. In addition to his lecture and photos was a display of “Indian relics and an eyeless crawfish.”Onhislast visit to Mammoth Cave in 1950, Palmer brought a copy of one of his books because he wanted R. Taylor Hoskins, then superintendent of Mammoth Cave National Park, to read his story on caves. It pleased Hoskins tremendously. After reading it, Hoskins turned it over to Mr. Lix, the cave naturalist, who also enjoyed it. Hoskins arranged a special trip for Palmer to see “New Discovery,” which was not open to the public. Mammoth Cave guide Leon Hunt, the son of Schuyler Hunt, who had guided the Palmers 45 years before, took Palmer on the tour. Mabel Palmer died from a stroke in 1949. In 1951, B.J. Palmer purchased a home in Sarasota, Florida, where he lived out his last years writing books on his world travels, including his visits to Mammoth Cave. He died in 1961 of intestinal cancer.
Above, the Palmers’ Mammoth Cave photo postcard, Sept. 15, 1910; left, B.J. Palmer’s lecture poster for Mammoth Cave, May 7, 1908. Courtesy of Palmer College of Chiropractic.
By Bob Thompson Mason, Ohio The name B.J. Palmer may not be familiar to Kentuckians, but in the field of chiropractic medicine, the Palmer family is given credit for developing the chiropractic profession into what it has become today.
The Palmers first visited Mammoth Cave in 1904 during their honeymoon trip to Washington, D.C., and the South. They visited the cave again in 1908, in 1910 for 10 days, and in 1950.
John G. Carlisle, U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Treasury, was born Sept. 5, 1835, in Campbell County.
The Palmers loved to travel. As an escape from the stressful life of running the chiropractic school, the couple traveled around the world several times, giving lectures and collecting antiquities for their home in Davenport. In his travels, Palmer always sought out caves. It has been said that “B.J. can smell a hole in the ground like a tombstone man smells a newly made grave.” For 40 years, he made an intensive study of caves and was knowledgeable of the caves he Palmervisited. studied all the great caves of the world, including Mammoth Cave. According to a Davenport newspaper, the Palmers “made several trips” to Mammoth Cave during their travels: “On our trips south, via Kentucky, we make it a point to visit one or more caves—some of them more than once. Mammoth Cave is one that never tires.”
Bartlett Joshua “B.J.” Palmer was a pioneer of chiropractic and was the son of Daniel David “D.D.” Palmer, the founder of chiropractic. The elder Palmer opened the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, in 1897. On May 30, 1904, B.J. Palmer married Mabel Heath, and they worked as chiropractors and instructors at Palmer College. B.J. Palmer also was a noted lecturer and world traveler and the author of several books.
Jenkins was built by the Consolidation Coal Company, which bought the land for the town in 1911. To bring in the construction materials, a narrow-gauge railroad was built from Glamorgan, Virginia, over Pine Mountain to the site. The town was incorporated as a sixth-class city on Jan. 9, 1912. I believe the photo of the locomotive and railroad is of the narrow-gauge railroad, and that as soon as the standard-gauge railroad connection to the outside world was built, the narrow-gauge line was removed.
Today, the home at 1015 East Main Street is a hair salon, The House of Beauty and Booze
54 THE KENTUCKY EXPLORER
Letcher Locomotive
By Gay Vekovius, DisappointinglyNashvillelittleisknown about Daniel Brooks, my great-great-grandfather. He was a German who immigrated to the United States. It is a shame that we didn’t grill our relatives when we had the chance. He probably was among the butchers—many Germans—who built homes facing Story Avenue in the Butchertown area of Louisville in the 1830s and ’40s. Beargrass Creek was in the backyard. The confluence of Beargrass Creek and the Ohio River was an important harbor for the fledgling city. Behind their homes, they built small thewouldandtheslaughterhouses,oneFrankfortFrankfortlivestockwouldTypically,slaughterhouses.afarmerdrivehisbywayofPike(laterAvenue)toofthesewhereanimalswerekilledprocessed.ThemeatthenbehauledtonearbywharfandsentbysteamboattoPittsburgh,NewOrleansoranotherport.Knowingthatfamily members once lived on Story Avenue prompted a search of the city directories housed at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville. Brothers Joseph J. Brooks and Daniel Brooks lived at 1015 Story Avenue in 1891, the year before Joseph and Margaret Frank Withers, my greatgrandparents, married. My sister and I visited this home. It is now The House of Beauty and Booze. Our Baptist ancestors might have had a bit of trouble with the booze idea. By today’s standards, it is incredibly small. At the time they lived there, it may have had only two rooms, each heated by a fireplace. Currently, there is a two-story addition on the back. There is a picture of my grandmother, Susan Frances Brooks, as a child of 5 or 6 at a community pump, possibly on Wenzel Street, also in StoryWenzelButchertown.intersectswithAvenue.Itisn’tclear if she and her parents lived in Butchertown after they married or just visited with relatives there. At the dawn of the 19th century, Louisville was home to fewer than 400 people. It grew by 400 percent by 1810. It was ideally located as an outlet for crops and livestock and an entry point for manufactured goods and other necessities from the East Coast. It is located at the Falls of the Ohio River, the only natural obstruction between Pittsburgh and the Mississippi River. When the river was low, traffic coming upriver from the New Orleans area had to stop below the falls. Animals were then driven and goods portaged around the falls to the wharf area at Beargrass Creek, which was 2 or 3 miles. The reverse was true for downriver traffic.
Susan Frances Brooks
By David Morse
As business grew and the stockyards were developed, the elder Daniel Brooks probably became a commission agent who utilized the stockyards. He would purchase animals, possibly on consignment; drive them to the stockyards; and sell them to processing plants.
A relative once complained of the indescribable stench of the stockyards, an odor still present in certain areas of Butchertown today. Susan Frances Brooks reportedly replied, “It smells like bread and butter to me.” And so it was for two generations of our family.
John “Casey” Jones, the famous railroad engineer, was born in 1864 and lived for a time in Fulton County.
The locomotive in this postcard is identified as the first steam engine in Letcher County. I believe it to be a narrow-gauge locomotive that belonged to the construction company that built the first track to Jenkins.
Our Family and Louisville’s Stockyards
Texas Western, coached by Don Haskins, started seven African American players. At the climax of the Civil Rights Movement, Texas Western defeated Rupp and the allwhite Wildcats in the national championship game. This game advanced the integration of college sports and was a blemish Rupp struggled to remove.
Adolph Rupp: Kentucky’s Coach Christian Gayhart Shelbyville Adolph Rupp, “the man in the brown suit,” is one of the greatest college basketball coaches. His achievements are endless, but Rupp faced challenges during his time at the University of Kentucky. He was accused of being racist, conducting illegal recruiting and shaving points. In Kentucky, Rupp is remembered as the pioneer of the UK basketball program. Rupp started his coaching career as a wrestling coach, a sport he knew nothing about and learned from a book. In 1926, he led the Marshalltown, Iowa, high school team to the state wrestling title. Rupp had a talent for coaching and teaching. He soon accepted his first basketball coaching job at Freeport High School in Illinois. During the four years at Freeport, he recorded 66 wins and 21 losses. Not long after, Rupp was hired as UK’s coach. He entered the Kentucky Wildcats basketball program in 1930, and his teams won 162 games in his first 10 years in Lexington. Rupp’s teams won 249 games in the 1940s with national championships in 1948 and ’49. He called his 1948 basketball team the “Fabulous Five” because, a few days after winning the title, he and his team won a tournament against the country’s best basketball teams to represent the United States in the Olympics. The team went undefeated and won gold for the USA. After winning the national title again in 1951, UK was investigated for a point-shaving scandal. On Oct. 20, 1951, Alex Groza, Bill Spivey, Ralph Beard and Dale Barnstable were arrested for taking bribes from gamblers to shave points during the National Invitation Tournament game against the Loyola Ramblers in the 1948-49 season. Criticized for creating an atmosphere for the violations to occur, Rupp denied any understanding or involvement. Soon, the Wildcats were under fire again. The NCAA investigated the Wildcats on the suspicion that UK had committed several rule violations for allowing ineligible athletes to compete and giving spending money to players. The Southeastern Conference banned Kentucky from competing for a year, and the NCAA instructed all other teams not to schedule games with UK, causing the Wildcats to cancel their 1952-53 season. The NCAA eventually would construct the death penalty, which bans programs from competing for a year because of disorderly conduct. The UK point-shaving scandal is now recognized as the first death-penalty incident in all of college sports. The 1965-66 season changed college basketball forever.
Rupp eventually signed 7 foot, 2 inch center Tom Payne in 1971, and he became UK’s first Black player. Rupp heavily recruited Wes Unseld, who chose to attend Louisville. The point-shaving scandal, NCAA rules violations, and racial backlash shouldn’t cloud Rupp’s tremendous career and success. He holds many records and achievements, including the record for longest home win streak (129); the fastest coach to reach 500, 600, 700 and 800 wins; and the first coach to win 800 or more games. Kentucky fans are most proud of him for winning four national championships (1948, ’49,’51 and ’58).
Rupp died at 76 of spinal cancer on Dec. 10, 1977. Rupp Arena, the home of the Kentucky men’s basketball team, is named in his honor. Adolph 1901-1977Rupp
September 2022 55 Mary Todd Lincoln’s half-sister, Emilie, married Benjamin Hardin Helm, a general in the Confederate Army. WANTED TO BUY: All types of antiques and collectables. Top prices for gold, silver and costume jewelry. Scrap gold. Gold and silver coins. Wrist and pocket watches. Collections. Early post cards and fountain pens. Civil War swords and other military items. Vintage toys. Pocket knives. Lighters. Old eye glasses. Pottery and stoneware. All types of railroad items. Advertising signs. Handmade quilts. Marbles. Jars. Much much more. Complete and partial estates. Call Clarence, buyer for more than 30 years, at 606.531.0467. (F-D) CLASSIFIED ADS Reach 120,000 readers with classified advertising available in Kentucky Explorer. Classified ads $50 per issue (up to 25 words). Contact Deborah Kohl Kremer at deb@kentuckymonthly.com
The 2006 movie Glory Road recreated the story of that Texas Western team. The story was inspirational, although it made Rupp and the Wildcats the bad guys. Rupp was portrayed as being against desegregating college basketball because he had never coached an African American at Kentucky before that game. Since then, people have reviewed Rupp’s life before that title game. In 1926 at Freeport High School, Rupp coached and started the first Black varsity basketball player in school history. In 1948, Don Barksdale, the first Black player on an American Olympic basketball team coached by Rupp, said Rupp was his “closest friend” on the team. In 1961, five years before the 1966 title game, Rupp and UK President Frank Dickey petitioned the SEC to desegregate athletics. All other SEC schools turned down the petition, resulting in Dickey and Rupp receiving more than 120 death threats.
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By Steve Flairty The White Jamaican, by Chris Helvey, Wings ePress, $16.95 (P)
The White Jamaican, Frankfort author Chris Helvey takes the reader on a riveting journey of greed, murder and other mayhem, this time in big-city back alleys, the sunshine of Jamaica, and the deserts of the American southwest.
A Louisville-based writing group called the Derby Rotten Scoundrels has gotten the spirit(s) with an anthology of 18 crime stories. Titled Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon, the collection is edited by Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch Story samples from primarily female writers—many of whom are award-winners—include “Proof Is in the Killing,” in which a character claiming to be a descendant of acclaimed distiller Elijah Craig has ulterior motives. “Take a Fall” sees employees of a bourbon distillery invade the home of their highprofile boss. In a shot of irony, a debutante from up East migrates to Appalachia and joins the iconic Frontier Nursing Service. While on duty, she saves a wounded moonshiner.Interwoven into the collection are informative articles covering the history of bourbon, distillery profiles, product informational pieces, and bourbon recipes. The nonprofit writing group is an eclectic assemblage of individuals whose mission is “to support women writers of all genres, but particularly in the crime writing genre.” The group also welcomes male writers.
By Deborah Kohl Kremer Making Bourbon: A Geographical History of Distilling in Nineteenth-Century Kentucky, by Karl Raitz, University Press of Kentucky, $60 (H) A Shot of Crime
(P)-Paperback (C)-Clothbound (H)-Hardback 56 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 off the shelf
America’s only native spirit, bourbon is proudly claimed by Kentucky and has been for more than two centuries. As the drink exploded in popularity in recent years, so has the demand for more information about its origins and processes.
Making Bourbon: A Geographical History of Distilling in Nineteenth-Century Kentucky takes a deep dive—600plus pages worth—covering the heritage, distilling processes, technology and branding of Kentucky bourbon. The author explains how the spirit went from craft-sized, family-run businesses to the giant corporations of today. Incorporated into the wellresearched chapters are maps, graphs and drawings that aid the reader in absorbing the abundance of information.Author Karl Raitz is professor emeritus of geography at the University of Kentucky. Making Bourbon expands on his previous book, Bourbon’s Backroads: A Journey Through Kentucky’s Distilling Landscape
By Steve Flairty Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon, edited by Susan Bell and Elaine Munsch, Mystery and Horror, $16.95 (P) Glamour, Greed and Grit
Private detective Frank Quick doesn’t take himself all that seriously, and he doesn’t see any reason for others to, either. But when a beautiful starlet requests his services to find the whereabouts of her missing husband, he somewhat reluctantly agrees to take on the case. Quick soon discovers the perks surrounding his endeavor—those of being around the starlet and her creature comforts, along with the company of her equally attractive sister who happens to be romantically interested in him. But then the project becomes difficult andIndangerous.
Armed with his trademark firstperson writing style, Helvey superbly crafts his sixth novel and dedicates it to the memory of Ross Macdonald, the main pseudonym of deceased Canadian-American crime writer Kenneth Millar, and Macdonald’s private detective character, Lew Archer.
Bourbon History
London Downtown Experience the LOCAL SHOPS & RESTAURANTS HIKING • KAYAKING CYCLING • MOUNTAIN BIKING ATV PARK & MUCH MORE! HONEYBUNRIDE.COM www.visitlondonky.com1-800-348-0095 Saturday, OctOber 8, 2022 LOndOn, KentucKy Cycling Capital of Kentucky! ® London-LaureL County regiSter fOr the inauguraL hOneybun ride! Did you know that Danville, Kentucky is the perfect place to start your Kentucky Bourbon Trail® tour? Begin at one of our local bourbon & spirits bars before you stamp your first official trail visit at legendary Wilderness Trail Distillery. Danville, Kentucky – it all starts here! Plan your trip by visiting us at danvillekentucky.com kentuckymonthly.com 57
A
Everyone Has a Story
n article by author Georgia Green Stamper, “Everyone Has a Story to Tell,” in the spring 2022 issue of Kentucky Humanities magazine reminded me of the importance of recording the past. From books and television series, we know about famous battles, famous persons, and, sometimes, infamous folk and non-praiseworthy events in our history. One thing I have learned as an “oral historian” is that the commonplace events and actions of individuals should be recorded in someEveryoneform. has a story. Granddaddy Ellis would sing this when I was a small child: “Jesse James had a wife, to mourn for his life, three children they were brave.” There was an old banjo in a closet. It disappeared. Did he ever play the banjo? I don’t know. I’ll never know. My granddaddy was a veteran of the SpanishAmerican War, Private, Company F, 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Infantry. I was so young at the time that I was a little afraid of him. He became more silent as I got older. I should have asked more questions, but I did not. I have the public record of his life but little else.••• There are many ways to pass information on to later generations. I have several tape-recorded interviews of family members, and my son has videos. I have a few black-and-white photos of my parents and grandparents. Now, parents record videos of their children literally from the time they are born. I participated in a Storyworth project a year ago. Every week, a question was sent by email, and I typed in my few-hundred-word response. I know that my greatgreat-grandchildren will one day be able to read how I lived “way back in the 20th Recordingscentury.”areeasier to produce now than ever before. StoryCorps, an oral history project administered by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, records memories. Every Friday, National Public Radio airs a brief StoryCorps recording of an individual. There are other projects available—some free, some varying in cost, including LifeTime Memoirs. The old-fashioned method of transmitting accounts of family life, history and myth was, of course, by word of mouth. • • • My mother and father married quite young. Pop got a job with Kentucky Utilities at a coal gasification plant in Danville. When I was nearly 4, I recall going to the plant one evening with my father. He was finishing some concrete on a company project. I was holding a lantern, which was heavy for me. Pop always called me “Buck.” “Pop, I can’t hold it up any longer,” I said. “OK, Buck, set it down,” he replied, “I’m about finished.” Pop enlisted in the United States Army in 1944. When he was sent to Fort Hood, Texas, Mom and I boarded a train for a long trip to the nearby town of Copperas Cove. We stayed in a small apartment and saw Pop occasionally. I recall that Mom and I, along with some others, walked one day toward a cemetery, only to be chased off by the warning of a rattlesnake. I am still not too fond of Whensnakes.Iwas 5, my mother and I lived with my Stratton grandparents on Buzzard Roost Road in Shelby County, while Pop was stationed in the Philippines. I vividly recall sitting on the steps of the back porch with Granddaddy Stratton. It was a warm evening with lots of stars that had no competition from other light sources. I remember Granddaddy’s ambeerscented breath on that summer evening as he told tales of growing up in the “Billy,country.ifyou listen real close, that little screech owl is calling your
past tense/present tense by Bill Ellis 58 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
For several years at Eastern Kentucky University, I assigned my American history survey and Kentucky history students an interview project entitled “Living in the Great Depression.” That was long enough ago that most still had one or more grandparents who vividly recalled the 1930s. From these assignments are tape recordings and some transcripts and written papers awaiting an enterprising young scholar. An interviewee once told me, “When you get to asking me these questions, you see these things get to coming to me. When you get old, there’s lots of things that happened to me yesterday, but I can remember when I was a kid. I still remember them, and I can still meditate on them.” Another person said, “Usually, these things stay with you; sometimes, they drift away.” Capture memories any way you can, especially those from when you were young, before they drift away forever. There are triumphs and tragedies in all families. They should be recalled and recorded.
From Covington to Pikeville, Glasgow to Hickman, find your place in Kentucky history! Online or in-person | 100 W Broadway St, Frankfort
Clark Center for Kentucky History | Kentucky Military History Museum | Old State Capitol & Public Grounds | history.ky.gov
kentuckymonthly.com 59 name,” he said. Sure enough, the owl sitting in a nearby tree called out, “Billee, Billee, Billee.”Isnuggled up to Granddaddy, a little boy so unsure of the world, afraid that his father would not return from the war in the Pacific. My parents kept up a sizable correspondence during the war. After my father died in 1997, I asked Mom about their letters that I had seen in a box earlier, thinking I might write about their time apart. “What a love story it would make,” I thought. I asked her if I could borrow them. “I burned them,” she said matter-offactly. “They were private. It was just between me and your dad, and no one else’s business.” I have one surviving letter. In it, my mother had sent to Pop a photo of herself in a 1940s-style cheesecake pose. “Pretty good looking, huh!” she wrote. Theirs was a model love story and marriage. I have written before of my father’s postwar adjustments. He had nightmares that I vividly recall For some time, he had recurring bouts of malaria, taking Atabrine, which turned his skin yellow. It was a frightening sight to a little kid.
• • • Individuals carry burdens of memories all their lives. My Grandmother Stratton lost her brother Chester in 1913, while she was still a teenager. The family received word from Elkins, West Virginia, that he had drowned in a tributary of the Cheat River. Chester used a horse and buggy to make rounds to collect money for cast-iron stoves he sold to people who lived in rural areas. When his body was found, it was discovered that he had head wounds, and all his money was missing. This question has always haunted the family: Was it an accident or murder? Either way, Mamaw mourned him for the remainder of her life. As I age, some memories fade; others are unimportant. Some images and memories will serve me always.
Readers may contact Bill Ellis at editor@kentuckymonthly.com
Thomas D.
60 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022 by Walt Reichert gardening
J udging from the questions I get, gardenersKentuckytend to focus their thoughts and efforts on three categories of plants: vegetables, perennials and trees. For that reason, or perhaps out of contrariness, I’ve continually urged gardeners to take a second look at shrubs. Shrubs have more merits in the landscape than many gardeners give them credit for. They grow more slowly than certainly,perennials,butthey will last much longer. And they certainly grow faster than trees. Dense shrubs will hide an ugly view much more rapidly and with fewer insect issues than evergreen trees such as the ubiquitous white pine or arborvitae. Many shrubs are excellent wildlife and pollinator plants. Trees frequently grow out of bounds and mess with roofs, gutters and power lines. Overgrown shrubs easily can be pruned
Sweet Shrub or Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus). This native shrub has been discovered by plant breeders who have turned the species’ modest, purplish flowers into large, gaudy things that are certainly striking to the eye, but many of the newer cultivars have lost the fragrance of the original. This shrub will grow 6-8 feet tall and half again as wide. If you find this species, plant it where you can appreciate the fragrance, which will range from strawberries to bananas to pineapples.
Large fothergilla (Fothergilla major). A native shrub that will tolerate some shade, the fothergilla has white bottlebrush flowers that are attractive in the spring, and its maroon foliage is stunning in the fall. It can grow up to 10 feet high. Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). Another large native shrub, this one is famed for its curly blossoms that show in late winter or early spring. Witch hazel will grow in the shade but flowers better in sun. Many cultivars have been developed
FallGood.Convinced?back.isagood time to plant shrubs in Kentucky. Planted in September and October, shrubs can start to put down roots in their new home, ready to put out strong new growth the following spring. In the past, I’ve recommended some smaller shrubs that fit well inside the perennial border or along the foundation. This month, let’s look at some big shrubs. These guys won’t fit into the small city lot; they need a little more land to strut their stuff. They will reach heights of 5 feet or more, with width to match. When properly placed, they will improve the looks of your landscape and at the same time offer a place of refuge for birds and butterflies, creatures that increasingly need our help to survive.
• • • Listed in no particular order, here are a few big shrubs you might consider for planting this fall. Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’). A native shrub with red berries beloved by birds, this cultivar sports pink flowers in the spring and dazzling red foliage in the fall. The berries will persist until October if the birds don’t take them first. It grows 6-10 feet high and 3-5 feet wide and transplants easily. Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parvifolia). Another native shrub, this is a really big boy. It can grow up to 12 feet high and 15 feet wide. Its white flowers in cylindrical panicles blooming in early summer are its chief attraction. Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest has an outstanding collection of these shrubs. Stop by to see how you can use them in your landscape. Nesting birds will thank you.
BeautyberryAmerican americana).(Callicarpa One of the smaller shrubs on this beautyberrylist, can grow up to 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide but is often shorter. Its attraction is theeventuallydropped.afterberrieslavender-coloredthethatdisplaythefoliagehasBirdswilleatberries,but you’ll have several months of a spectacular show before they do.
American Beautyberry
Big Shrubs You Need to Meet
Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina). If you have formal plantings, forget sumac. This native shrub is rangy and somewhat misbehaved—it sends up baby sumacs everywhere. But the bees swarm on it in June, and the birds eat the berries in the fall. Sumac’s fall color is among the delights of October. Do not confuse it with poison sumac. This big shrub/ small tree is harmless.
Let the fun begin in Grant County!
Readers may contact Walt Reichert at editor@kentuckymonthly.com kentuckymonthly.com 61 with blooms that range from bright yellow to orange to red. Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). This is an upright shrub with hibiscus-like blooms in pink, white and purple. Bees—especially bumblebees—love it, so you might not want to plant it too close to where you walk if you’re allergic to bee stings. It’s not much for fall color, but Rose of Sharon will bloom for three to four months in the summer. Keep it pruned for heaviest blooms. Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). This is the shrub we kids called “snowball bush.” I later learned that some folks call viburnum “snowball bush.” Bigleaf hydrangea blooms white to pinkish white to pink to blue all summer long. The shrub itself will reach up to 8 feet in height and width. It will tolerate some shade, but newly planted shrubs need to be kept well-watered. Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). This native shrub attracts the spicebush swallowtail butterfly, which lays its eggs on the leaves. The larvae that hatch have enormous false eyes that give them a cute but otherworldly appearance. The shrub will grow 6-12 feet high and will tolerate moist soils. Its fall color is bright yellow. Mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius). This is one of the first shrubs brought to the United States by early settlers. If you have ever smelled one in May or June when it blooms, you will know why it was treasured in Europe. Mockorange is often planted under windows, but it is going to grow up to 12 feet, so you might have some pruning to do. Otherwise, the shrub is carefree, and the fragrance is worth almost any effort.
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“You can have it if you’ll haul it off,” he said.
by Gary Garth field notes 62 KENTUCKY MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2022
“Thanks, but I can get it,” I said, adding truthfully, “I’ve had plenty of practice.”
I was thumbing through a recent issue of Kayak Angler magazine, which included an observation by editor Ric Burnley that, during the past two decades, kayak fishing has grown faster than any other segment of the sport of fishing. I’ve no doubt this is accurate, evidence of which can be seen on almost any Kentucky water, from Elkhorn Creek and Hematite Lake (Trigg County) to the Green River, Cave Run Lake, Kentucky Lake and beyond.Inmeeting this soaring demand,marketsome of today’s fishing kayaks are marvels of engineering and marvelous angling platforms that can accommodate a full slate of electronics and a bevy of other accessories. All can be powered by paddle, of course. But many come with a pedal-drive system and/or an electronic motor. They are fishing machines. Old Town and Hobie are a couple of leaders in the current kayak fishing wars, but there are many others. Some of the current top contenders can be found ifneighbor’sdiscoveredbatteredanew.anglingthesuddensomewhatfishingbest-fishing-kayakskayakanglermag.com/boats/kayaks/atIstandinfullsupportofthissurge,butamalwaysamusedbytheapparentdiscoveryofpaddleboatsbyanglingcommunity,ascanoeandkayakanglingarehardlyI’vebeenfishingfromthemforhalf-century,startingwitha17-footGrummanIpartlyhiddenbehindahouse.WhenIinquireditmightbeforsale,
Mr. Lloyd , a local grocer and a kindly man known to everyone, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.
• • •
Kayak Fishing
Flipping through the magazine, I landed on page 40 and the headline “The United States of Fishing.” The story was a roundup of the best kayak fishing destinations in the country, listing one per state. I sometimes enjoy these types of stories and have written several of them myself, but they are at best only a starting point for fishing destinations.TheKentucky source picked Dale Hollow Lake as the kayak fishing hot spot, a choice based—I assume at least in part—on the lake’s superb smallmouth bass population and maybe its angling star power. Dale Hollow straddles the KentuckyTennessee line and holds a unique place in fishing history. It was from the Kentucky slice of the lake that, on a hot summer Saturday morning in July 1955, Leitchfield angler David L. Hayes, trolling a white Bomber bait, landed an 11-pound, 15-ounce smallmouth bass. It was the alltackle world record smallmouth bass and, 67 years later, remains so. I recently discovered that a halfcentury of kayak and canoe fishing can have an odd, unexpected and unrequested benefit. I usually car top my boats and have hauled them countless miles across the Commonwealth and beyond. One recent sweltering late afternoon, I spent the last hour of daylight in my Old Town Topwater on a small public lake not far from my home. Boats at this water are limited to electric motors, and the launch site is about 50 yards from the parking area, so it’s fairly popular with kayak and canoeing anglers. The surroundings are quiet and secluded, and the fish—while generally not fromhikersstraps,mywastwilight.theparkingreturnedthelastfriendly.plentifullarge—areterriblyandIwastheboatoffwaterandtothelotinfadingAsIgatheringtie-downtwoemergedthefoot path that circles the lake. They looked to be college age. They dropped their packs, and the taller of the two said, with an air of concern in his voice, “Sir, do you need some help?” It was a kind offer and not unappreciated. I was driving a midsize SUV and had the boat poised for loading. The Topwater weighs about 80 pounds without the seat and pedal drive, both of which are removable. Safely hoisting it onto a roof rack is largely technique.
Above, Lee McClellan with a Floyd’s Fork smallmouth bass on Kentucky Lake. Right, Keith Inman at Sugar Bay on Kentucky Lake.
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Getting there: The WMA is about 8 miles east of Madisonville. From Interstate 69, take Exit 114 onto Ky. 85/75. Travel east on Ky. 85/75 about 3 miles, then turn right onto Ky. 70. Travel another 3 miles on Ky. 70. The entrance is on the left. If you cross the Pond River, which forms the WMA’s eastern boundary, you missed the turn-off.
For all of Kentucky’s sparkling attributes, the Commonwealth is not blessed with an abundance of public land. Only about 5 percent of Kentucky’s 39,491.61 square miles (about 25,274,630 acres) are public. However, public land access slightly improved earlier this year when the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) opened a chunk of land in Hopkins County. What it is: The Harris-Dickerson Wildlife Management Area, an 1,837acre public-use area that is mostly reclaimed strip mine land that includes several lakes. It is owned by KDFWR and open under statewide hunting regulations. ATVs are prohibited, and there is no camping. According to the KDFWR, “good populations of deer, turkey, small game, furbearers, waterfowl and fish exist on the area.”
For more information, contact agency headquarters at 1.800.858.1549 or visit Harris-Dickerson_All.pdffw.ky.gov/More/Documents/.
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Information: Contact the KDFWR regional office at 270.476.1889. This is the number for the Peabody WMA office, but HarrisDickerson is not part of the Peabody WMA, and a Peabody user permit is not required for Harris-Dickerson.
Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com
I opened the front door and reached inside to get a strap when I heard the unmistakable thump, scrape and rolling crash of a boat sliding sideways off the rack and bouncing off the ground. Technique is important. Apologies rained down but weren’t necessary. There was no serious damage. Nobody was hurt. And the dent in the door is hardly noticeable.
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We come from all across Kentucky to The Gatton Academy on the campus of Western Kentucky University. As juniors and seniors in high school, we enroll in WKU courses, conduct research with WKU professors, and study abroad. While we are challenged academically, we thrive in a supportive environment designed just for us and make lifelong friends. Best yet, our tuition, meals, housing, and fees are all paid for by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. You, too, can have a future filled with infinite possibilities. Classof2025 Admissions Deadline: February1, 2023 WEBSITE: wku.edu/academy / EMAIL: academy@wku.edu / PHONE: 270-745-6565 facebook.com/gattonacademy @gattonacademy @gattonacademy
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