Paducah Life Magazine - April/May 2021 by PaducahLife

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MAJOR RENOVATIONS DESIGNED AROUND YOU. WE BELIEVE OUR COMMUNITY DESERVES THE VERY BEST. That’s why, at our newly renovated John & Vivian Williams Mother-Baby Unit, you’ll find updated Labor and Delivery rooms, a Level III NICU, and more. Everything we’ve done is centered on you, for greater comfort, more privacy and excellent care. Find out more and watch our new video at BaptistHealth.com/Paducah.

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contents 1o 38 Takin’a Trip to Paducah,TEXAS

april/may 2021 ★ from the editor page 5 ★ last word

The Great Wide Open/Travels with the Phalens

Bernheim Forest has Paducah Roots

Kentucky’s Historic Boone Tavern

Bluegrass Blogger Marie Pullen Takes the Backroads

Rediscover Paducah, Kentucky

Explore Kentucky’s Western Frontier

Cycling the Roads Less Traveled

Passion, Artistry and Healing at Fleur La Andalusian

COVID Friday Nights with the Walden Family

Paducah’s Historic Community of Littleville

Read Harder Paducah 2021

Michael Terra Threads the Needle of Public Art

The 505 Coffeehouse

Takin’ the Wagon into Town

page 84

Kentucky is Calling

Young Women Talk About Representation in Life and Politics

Parker Street’s Little Free Library

Visit us at paducahlife.com ★

2 • PADUCAH LIFE

SEE AND HEAR MORE OF THE FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE ON

VOLUME 31, EDITION 2 executive editor/ P U B L I S H E R Darlene M. Mazzone

associate E D I TO R / editorial P H OTO G R A P H Y J.T. Crawford

art D I R E C TO R Scott McWilliams

associate art D I R E C TO R Allison Wicker

cover P H OTO G R A P H Y Steven Phalen

on the C OV E R McKenzie Woods, Erileigh Phalen, Luke Taylor, Katie Followell and Bryan Bodine

Paducah Life is published six times a year for the Paducah area. All contents copyright 2021 by Mazzone Communications. Reproduction or use of the contents without written permission is prohibited. Comments

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F RO M th e A S S O C IAT E E D I TO R

E ARE, AT HEART, A NATION

of explorers. It is woven into our DNA. The frontiers we seek are varied, but they all point to a solitary aim. We long for experiences—soul-satisfying experiences that quench our innate thirst for adventure. But contentedness only lasts for a season. Before long, wanderlust sets in again, putting our feet in motion toward new horizons. Many of us felt a sense of dread in 2020 as the world shifted. We saw our usual patterns of life, including plans for travel, fall apart. “Lockdown” was the antithesis of what our souls needed. That’s when ingenuity kicked in. We found new ways to be out and about and new paths to experience the world around us. I already had a love for kayaking. But with other plans cancelled, I dove in, deciding to experience the waterways near home as much as possible. This resulted in longer paddles and finally breaking the barrier of overnight trips. The Land Between the Lakes became my temporary home most weekends. My soul flew to new heights as nature unfurled its flag before me. There’s nothing like watching the sun set on the lakeshore and then being in the same spot as the world awakes and the sun dawns over a new day. While that might not be your adventure of choice, the options are endless. There are a myriad of ways to experience the world around you. As we pulled out of the winter and thought about 2021, we wanted to encourage our readers and stoke your sense of exploration. And what better place to explore than our own Commonwealth? Kentucky is a varied landscape that offers us a nearly endless list of ways to get outside! We’ve compiled just a few ways you can find Kentucky anew. From west to east, from Paducah to Maysville, there are day trips, overnight options, urban landscapes, and nature in abundance. May this edition of Paducah Life be a springboard to a 2021 full of LIFE out and about in our UNCOMMON commonwealth.

J. T. Crawford jt@paducahlife.com

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into the great wide open

BY J.T. CRAWFORD

Terrific Travels of the Phalens and Friends

KENTUCKY is CALLING Clockwise from top is Bryan Bodine, Luke Taylor, Erileigh Phalen, Piper the pup, and McKenzie Woods. Photo by Steven Phalen

HERE’S A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE—

landscapes of trees and hills and plains and mountains and waterfalls. There are forests on which we may feast our eyes. There are oceans of experiences in which we may immerse ou selves. Why adopt the heart of an explorer? It’s an unabridged reality—that which takes us beyond our finite, day-to-day existences, opening our stories to more possibilities and new ways of thinking. Roaming outside the familiar worlds of our creations brings balance, perspective, and a renewed appreciation. In other words, it brings fullness to LIFE. Erileigh and Steven Phalen understand this well. Erileigh, owner of Paducah’s Raven and Moth, and Steven, videographer and photographer for Emerging Media Productions, stay pretty busy with their careers. They know the value of getting away to discover worlds beyond their own. They’ve done a lot of exploring together, most recently discovering the Cumberland Falls area of Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest with friends McKenzie Woods, Luke Taylor, Bryan Bodine, and Katie Followell (as featured on the cover). Upon their return, we asked Erileigh and Steven about their experiences and love for exploration.

PL: What kind of outdoor adventures do you like to do together? erileigh: We love taking Sunday hikes with our dog Piper. We usually try to stay within about an hour from home for those, but in the summer we like to venture further for camping trips. We love using outdoor adventures to escape everyday life. Last year, we decided to move from car-camping to backpacking to better “disconnect” and loved it!

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PL: What’s one of your favorite trips thus far? steven: For part of our honeymoon, we headed to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State and camped at Rialto Beach. Since we were doing a lot of traveling, we did "cheaters backpacking" with an Airbnb campsite, which we didn’t even know was a thing before! The host actually hikes out in advance and sets up all your gear and then sends you the directions to find it. We had so much fun hiking in and getting to just relax and take it all in without worrying about getting there in time to set-up camp. It was also really amazing to be so far away from any light pollution with nothing but the ocean in front of the tent and the dense forest behind us and to hear the waves crashing just yards from us as we slept. The PNW was so perfect for adventuring with the mild climate and lush green forests for long, meandering hikes. Honestly, I think we could have spent days wandering the pebbled coastlines picking up little interesting bits along the shore and looking for seals.

PL: What draws you to look for new adventures? erileigh: Something that I think annoyed Steven when we first met but now he has come to love as well is that I cannot stand to be inside on a pretty day. I was raised to spend every moment you can enjoying the outdoors. If it's nice out, I just have the natural urge to get out and see something new. I have a hard time even sticking to a trail because for me I just want to see as much as I can, whether it's something as small as every toadstool and wildflower or big, grand rock formations. For Steven, it's all about making memories and just enjoying the new experience. He loves to take photos and capture the moments for us to look back on.

PL: What are you looking for when considering a trip? erileigh: It’s often hard for us to get much time off together, so finding places close to home so that we can make the most of it is key for us. Once that Kentucky heat hits, I am all about the water, so we are usually literally chasing waterfalls and streams. But Steven is pretty much happy anywhere he can hang up his hammock and take in the scenery.

PL: Why’d you decide to visit the Cumberland Falls area, and what did you find there?

steven: There are a vast number of hiking opportunities in the area. We stayed in an Airbnb cabin just outside of the national park and spent our days hiking trails and our evenings playing games around the table, as it was still a touch cool in the evenings to enjoy a casual campfire. We cooked meals together and packed picnics for our hikes. We hiked the trails around Van Hook Falls, Cumberland Falls, Dog Slaughter Falls, and we even stopped by Mammoth Cave on our drive home to hike around the park to break up our drive. We had visited Mammoth Cave a couple of years prior during the heat of summer to escape into the cool caverns and wanted to come back and explore the trails above ground ever since.

Erileigh: We loved all of the waterfalls. We chose our hikes specifically to see as many waterfalls, streams, and babbling brooks as possible, and we were not disappointed. Early spring is a great time for hiking if you want to see a lot of natural water features. But thanks to all of the springs in the area, most of these run year-round. We are already planning to come back in the heat of summer to enjoy splashing in the cool pools of water that looked so enticing! Other than at Cumberland Falls itself, the trailheads were pretty remote

which was fantastic for us as that meant the trails were not very populated and we could spend time enjoying nature without a crowd. We were also surprised at how rocky the terrain was and how quick the elevation would change on the trail. It made for really interesting hikes as we would go from scenic overlooks high on the rocks to climbing down low into a valley to discover a hidden waterfall. Our dog, Piper, was especially fond of hopping rock to rock along the trail like a little mountain goat!

PL: Why do you enjoy sharing these experiences with others? erileigh: We love getting out and exploring with friends simply because we love to share in the adventure together. We may not all like the same thing, but we all have something to contribute to the trip to make it a more robust experience. We each have different personalities, talents, and skills, and that often works great because some people love to plan, others love to cook and prep lunches, and some keep us going with great activities and endless playlists. With the pandemic, we have found ourselves enjoying getting outside with friends even more as other activities we once enjoyed together had to be put on hold.

PL: What do you like about exploring Kentucky? steven: The landscape varies dramatically across our state, and you can have unique experiences close to home. On our departure, we took the scenic route home to pack in another hike and a few more sites along the way. We went from rocky hills and evergreens to the deciduous forests and caverns of the Bowling Green area to a casual drive through the flatter farmlands of Amish country, passing horses and buggies on the road before winding through our lake lands here in western Kentucky. There is truly something for everyone here whether you enjoy hiking and camping, spelunking or rock climbing, or fishing and boating. The list goes on and on!

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Explore

BY J.T. CRAWFORD

kentucky This Spring, Mine the Riches of Our Uncommon Commonwealth

KENTUCKY is CALLING

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he curtains are finally drawing to a close as the winter doldrums take their final bows. Daffodils have bent their heads toward the sun, signaling to the rest of the earth to begin the process of renewal and rebirth. One by one, we emerge from our abodes—squinty-eyed in the warmth of the springtime sun. It’s time to shake off that cabin fever! And there’s no better way to do that than to discover the world “out there.” A sense of wonder combined with exploration of the world beyond is salve to the soul. This year, we suggest diving into the great wide open by experiencing some of the resources within our own Commonwealth, which is anything BUT common. Kentucky is a vast and varied landscape ready to fill your senses and give you a sense of renewal. While there are thousands of options, here are a few suggestions to get you started.

hike kentucky

Looking for an economical, easy way to experience the beauty of Kentucky? How about on foot? Our landscape is lined with trails designed to bring you into a direct experience with the natural flora and fauna of the Commonwealth. You can start with one of Kentucky’s Trail Towns. Here are just a few.

dawson springs For an easy day trip, head over to Dawson Springs, the state’s first certified Trail Town. The Pennyrile Nature Trail is a 13.5-mile trail that can be hiked in sections. Part of the trail traverses Pennyrile State Forrest Park and encompasses the Indian Bluff Trail. Then there’s the nearby Jones-Keeny trail system where you’ll be rewarded with wide views from high bluffs. There are natural rock formations, a waterfall, and a natural bridge, one of only 20 in Kentucky.

CAVE CITY/MAMMOTH CAVE

berea

Mammoth cave naturally conjures up visions of miles and miles of subterranean exploration. But on the surface, it’s a natural wonderland with 37 square miles covered with 60 miles of backcountry trails. Explore the valleys and the land carved out by the Green River. From the forest ridges, the landscape opens to wide vistas. There are even some backcountry and riverside camping sites if you want to spend the night.

Just south of Lexington, Berea College Forest boats a roster of trails to enjoy—11 of them. The distances range from .4 to 1.8 miles. Some give overlooks of the forest—trails like the Sacred Shadow, Eagle’s Nest, Lower East Pinnace trails. Some are less traveled and take you through the heart of the dense forest. The one trail rated difficult is Kelly’s Trail, which gives the hiker a variety of terrains. Then there’s Anglin Falls, a short drive from Berea College’s campus.

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KENTUCKY is CALLING

DAWSON SPRINGS

CAVE CITY/ MAMMOTH CAVE

BEREA

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NATURAL BRIDGE IN LONDON

london How about a trip to London? This one is a lot more rustic than its namesake in jolly old England. London places you at the Daniel Boone National Forest and its over 600 miles of trails. Many of them interconnect, so you can plan anything from a short day trip to an overnight backpacking adventure. North of London, on the Sand Gap Trail, you can visit Natural Bridge, one of Kentucky’s most iconic natural wonders.

row your boat

Over the past few years, recreational kayaking has grown exponentially. More people are taking to our waterways, and exploring our natural resources from a new perspective. And there’s no better place to begin than in Kentucky. Here, there are thousands of miles of riverways and lakeshores. Here are a few suggestions to get you started. LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES

WHITEWATER ADVENTURES

land between the lakes One of the greatest kayaking resources is right in our backyard. The LBL provides access to both Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Between the two, there is over 3,300 miles of shoreline—a lifetime of paddling. Access is easy with plenty of boat launch areas throughout the 170,000-acre recreation area. To make it easy, the U.S. Forest Service established official water trails along the shorelines. The trails are marked, and access points and maps are available on their website.

red river gorge This area of the Daniel Boone National Forest is a hidden gem for a multitude of outdoor activities. There are plenty of kayaking options along the Red River, but one of the most unique options is The Gorge Underground. There, you can enter an old, flooded limestone mine. Tour guides lead small groups through lit, underground hallways. You also have the option of using stand-up paddleboards or rent a clear bottom kayak and enjoy the lighted water below.

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KENTUCKY is CALLING

RED RIVER GORGE

whitewater adventures If you’re looking for a little more adventure, Kentucky boasts whitewater kayaking options to suit everyone from beginner to expert. For the beginner, Elkhorn Creek near Frankfort is a learner’s paradise. Many come from states around to learn the basics there. More advanced? The Narrows of the Rockcastle form rapids on this section of class III-IV whitewater that eventually ends up in Lake Cumberland. And not far from the city, the Falls of the Ohio (upper) in Louisville and The Rocks near downtown Bowling Green are easily accessible.

cumberland falls It’s called the Niagara of the south. The 60-foot tall falls form a 125-foot curtain creating an aweinspiring experience along the Cumberland River. A unique way to experience them is by kayak on the lower falls side. Located in the Cumberland Falls State Park, there are options for renting cabins or

CUMBERLAND FALLS

going camping. Then, one can explore plenty of whitewater kayaking along the river. And if you come on a clear, full moon night, you’ll see a moonbow, one of the few places on earth to see one.

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A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 15

BARDSTOWN KENTUCKY is CALLING

a stroll down mainstreet

Kentucky is comprised of hundreds of communities. From large to small, each has a unique history, personality, and contribution to the Bluegrass. By visiting, getting out of the car, and exploring our main streets on foot, you can appreciate the history and diversity of Kentucky. Here are a few to consider.

bardstown This city is the heart of bourbon country and Kentucky’s second-oldest city. There are 300 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places with nearly 200 of them located in the historic downtown district. The stagecoach stop that was built in 1779 still stands today as a tavern, restaurant, and bed and breakfast. Bardstown regularly shows up on best small American town lists and has been called the most beautiful small town by both Rand McNally and USA Today.

cadiz Closer to home, Cadiz is packed with small-town charm. Located near the Land Between the Lakes, it is a perfect spot to visit if you decide to enjoy a small town and the beauty of Kentucky’s untapped landscape in one day. When the Farmer’s Market is open, you’ll find plenty of locally made, Amish products. There are plenty of antique stores along the main drag. You can take in some of the exhibits at the Janice Mason Art Museum. And there are plenty of painted pigs around town, a sign of the annual ham festival.

danville Why not go to where it all started? Kentucky was born in Danville. There, you’ll find Constitution Square Historic Site where Kentucky came to be.

Believe us, we’ve only scratched the surface of exploring that grass that grows blue beneath our feet! There are hundreds of other options for getting out into the UNCOMMON Commonwealth of Kentucky. For more ideas, visit kentuckytourism.com.

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Kentucky by the Numbers

Kentucky State Parks

State lodges

Historic sites

DANVILLE

Golf courses

Pools/Beaches

There’s historic Merchants Row, buildings from the 1800s that now house restaurants, shops, and museums. Penn’s store, opened in 1845, is the oldest country store in America in continuous operation and ownership by the same family. While you are in Danville, check out the McDowell House Museum and Apothecary and the Great American Dollhouse Museum.

maysville If you like to explore Ohio River towns, Maysville is a perfect spot closer to the east side of the state. The historic downtown area is picturesque and lined with shops, art galleries, and restaurants. The Kentucky Gateway Museum Center brings the rich history of that area into focus. The National Underground Railroad Museum is housed in a historic safe house where slaves once hid beneath the floorboards for safety on their way to freedom.

Marinas

Campgrounds

MAYSVILLE

Equestrian Competition Rings

Wildlife Mangement Areas

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KENTUCKY is CALLING

BY DARLENE MAZZONE

bernheim foresthas paducah roots My friend Anne from Hopkinsville frequently asks me, “Doesn’t EVERYTHING have a Paducah connection?”

Maybe.

I I

SAAC BERNHEIM WAS BORN IN GERMANY AND IMMIGRATED

to America in 1867 with $4 in his pocket. He became a “peddler” traveling through Pennsylvania on horseback. However, he was forced to abandon this profession when his horse died. It was at this point that Bernheim made his way to Paducah, Kentucky, where he worked as a bookkeeper for a wholesale liquor company, Loeb, Bloom, & Co. He saved enough money to bring his brother Bernard to the states. The two engaged their friend Elbridge Palmer as a partner and opened Bernheim Brothers distillery in 1872. Thanks to Paducah’s location on the Ohio, the business grew rapidly. In 1888 Bernheim Brothers moved to Louisville’s Main Street. The brothers bought the Pleasure Ridge Park Distillery and began operating as the Bernheim Distillery. In 1896, the distillery’s warehouse was destroyed by

APRIL/MAY 2021 • 19

fire. The company’s new distillery began operating in the spring of 1897. The brothers began the production of an elite whiskey brand it called I.W. Harper. (The I.W. may have been an abbreviation for Isaac Wolfe.) During Prohibition, Bernheim Brothers was one of only ten distilleries allowed to continue to make bourbon, as they had received a license to produce it for medicinal purposes. In 1937 Bernheim sold the business to the Schenley Distilling Corporation. Isaac Bernheim became a notable philanthropist in Louisville, and in 1929 he established the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest on 14,000 acres in Bullitt County, 25 miles south of Louisville. The Frederick Law Olmsted landscape architecture firm started work on the park’s design in 1931 and it opened in 1950. Bernheim Forest was given to the people of Kentucky in trust and it is the largest privately owned natural area in the state. Bernheim’s love of sculpture was manifest in several gifts to the public, including the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Louisville Public Library and the statue of Thomas Jefferson in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse. He also donated the statues of Henry Clay and Ephraim McDowell which stand in Statuary Hall in the capitol rotunda in Washington. Isaac Bernheim wanted to provide a place for the renewal and restoration of the bond between people and nature. His vision included the combination of an arboretum and natural forested areas infused with the arts, to create a unique site to experience nature. As a testament to Isaac Bernheim’s vision and perseverance, Bernheim Forest today is home to a Isaac Bernheim nationally renowned 600-acre arboretum with over 8,000 varieties of documented trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials, including the celebrated Hubbuch Holly Collection with over 300 specimens. A host of trails offer diverse hiking and biking opportunities for the casual as well as the more serious athlete. Field trips, group tours, festivals, and ecological exploration programs are all a part of the outdoor experiences offered at Bernheim Forest. Of late, a “must see” is the forest of giants in the giant forest. Danish artist Thomas Dambo constructed three giant sculptures throughout the arboretum using recycled wood from the region. For information on how to plan a visit to the Bernheim Forest, visit bernheim.org.

the i.w. harper legacy From its roots on the banks of the Ohio in Paducah, the legacy of what would become an internationallydistinguished bourbon was born. I.W. Harper bourbon has transcended its distillation at the hands of several generations as its history has unfolded. By 1955, I.W. Harper was a household name and an international sensation. The iconic bourbon graced the pages of popular men’s magazines, inspired a clothing line, debuted in blockbuster films, and cruised around the world as an ocean liner favorite. By 1966, I.W. Harper was enjoyed in 110 countries. After its fame overseas, I.W. Harper returned home in 2015. Today bourbon connoisseurs can enjoy I.W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and I.W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 15-Year Old.

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KENTUCKY is CALLING

historic boone tavern has been serving up kentucky hospitality for a century

ESTLED WHERE THE BLUEGRASS MEETS Appalachia in the heart the Folk Arts and Crafts Capital Berea, Kentucky, is a special place that has welcomed guests from around the world for over a century. Historic Boone Tavern Hotel and Restaurant was originally built in 1909 as a guest house for Berea College at the suggestion of first lady Nellie Frost, wife of president William Frost, after she entertained more than 300 guests in her home one summer. In 1855, Abolitionist minister Rev. John G. Fee, on land given to him by Cassius Clay, founded Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South. The college takes its motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth,” from Acts 17:26. A federally recognized work college, Berea relies on generous donations to help provide a tuition-free educational experience to talented students of limited economic resources. In return, students are hired to work up to 20 hours per week in hundreds of jobs across campus. Many students work in Boone Tavern, known for its fine dining both locally and internationally. The dining room still boasts the original herringbone wood floors. In the past few years, the hotel began serving alcohol— adding local wine and Kentucky’s signature bourbon to its offerings. When visiting Boone Tavern, it is likely you will meet a student worker at the

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Ceglinski ANIMAL CLINIC Vets Who Love Pets reception desk or in the dining room serving Boone Tavern’s famous spoon bread. The Boone Tavern chef creates amazing savory dishes with flare featuring local Appalachian ingredients for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In 2009, the hotel underwent an $11 million renovation that made it the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Certified hotel in Kentucky. The addition of a ballroom in 2016 provides a space for meetings, weddings, and other gatherings. The latest addition to the hotel is the Frost Café, which serves coffee, pastries, and light fare and doubles as the hotel bar. There are some great indoor and outdoor spaces, including the spacious lobby and Lincoln Lounge as well as the wraparound porch great for relaxing with a cocktail. With an abundance of local artists and craftsmen, hiking, canoeing, paved walking/bike trails, and many boutique shops, Boone Tavern is a perfect place to plan a Kentucky getaway.

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BY MARIE PULLEN

bluegrass

blogger

After years away, Native Kentuckian Marie Pullen found her way back home and now has a grand desire to keep her beloved Bluegrass both in her memory and that of others

APRIL/MAY 2021 • 25

KENTUCKY is CALLING

A JOB OPPORTUNITY coaxed me away from Kentucky for a number of years, which served to increase my pride and appreciation for my incredible native land. Now that I've returned, I'm eager to impart all that the great state of Kentucky has to offer! A creator at heart, photographing and writing about a place that I hold dear fills me with joy. I want that passion to shine through my blogs. Photographing, writing, and sharing my enjoyment of all things Kentucky, I was inspired to launch Bluegrass Blog. I relate my experiences around the Bluegrass and beckon readers to enjoy the exciting attributes of their own backyard. Presented here are a few of the wonders of Kentucky's small communities, businesses, and breathtaking scenery. Before you book a flight for your next vacation, consider the amazing escapades that await you right around the corner. Here are just a few that may pique your interest.

FRANKFORT

Our state capital of Frankfort boasts a remarkably walkable downtown. You’ll discover a prodigious amount of stunning public art that seems to be growing by the day. Visit my blog which gives the locations of communal art, including an

26 • PADUCAH LIFE

intriguing sculpture park. This city is the perfect destination for a day trip or full weekend venture. You’ll find historical state review, a flavor-ful bite to eat and drink, and a merry day of shopping. Check out a bourbon distillery tour or a stroll to view masterful artwork and architecture. Our capital city of Frankfort fits the bill! Much to my surprise, I learned that Frankfort has a plethora of hiking trails including those in Cove Springs, Capitol View, and Leslie Morris Parks as well as the Salato Wildlife Education Center.

cynthiana

A downtown revitalization trend has been evolving in the state the past few years, and I couldn’t be more thrilled! What does that mean for you as a Kentuckian? This development suggests great day trips and weekend getaways that are not only unique, stimulating, and fun, but budget friendly. So forget about those flight miles and discover more of what Kentucky holds in store. The community and businesses of Cynthiana have truly stepped up and shaped a splendid town in which to visit and live. New enterprises continue to appear and the downtown is a hotbed of activity with haunted and history tours, theater, cute boutiques, select eats, and a local brewery. Cynthiana is home to a lovely bed and breakfast known as Ashford Acres Inn which also provides a handsome event venue for celebrations. Brownings, a picturesque blossom farm, runs the only vintage,

mobile flower truck in the state and the newly renovated Rohs Opera House is captivating with its beautiful, gold accents detailed by local artist Wylie Caudill. I highly recommend a weekend in Cynthiana. Read all about this wonderful destination featured in my “Discover Cynthiana” blogs, Part 1 and Part 2.

paris

Flanked by pristine horse farms, it is a pleasant drive to nearby Paris, Kentucky. This town is always a marvelous idea where you will encounter a year-round, indoor farmer’s market and the renovated historic Train Depot that now serves as a restaurant. Peruse bountiful shopping, dining, lodging, historical chronologies and more. Paris is witnessing a surge in growth with more on the horizon in the form of a local brewery, coffee shop, and restaurant. Enjoy reading about what Paris has to offer in my “Falling in Love with Paris” blogs Part 1 and Part 2.

Frankfort Capitol image courtesy MUSE MARKETING & DESIGN

georgetown

Plan an excursion to this quaint hamlet where you will find a host of irresistible restaurants, bakeries, pubs, shops and boutiques, along with an engaging museum and tourism center. Visitors enjoy sips at a local brewery and distillery or a rustic farm-to-table dinner at the nearby Local Feed. Schedule a floral class or decorate your wedding with their colorful arrangements at In Bloom Flower Farm. Georgetown boasts a splendid Japanese garden, YukoEn on the Elkhorn, an idyllic oasis in which to stroll or picnic. Across the way, launch your kayak in the

Above: Fireworks at theFrankfort Capitol. Opposite page top to bottom: Burley Market in Cynthiana, downtown Georgetown and Trackside Depot in Paris.

refreshing Elkhorn Creek for a lazy float close to downtown. Learn more about Georgetown in my “#Gtown Eats Week” and “Love Your Downtown” blogs. These suggested locales merely scratch the surface of the endless exploration available in the Bluegrass. What better time to support our local economy, build communities, and help families continue to do the work they love for all of us to enjoy!

APRIL/MAY 2020 • 27

Rediscover

paducah

KENTUCKY is CALLING

To access Paducah Tourism’s historic audio tour, visit Paducah.travel/maps/historic-paducah-audio-tour.

OOKING FOR WAYS TO GET OUTDOORS YET STAY CLOSE TO home? The Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has created two new ways for you to experience our city and, perhaps, see it in new ways. In 2020 the CVB released a new, interactive, mobile-friendly audio tour that allows visitors to follow a self-guided journey on foot through the streets of downtown Paducah. The tour brings listeners to 30 different stops in the city, introducing local culture, history, and architecture along the way. “This walking tour gives listeners an inside look at Paducah’s unique experiences that are woven together to create a cohesive and fascinating story,” says Laura Oswald, Director of Marketing at the Paducah CVB. “Paducah’s long and captivating narrative includes an incredible amount of history, and we have made it our mission to tell the stories of our past in an easy and safe manner.” Stops on the tour include the Paducah riverfront, The National Quilt Museum, the circa-1865 Ernest Rehkopf building, The Carson Center, and more. To help tell the story of Paducah’s rich American legacy through its built heritage, each stop includes a brief description with accompanying audio detailing the history, significance, and culture of the destination. The historic Paducah walking tour provides a mobile-friendly way to explore and navigate between points of interest in the area. The user-friendly format allows participants to easily hear the stories behind each stop virtually from home or in person. To access the historic Paducah audio tour, visit paducah.travel/listings/ historic-paducah-audio-tour/1565/. Additionally, the CVB created a similar tour to guide you around the many murals located in Paducah. Naturally, that includes Paducah’s Wall To Wall floodwall murals. But there are many others throughout town. Via the online map, you can click on the title or map point to learn more For more ideas on how to experience Paducah, visit Paducah.travel.

30 • PADUCAH LIFE

about each masterpiece and the local and visiting artists who created these colorful works of art on walls and in public places. The map can be found at paducah.travel/maps/paducahmural-art-experience/. Oswald says this technology has allowed them to showcase our city, educate people about Paducah, and provide a diversion for those needing to get out. “The past several months have given us all a greater appreciation for spending time outdoors and closer to home,” says Oswald. “As the CVB developed these new tools, building and amplifying community pride was one of our ultimate goals. These self-guided tours invite active engagement with Paducah’s cultural landscape— inviting locals to see Paducah with new eyes and inspiring visitors to explore more of our Creative City.”

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32 • PAD U CAH L I FE

BY J.T. CRAWFORD

KENTUCKY is CALLING

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34 • PAD U CAH L I FE 70 • PADUCAH LIFE

ON KENTUCKY’S FAR WESTERN shore, there’s a high, windswept bluff that overlooks the breadth of the Mississippi River. From there, as one spies the land and skies beyond, a sense of this spot’s importance comes into focus. This vista is part of ColumbusBelmont State Park, a land set aside to not only provide recreational opportunities but to also reflect on the significance of Columbus in our nation’s history. Evidence of early exploration goes back to the 1670s when two Frenchmen made their way down the Mississippi and were immediately struck by the bluffs rising 180 feet above the water. Initially called Iron Banks, it is one of the oldest towns in the Jackson Purchase. The growing populace changed the name to Columbus in 1820. The town developed as a crucial stop along the Mississippi River, and its importance came into sharp focus during the Civil War. Confederate Major General Leonidas Polk and his troops occupied Columbus in the fall of 1861 and built a series of forts and entrenchments just northwest of town. The Confederate Army felt the high bluffs overlooking the river would be a key control area in the infancy of the war. The Confederates stretched a massive, mile-long chain across the river to slow any potential Union traffic. Each link measured over eleven inches long and weighed over twenty pounds. A barrage of cannons rose up from the shoreline to the tops of bluffs. Any Union boat slowed by the chain would meet a barrage of cannonballs. General Ulysses S. Grant knew Columbus was too much for his troops coming down the river. He circumvented that path by heading east and making his way into the south through Forts Henry and Donelson near the Kentucky and Tennessee border. Columbus was a moot point, yet it earned a reputation as the Gibraltar of the South. The town continued to grow due to its location and the growth of railroad traffic. In 1878, fifteen-year-old Casey Jones arrived in Columbus, ready to pursue a career in railroading. He began as a telegrapher for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, all the while studying trains around the town during his off time. But Casey, like many others, left Columbus for better opportunities. And other towns along the Mississippi River built bridges that served to isolate Columbus. Additionally, the original settlement, which was built near water level, was prone to constant flooding.

APRIL/MAY 2021 • 35

A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 35

THE PARK

Reeling from the loss of river and railroad business as well as the devastation of a 1927 flood, Columbus seemed destined to become a footnote in American history. During the relocation of the flood-prone town, F. Marion Rust with the Red Cross became fascinated with the town's role during the Civil War. The Confederate fortifications remained well preserved and the idea of a new state park emerged. Fundraising efforts to purchase the acreage that comprised the stronghold were successful, and in 1934, Columbus-Belmont became a part of the state park system under the leadership of Mr. Rust. CCC workers arrived the same year to reinforce and restore earthworks and trenches. An antebellum home that served as a Confederate hospital was restored into a museum. Artifacts such as cannonballs surfaced, and an anchor along with a large portion of the chain the Confederates strung across the Mississippi river became icons of the park. Columbus remains an isolated bulwark on the Mississippi. Yet its past and importance in the early days of the Civil War continue to bring life to this Kentucky town. Columbus-Belmont State Park is a destination for families to picnic, camp, walk trails, and learn about the town's place in history.

visiting columbus

Columbus-Belmont State Park is ideal for a day trip, especially if you are traveling from the Paducah area. If you want to relax and spend more time there, the park boasts a campground overlooking the river. There are trails, remnants of the Civil War days, and the museum. For another overnight stay option, there is the nearby Iron Banks Lodge. The building was originally constructed as a hotel complete with a ball room. During the construction of the park, the hotel was a hub of activity. In the 1940s, it became a private residence and remained so until 2015 when it was reopened to welcome guests once again. There is a grand view of the Mississippi River and the surrounding area (as far away as Arkansas on a clear day) from the rooftop walk. For more information, visit ironbankslodge.com.

36 • PADUCAH LIFE

Congratulations Baptist Health Paducah on your Newly Renovated John & Vivian Williams Mother-Baby Unit

★ BY J.T. CRAWFORD

F rom Paducah to Paducah,

Paducah Life Associate Editor J.T. Crawford and his wife Wendy took to the westward trail in search of Paducah—the other one.

paducah texas

I eased the car to the edge of the highway as we slowly crested the ridge. The crunching sound of pea gravel under the passenger-side tires segued into near silence as we came to a stop. Here, the Texas countryside shrugged, elevating us gently higher toward the sky. The spot afforded us a broader view of the ever-expanding prairie. The horizon, miles in the distance, felt like a dream—a mirage. ★★★

Opposite page clockwise Cottle County Judge Karl Holloway J.T. and Wendy Crawford take a pause as they enter Paducah, Texas Paducah Businessman and Alderman Richard Gregrory Detail from the Cottle County Courthouse built in 1930

The lemon-yellow sun governed upon the azure curtain of the sky, its tincture infusing into the firmament below, dripping like honey upon the winter grassland before flowing like a great flood across the terra firma. Before us lie iridescence—a swelling, swirling pool of hues that felt like it could be dripping off the earth’s horizon in one great, gleaming waterfall. Vistas that stretch for an indeterminate amount of miles are rare for us Kentuckians. We sat, beholding what seemed to be the longest sunset one could experience. Was it because we could see so far? Or had time slowed in this place, it too taking ease, stretching with a great yawn, granting itself extra moments to experience this glory unfurl? We watched the final rays of light succumb to the horizon. The whole time, we’d not seen another living being. Not a single car passed. We’d spent the day exploring Paducah, Texas, the only other Paducah on the planet, and now we sat a few miles just outside the city limit. The town of a little over 1,100 residents is a well-defined oasis amid Cottle County in the southeast high plains of the Texas panhandle. We’d been spurred here by a curiosity that many of us in Paducah, Kentucky have about Paducah, Texas.

40 • PADUCAH LIFE

The name “Paducah” is unique and specific to our west Kentucky hometown. So how did this Paducah over in Texas come to be? And what is it like there?

THE FOUNDING FATHER The official history is adopted from Carmen Taylor Bennett’s book Our Roots Grow Deep: A History of Cottle County. In it, she wrote that Paducah, Kentucky native Richard Potts moved to the area in the mid-1800s. He offered land to new settlers in exchange for voting to name the growing town after his home city and make it the county seat. Residents established the Paducah post office in 1891 and the newspaper Paducah Post in 1893. By then, the population was around 150. Shortly thereafter, two rail lines came through the town, and, with the increase of traffic and newcomers, the population jumped to around 1,300 by the end of the decade. Paducah, Texas was officially incorporated in 1910. Beyond the initial founding, little is known about Richard Potts. In 1909, he sold all his land in Paducah for $2,500 to A.A. Neff who has sometimes been mistakenly named as a Paducah, Kentucky native.

paducah texas

discovering paducah

We’ve always depended on cotton farming here. Even now, most of Cottle County is an expanse of cotton farms.

With what seemed to be the longest sunset we’d ever experienced now complete, we started the car and headed back to town, watching the red wine sky pour into the blackness of evening creeping across the plains. We returned to the Hunter’s Lodge Motel, our abode for the night. The building, once home to one of the town’s funeral homes, provides a cozy respite. Unexpectedly, the motel was full. The next morning we discovered that a long-time Paducah resident had passed away, and many had traveled to town for the funeral, the notice of which we saw posted on the door of the town’s only grocery store. The next morning, we stopped at Paducah’s lone gas station for breakfast—fully-loaded breakfast burritos with homemade salsa and an optional jalapeño from the gallon jar next to the cash register. In one of two corner booths, we notice a group of older men discussing Sunday morning’s sermon. Paducah is home to several restaurants—the Dixie Maid DriveIn, Double G, and a popular BBQ spot. We then make our way to the court square and the buildings owned by Paducah native, businessman, and city Alderman Richard Gregory. The Cottle County courthouse is an imposing, four-story, Art Deco structure. It is stark and monolithic, conveying a beauty derived from respect and history rising in strong fashion from the sandy Texas soil. Surrounding the courthouse are rows of buildings that represented the once-active business district. Some of the spaces are in use and show signs of life. Others are not. On one side of the courthouse, a strip of buildings is nearly hollowed out, the first step in coming renovations. Well-defined blocks of residential areas surround the center of town. The houses are simple. Many of the neighborhood streets are dirt. Some are brick, laid by one man in the days of WPA. Outside of Paducah, all county roads are dirt. And there isn’t a single stoplight in sight. As we park, we notice deer tracks in the dirt along the sidewalk. A gentleman exits the courthouse. He’s sharply dressed, wearing jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat—a still fairly common ensemble in Texas. It’s Karl Holloway, Cottle County Judge Executive—

42 • PADUCAH LIFE 42 • PAD U CAH L I FE

one of our interviewees. Judge Holloway greets me warmly before turning toward Wendy. He tips his hat and utters in the most polite fashion imaginable, “Ma’am.” We are also joined by 83-year-old Jimmye Taylor. Jimmye is a native of Paducah where she worked for the Paducah Post since 1963. Now, her daughter and son-in-law produce the weekly paper from home. Jimmye still writes a column titled “Just Ramblin’.” Richard owns a couple of spaces along the court square. One houses his residence upstairs and the office for his business Buck Creek Meats downstairs. Buck Creek Meats is a third-generation, family farm specializing in 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef and lamb along with free-range chicken and pastured pork. The neighboring building, where we conduct our interview, was once Paducah’s main drug store replete with a grill and soda fountain. Much of the old drug store is exactly as it was decades ago. There are old wooden booths where youngsters would hang out after school and on Saturdays. There’s the old counter with a row of stools. “That’s one of only five working soda fountains in the state of Texas,” says Richard, pointing over to the chrome contraption in the center of the bar. “And that’s where I first saw my husband!” exclaims Jimmye. “I was sitting in that booth over there with a friend. It was 1956. I was 18. Frank walked in wearing his Airborne uniform, and I froze. I thought he was the handsomest man alive.” Jimmye set her sights on marrying Frank. By the end of the year, she accomplished her mission. We ask Richard how he would describe this part of the country. “The term for this area of Texas is the Big Empty,” he says. “There’s just not much out here. We’re two-and-a-half hours from Amarillo and two hours from Lubbock, Wichita Falls, and Abilene. Childress, which has about 6,000 people and is 30 minutes away, is the next biggest town. That’s where the Wal-Mart is. And resources like doctors.” “There’s just a really small population out here,” adds Judge Holloway. “Everything is scattered out. Every little town is about 30 miles apart with nothing in between.” Indeed, that is what we’d noticed on our drive. It’s been described as the land of open road and

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enormous sky. The two-lane highways are so level and straight that the speed limit is set at 75. In the early 1900s, in this wide-openness, Paducah had made a name for itself as a growing city. The intersection of railroads and a few major highways made it an ideal home for farmers and ranchers. By 1930, Cottle County had grown to nearly 9,500 residents. Paducah was a hub. “Then came the drought in the 50s,” says Jimmye. “It lasted for seven years. People left in droves. They couldn’t make a living. We’ve always depended on cotton farming here.” Even now, most of Cottle County is an expanse of cotton farms. We found cotton nearly everywhere—remnants in fields, along fence rows—tufts of the white fluff lining the edges of the highways. In addition to cotton, there are some cattle ranches. “This is kind of one of the last cowboy strongholds,” says Judge Holloway, “although a lot of that is starting to change. When I came here, there were some still doing things like running chuck wagons out to the men working.” Judge Holloway came to Paducah from the Fort Worth area in the 1980s. “I was a state trooper,” he continues. “I’d never even heard of Paducah. I had to do a year before I could transfer. But I liked it here. I was a trooper for 27 years and retired. There used to be little communities all over the county. Even in the 80s, there were still a lot of businesses around the square. But then a lot of young farmers went out of business and had to go to bigger towns to make a living.” “A lot of that had to do with the Conservation Reserve Program,” adds Richard as he discusses the second big hit to Paducah. “That was the government program that paid farmers not to farm.” As land returned to a natural, prairie state, farming support businesses closed. As they left town, general businesses lost revenue and shuttered. There was once a movie theater, a hospital, a large county hotel, multiple auto dealerships, hardware stores, and more. There were also 33 schools throughout the county that have now been consolidated into one in Paducah. The domino effect continues. The city swimming pool, for example, built by Jimmye’s father as part of a slate of WPA projects in the 1930s was closed for the first season last year due to a maintenance issue the city

44 • PADUCAH LIFE

has been fighting for a long time. The cost to replace the pool is too high for the community. The loss of the pool means the loss of a well-used community resource—a summer gathering spot for young people and families. The only other pool in town is privately owned.

paducah’s future Despite years of slow decline, some brought on by outside forces, some by a previous aversion to change, Richard, Jimmye, and Judge Holloway see potential. “I’ve seen a lot of positive things in the last five years,” says Judge Holloway. “We’ve pursued a lot of grant funds. And we have seen more people coming back here to retire. They went off to make their livings, but it’s expensive to stay where they are. And they miss the homegrown environment. And we’re hearing more about young people relocating to these rural areas with their kids because they want them to experience the small-town environment. Everybody gets along here. We are fairly racially diverse. We all know one another. If someone is having a hard time, the community bands together to help them.” “And it helps now that we know a lot of people can work remotely,” adds Richard. “I’m kind of that way. We ship everything. None of it stays in Paducah. Funny thing is, Amazon changed a lot of that for us. A year ago, when I shipped my products, I had to drive to Wichita Falls two hours away. Because of Amazon, FedEx now comes every day and goes right back to Wichita Falls. That helps my business. I think 90% of everything that comes into Paducah now comes in on the UPS and FedEx trucks.” In recent years, an investor from east Texas began rehabbing buildings around the city square, as it is part of an Opportunity Zone. Locals have bought some of the other buildings with plans to rehab them. New business owners are finding ways to make a living by diversifying their services. There has been an increase

Cottle County Courthouse

in women-owned businesses. And Judge Holloway says there are needs in the community that would keep people with certain skills busy in perpetuity. Additionally, investors from larger Texas cities have been buying land in the county for hunting getaways and as an investment. “There’s a lot of hope and belief that things can happen,” says Judge Holloway. “There are pieces that are coming together. Personally, I know I wouldn’t be anywhere else. And others are discovering why many of us feel that way.” Later, as we take to the highway to head back to Paducah, Kentucky, we drive by a commercial building that, at first glance, appears vacant. Then we notice an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair sitting near a large window. A solitary figure amid a large, empty floor, he soaks in the sun, watching traffic go by. It’s Arvis Davis, the man who owned the town’s Chevrolet dealership for decades. Upon retirement in 2020, he auctioned off his inventory and shuttered the doors. But he still goes in out of habit. He watches the town of Paducah, thinking about what has been and what might be. He wonders if others will see what he saw when he began a fruitful career in this Texas oasis. For decades, many saw decline. Now, city leaders see opportunity— and they hope that others will too. The beauty of the wide-open plains and the small-town charm are a draw. Friendly, kind, helpful people await the next part of Paducah’s story, just as it did in its earliest days, for the arrival of pioneers with a vision for a new, American frontier.

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KENTUCKY is CALLING

BY SUSIE FENWICK

CYCLING the Kentucky Roads Less Traveled

“The Road Not Taken,” the Robert Frost poem concludes, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.”

ONCURRING WITH FROST, GRAVES COUNTY native and current Louisville resident, Ryan Fenwick, believes taking the road less traveled did make all the difference on his bicycle journey from Louisville back home to Water Valley in southern Graves County. Ryan had contemplated making the ride ever since he adopted cycling as his primary mode of transportation as a University of Louisville student. While the pandemic’s disruption of the court system seriously limited the Louisville attorney’s income, it did allow for plenty of time to enjoy the freedom of the ride. Leaving the confines of his small condominium in a city cloistered by pandemic and singed with the heat of a summer of conflict, his goal was to choose routes taking him on a scenic tour along the Ohio River to the Mississippi River. He wandered along Kentucky bike trails known as the Rambling River and the Underground Railroad Trail to name a couple. To him, the tour along the Ohio symbolized the same ultimate freedom that the Mississippi River represented to Huckleberry Finn. Departing Louisville on August 16 and returning September 6, 2020, Ryan rode his Surly Long Haul Trucker bike round trip almost 800 miles. Averaging a speed of 10 miles per hour, Ryan normally rode around 60 miles a day and never less than 40 miles in a single day. Miles on his biggest travel days topped out at 100. As with many a great journey beginning with a single step, the epic bike tour began with a single pedal stroke propelling a cargo bike loaded with 2 racks and 4 paneers and as Ryan describes it, “a big goofy flag…

Clockwise Opposite page: Ryan sets out for Water Valley from his home in Louisville. / The Ohio River at Cave-in-Rock, Illinois. / Ryan took a step back in time during his stop at the Boaz Chapel Primitive Baptist Church of Christ in Hickman County. The little church in the wildwood dates back to the 1800s and still holds worship services. / “We’ll never know how many ‘oprys’ they would have hosted in a single year, but it stands as a testament to the livelihood of music no matter where you go. It’s located in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois. / Ryan and his mom (and author) Susie Fenwick in the once bustling river city of Hickman. “It’s a great stop on the way to ride the Dorena Ferry,” says Ryan.

46 • PADUCAH LIFE

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48 • PADUCAH LIFE

not very contemporary; more like a relic from the ‘80s but it does make me happy.” And why would the flag make him happy? Ryan laughs while he explains. “When I get really bored riding, I look back and see the flag and sing, “And the flag was still there!’” Boredom was an issue at times: riding for whole mornings without seeing a car or encountering a single person along the way. It was a surprising experience for the seasoned touring cyclist who has ridden extensively throughout Kentucky including much of Eastern Kentucky. Despite growing up in Graves County in a very small farming community, it was hard for him to comprehend the remoteness of much of the area. When drivers were encountered, they were very courteous often times much more so than their city brethren. This was Ryan’s first trip made without mapping out places to sleep each night. The lack of planning didn’t prove problematic. It wasn’t difficult to find a place that was no man’s land or public land. Wild life management areas were among his favorite overnight stops. Surprisingly his family’s cattle farm proved the most frightening as a pack of coyotes or wild dogs sounding like hounds of hell ran through the otherwise quiet, still night. He camped at both the north and south end of Land Between the Lakes where riding from one end to the other offered a unique experience. Favorite established campgrounds were Columbus-Belmont State Park and Cave-In-Rock. Asked if people along the way tended to be wary of him, he

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responded, “People were never suspicious of me. When you’re on a bike and obviously carrying stuff, I think something about the fragility of your situation makes people respond differently to you than they would normally at seeing a dirty180-pound man new to the area. You kind of received the unicorn treatment whenever you were out of the city…the further I rode into the Jackson Purchase the more inquisitive people were.

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When I was in Paducah I don’t think anyone I saw failed to ask me what I was doing.” Ryan’s ride into Paducah was carefully planned for arrival in time for pastries at Kirchhoff’s Bakery. Would he make this trip again? “Oh yeah! People should consider this type of bike ride for a vacation. Biking turns a piddly distance in modern times into an epic trip letting you appreciate little nooks of the state few think of,” spoken by Ryan Fenwick who cycled the road less traveled and loved it!

APRIL/MAY 2021 • 49

Fleur

La Andalusian

Where Passion, Artistry, and Healing Coalesce by Amy Sullivan

NAMES ARE IMPORTANT. THEY contain meaning for people. They define who we are. When licensed massage therapist Casey Miller opened her practice and galleria shop on Kentucky Avenue in 2019, she knew the name needed to be unique. She chose the name Fleur La Andalusian to represent her passion as both an artist and a healer. The word “Andalusia” is a mantra and an inspiration for Casey’s own experiences with self-healing. James Joyce’s 1922 novel, Ulysses, ends with Molly Bloom’s stream of consciousness soliloquy, “I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used…” Casey said she was inspired by Joyce’s image of these girls holding black fans with red roses in their hair from Southern Spain—a sun-kissed land where passion, poetry, and drama collide. “Fleur La” reflects Casey’s obsession with aromatherapy and essential oils. Upon entering her emporium, customers often remark, “It smells so good in here!” after inhaling intoxicating incense and frankincense fragrances. Paired with plentiful flowering plants from the store’s garden, the shop is a constant work-in-progress. Casey harnesses the divine feminine sensuality and beauty in both women and men who enter. “Fleur La Andalusian” speaks to her like-minded customers and piques their curiosity. “When I was right out of high school, I worked at the Dillard’s counter,” Casey remembers. “I love fragrance. I’ve always loved it. I smell pancakes and I feel like my dead grandfather is in the room. Smells and fragrances are like a time machine.” Casey always incorporates aromatherapy into her massage, keeping notes on what oils she’s used with her

A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 51

clients.“When someone can associate a particular smell with a good feeling, it can take you to a place of healing. Priests used frankincense in the Middle Ages and they knew their healing powers. They are mentioned often in the Bible. I love what oils do to bring magic into a room.” Casey is also a Reiki practitioner, a modality she uses along with aromatherapy in her massage sessions to evoke the body’s memory and trigger an individual’s own self-healing mechanisms. If you’ve ever watched Star Wars, Casey compares Reiki to the force.“You have to become attuned to it. It’s like being a Jedi. That’s the easiest way to describe it.” Casey attributes her training and aromatherapy certification to Debe Sullivan at Mindful Living Meditation Center on Broadway in Paducah. Reiki creates space— not religious, but

52 • PAD U CAH L I FE

spiritual space—for another person. It’s harmonizing yourself with the sacred mirror of the universe.“You cannot sustain yourself in this business using just the Western aspect,” Casey emphasized, “you must also use the Eastern modality or Reiki, created in Japan, of present-moment awareness and mindfulness. You have to bring the emotional, physical, and spiritual triad together. I tap into the Chakra

system of synchronicity and frequency and attract things of abundance. It’s very esoteric and subjective. I check people’s Chakras and recognize their creativity, seeing which are open and which are closed, so that they can get pointers on how to self-heal after they leave.” About the time Casey became attuned to Reiki, she also started drawing. When she was young, she

hated art and didn’t even try to compete with her brother, who as a kid created detailed, realistic paintings. However, when she went through Reiki attunement, sometime around 2014, Casey was at a point in her life where the materialistic world had turned her apathetic, and she opened up artistic, creative parts of herself that she realized she had stifled. Self-taught, Casey’s artistic technique became a healing process. “I would read ten books and do three paintings, read ten more books and paint three more paintings. It was like a treasure hunt when you see faces in the woods, and out of the chaos, find an image. My paintings bring a lot of bliss in my life.” Casey is particularly interested in the female figure. “I’m drawn to the divine feminine and females expressing themselves freely; not in a sexual or shameful way, but owning that sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful form. All of my drawings have a deep sense of spirituality and emotion to them.” Especially in this time of COVID, Casey feels we should remember how vital to being a human the arts are. The Fleur La Andalusian emporium is where Casey displays and sells her original artwork as well as many unique items for body and soul such as jewelry, essential oils, hemp oil products, nostalgic treasures, books, and many other items she hopes will inspire others to find their own inner artist and healer.

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54 • PAD U CAH L I FE

Parker Street’s

Little Free Library

Take a Book, Share a Book by Amy Sullivan

Little Free LIBRARY

ELLY VEATCH IS A LIBRARIAN BY both day and night, full-time at Morgan Elementary School during the day, and as a Little Free Library volunteer outside of her regular working hours. Building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all are three goals for the Little Free Library movement that “Mrs. Veatch,” as her students affectionately call her, upholds daily. In December 2009, Todd H. Bol constructed the first Little Free Library in hopes of promoting literacy and a love of reading. His library was such a hit, he began to build more for others to place in their communities. He later founded a nonprofit with the philosophy of building more Little Free Libraires to help inspire reading and strengthen communities in neighborhoods around the country and across the world. Built not only to lend books, but also to encourage people to leave literature for others to enjoy, little libraires facilitate free book exchanges throughout neighborhoods. These small, open-access libraries are created and maintained by individuals, often at their own residences, to foster a love for reading and motivate others to spread the word. Anyone can start a little free library. And that’s what Mrs. Veatch, avid reader, book lover, and librarian, decided to do with the help of her colleague, friend, and neighbor, Chris Sheffer. Kelly first learned about Little Free Libraries through social media. After “it just kept popping up,” she finally started following littlefreelibrary on Instagram. Around 2014, Kelly and her assistant principal at the time, Chris Sheffer, now principal at Ballard County Elementary, had consistent conversations about ways to support literacy within her job and throughout the community.“That’s where it all began,” Kelly declared. “When

we worked together, I would bring new boxes of books to Chris’s office to open with him when they arrived, because he wanted to see what we had gotten for the kids for the library. He was always really excited about books. Many days he and I talked about literacy and how to instill that in children, but also throughout our community. Since we also happened to be neighbors, Chris living just down the street from me, we talked about establishing a Little Free Library over the course of a couple of years. I finally got serious about it and I said I really wanted one. So Chris took it and ran with it.” It was a team effort, with Chris building and designing it, Kelly painting it her favorite bright purple and lime green colors, and Kelly’s husband, Shayne, digging the post to put it in the ground. The bright colors help draw attention to the library’s location at the top of their driveway, close to the road, where people can conveniently drive up or walk up to “take a book, share a book,” the Little Free Library motto. Like Kelly, many people choose to design and build their own unique and creative libraries, but you can also purchase one of several kits with easy instructions from littlefreelibrary.org or other outlets. Whichever you choose, once it’s ready, you can register it on the Little Free Library website so that others can find it. “I wanted to make it official,” Kelly said, “so I registered on littlefreelibrary.org by paying the $40 fee to be put on the map and receive a certified name plate with my charter number to be placed on the door of my library.” Though she mostly has “regulars” from the neighborhood that know the library’s location on Parker Street, occasionally Kelly has people outside of the neighborhood message her for her address, so she knows they are coming by to get a book. “I don’t always know how books come in and out,”

Little Free Libraires help inspire reading and strengthen communities in neighborhoods around the country and across the world.

56 • PAD U CAH L I FE

Chris Sheffer and Kelly Veatch

Kelly admits,“but this is where the book nerd comes in. It’s easy for me to notice when I pull into the driveway each day if someone has been there, because I see that a book or two is missing. I get so excited when I know someone’s been to the library!” Kelly exclaimed. Kelly tries to maintain a variety of genres and diverse books, both fiction and nonfiction, and various reading levels, including adult, young adult, and children’s titles. Kelly also hopes to start including some surprises like word searches or Mad Libs for kids. Recently, Kelly’s husband was working in the yard when a little girl spied the library, approached him, and asked, “Mister, are we allowed to take one of these books?” He responded,“Yes! And please leave a note for my wife so she can try to put things in there that you like.” Kelly was elated to be able to fulfill this particular request, and now has a new goal to learn more about the kind of readers she’s serving and their interests, so she can select appropriate titles for her audience. “As a librarian, I want to be aware of the interests of my patrons,” Kelly emphasized. “As a volunteer for this partic-

ular library, I need to become more in tune with what my patrons like. It may get more use if I can find out what they want to read. But the challenge is knowing who is using it. It may be that I need to incorporate a way to communicate with patrons through notes, like the little girl who left me a note requesting Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I don’t want to put things in there that no one is interested in, because there’s a limited amount of space,” she stressed. When someone donated 19 James Patterson books recently, for example, Kelly knew that she couldn’t fit all of them in the library and continue to maintain a variety of genres and authors. When this happens, or when volumes have been in the library a long time without being picked up, she cleans them out and passes them along to other book lovers, or donates them to causes who support literacy like the McCracken County Friends of the Library. Kelly’s Little Free Library is just one of more than 100,000 now located throughout the nation and the world. To learn more about this movement, visit littlefreelibrary.org, @LittleFreeLibrary on Facebook, or @LtlFreeLibrary on Twitter, or littlefreelibrary on Instagram.

A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 57

H by Kelly Walden

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

Driveway Picnics. Patio Parties. Shady Day Occasions. This family’s COVID containment took them outside the confines of the biologically- induced barriers and into their own open spaces making adjustments for hot and cold accommodations!

HE FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS have been shining on us for a year now—not the lights of the football field or a night on the town. Instead, our Friday night lights have been the setting sun and table lanterns (last spring), tiki torches and lights around the pool deck (last summer), kerosene lanterns and a chiminea (last fall), and outdoor fire pits and propane patio heaters (this winter). Our family has been fighting COVID isolation by persistently meeting outdoors each week for an entire year! We called these our driveway visits at first, because some of our porches and decks couldn’t accommodate sixfoot spacing for each family. And the driveways were often warmer with more sun exposure in the spring and fall. By mid-summer, if we couldn’t meet at my mother’s pool, we would cool off under the dense shade of my front yard or my sister’s shady, mossy patio. We have missed getting together for our family visits fewer than four times since last March. If rain was forecast on a Friday, we met on the Thursday before or Saturday after. There were five consistent members of the group: my mother, Faye King; my sister and her husband, Ellen and Jim Denny; and my husband, Wayne, and I. Sometimes we would have our adult children or a

58 • PAD U CAH L I FE

visiting relative or friend join us. But the one thing that remained consistent throughout the year were the COVIDsafe rules. • The host sets up outdoor chairs and tables and sterilizes everything with disinfectant • Bring your own food. We favored local restaurants, getting takeout from places like Branch Out, U.S. Thai, Big Ed’s, El Torrito, Just Hamburgers, Italian Village Pizza, Leigh’s or Starnes BBQ, and Knights of Columbus whenever fish was available. • No hugging or touching and stay six feet apart. This one was hard sometimes with family. Occasionally the host had to do a little extra work, like split wood for the fire pit or figure out how to set up fans underneath the trees to make the July and August visits bearable. The host might also set up a sound system for music or a computer screen to watch a college student’s performance or a high school child’s graduation. But mostly we just talked and visited and created a safe space to be together as a family.

As we approached fall, my sister and brother-in-law planned ahead and bought the propane patio heater. It’s a good thing they thought ahead, because by October these were almost completely unavailable anywhere. We figured the whole country was sitting outside on porches and in outdoor dining areas, basking in the radiant heat. We discovered that with the right clothing, and a fire or heater, outdoor visits were totally manageable. We could stay warm with temps in the 40s if we had on our alpaca wool socks and puffy coats and were wrapped in lap

blankets. February weather, however, disrupted us the most. We missed two consecutive weeks for the first time due to the ice and snow. But thanks to the spring thaw, we’re back together in the great outdoors!

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LaBelle Plaza Adds New LIFE to Paducah’s Midtown!

idtown Paducah continues to change. It is a hub of activity—a place where LIFE in Paducah unfolds. There are restaurants, a brewery, retail shops, banks, a gourmet grocer, a yoga studio, a music studio, a coffee shop, and so much more. It’s at the center of our city’s new lifestyle. And surrounding all this are some of Paducah’s historic and most walkable neighborhoods. In the midst of this revitalization is your opportunity to be a part of these exciting changes. LaBelle Plaza is quickly becoming a cornerstone of Midtown. Home to FNB Bank, Ballert Medical Aesthetics Spa, Broadway Dental Care, and more to come, LaBelle Plaza currently only has two spaces remaining and is taking applications for phase two of the project. “We’re looking to create something exciting here in Midtown,” says Alberta Davis, developer of LaBelle Plaza. “We’d like to see this be an area with businesses who complement one another, giving our city a full range of possibilities when they are here. We’ve been asking our neighbors what they would like to see in this location. If you’ve dreamed of opening a breakfast cafe, or a boutique, or a health and wellness business, this could be the opportunity for you.” Alberta loves Paducah’s creativity and can only imagine the amazing places Midtown can go from WELCOME TO LABELLE PLAZA DR. here. “This is a destination,” she adds. “It’s very JAMES HUNT, DR. KINNEY SLAUGHTER, walkable, and it’s where people in this city want AND DR. ETHAN SHELTON! to be. We are about to begin the second phase of We are so proud that Broadway Dental Care chose our new complex LaBelle Plaza, and we’re getting requests for a new in Midtown to relocate their growing business. Our goal was to breakfast spot. We’d love to talk to anyone who’s create a modern destination to enhance the quality of life in the area, and they certainly help us fulfill this aspiration! been thinking about opening one of their own. It’s exciting because this is just the beginning!”

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On the

Other Side of the

by J.T. Crawford

tracks The successes and failures of an historic southside community known as Littleville

OR MOST PADUCAH RESIDENTS, LITTLEVILLE IS AN OUT-OF-THE-WAY PART OF town—if they can even identify where it is. Located just south of the city’s center, the neighborhood is loosely bordered by Old Mayfield Road, the Beltline (where its name changes to Irvin Cobb Dr. and intersects with Brown Street), and a rail line over Pool Road. More specifically, however, Littleville is defined by an oval shape of railroad tracks—the very tracks that led to its existence.

A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 61

Littleville History From its earliest days, Paducah was a hub of opportunity. John W. Little from Dresden, Tennessee saw it. There were plenty of natural resources, an ample labor force, and access to transportation. Little saw sufficient space to enter into a burgeoning market: the production of wagon wheel spokes. Wagons were not only a staple of everyday life, they were central to the continued western expansion of the United States. Little moved to Paducah and set up shop next to the intersection of the NC&StL and Illinois Central rail lines. Utilizing hickory from McCracken County farmers, the Little Spoke Factory barely kept up with demand. And, long before laws were in place to ensure safe work environments, a spoke factory was a dangerous place to be employed. In the early 1900s, it was regularly reported when a worker suffered a grave injury, mostly that of losing multiple fingers. On January 13, 1903, for example, J.A. Castleman of Jackson Street lost the middle three fingers on his left hand to a spoke cutter. A doctor tended to him at the scene, and he went home. It was a fairly common story. Work continued, however, and by 1914, the factory ran a day and a night shift. By then, J.W. Little had branched out with an additional product. We make the spokes he probably thought. Why not make the whole wheel? And, if you’re going to make wagon wheels, why not make the whole wagon? In 1915, Little introduced the country to a new line of wagons, all stamped with the name PADUCAH.

Courtesy of Steve Ward

62 • PAD U CAH L I FE

The factory turned out ten a day, and a Paducah Wagon regularly sat at the downtown Market House as an advertising display to farmers. Little didn’t believe in waste. He used extra pieces of wood to make pickets for fences. He sold unusable cuts for wood stove use. He sold sawdust. “You don’t know how good meat and tobacco are until you try smoking them with hickory sawdust” his newspaper ad read. There were plenty of times, however, when Little was so busy he couldn’t acquire wood fast enough. Children who grew up in the area later recalled picking up rejected spokes from a pile behind the factory and using them to knock down pecans and walnuts that grew on trees nearby.

Courtesy of McCracken County Public Library

By 1922, the growing automobile industry posed a significant threat to wagon manufacturers. But Little simply went back to his roots. Cars still used wooden spokes, so the factory tweaked a little to support the new industry. He also produced brush handles and baseball bats. A common tale is that Little was approached by the Ford Motor Company to produce some of their spokes. The pay? Stock in the company. Little rejected the offer. Little enjoyed many decades of success. The initial boon led to a growth in home construction near the factory. By the early 1900s, the area was considered a

John W. Little introduced the country to a new line of wagons, all stamped with the name PADUCAH.

Paducah suburb, and in 1903, it was officially dubbed as Littleville, occasionally written as Littlesville. The name even appeared as a destination on some Paducah streetcars, and the city annexed the area. Times were good in Littleville as long as the spoke factory operated at full speed. By the late 20s, however, business had nearly dropped to nothing. Additionally, J.W. Little who had no successors died at the age of 64 in 1933. The old building quickly declined, even partially collapsing, injuring a homeless man who sought shelter during a storm. Shortly after, it was torn down. Today, the memory of the spoke factory is nearly erased, and all that remains of J.W. Little is his contribution to the name of the neighborhood.

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A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 63

LITTLEVILLE’S BIG PROBLEM Rail lines defined Littleville. They also fenced the neighborhood in on all sides. From the beginning, the tracks added a layer of frustration to living in the area, as it was not uncommon to be completely blocked in by trains. For many years, there was only one way in and out of the area. Additionally, the city, which had annexed Littleville early in its existence, found great difficulty in running services such as sewer and water lines to the neighborhood. In the early 1920s, the county built a small schoolhouse on a portion of county-owned land on the edge of Littleville. Parents had long been concerned about their children crossing multiple railroad tracks day in and day out to get to school. They would often walk between moving cars, crawl through boxcars or under them, or go over hitches to get to school on time. Most of the students (33 of them) lived within the city limits. After disputes over contracts regarding payments from the city, the school was closed after just a couple of years. The situation highlighted an ongoing and sometimes contentious relationship between the city and the neighborhood. Residents pleaded for decades for an access street that avoided train traffic. Stories of children injured crossing the multiple tracks bolstered their argument. Delays were nearly intolerable. It wasn’t unheard of for trains to stop across the access street, remaining in place for upwards of 90 minutes. Not only was it a great inconvenience, but it also resulted in loss. Over the years, there were multiple stories about ambulances or fire trucks stopped at the tracks for significant amounts of time. One resident gave birth in her car as she waited. Speaking at a 1968 City Commission meeting, 78-year-old Horace Garrett told how his wife died in his arms 22 years earlier after suffering a stroke. For an hour, a train blocked his only means of getting her to the hospital. Despite all the pleading and tragedy, nothing changed. The relationship between residents and the

64 • PAD U CAH LIFE

city was strained. For a while, it appeared hopeful that the new Beltline Highway could be rerouted through Littleville, giving respite. Ultimately, it did not. A bridge was built over multiple tracks, but none of those bordered Littleville. Then, in the 1970s, the state finally approved a project to build a bridge from Old Mayfield Road into Littleville. The stretch of road was called Chester Hack Drive, so named after the man who had, for decades, led the charge for the project. Hack owned a grocery store in Littleville and was known as the neighborhood’s unofficial mayor. His brother had died in an ambulance while waiting on a train. Additionally, Hack had previously been a railroad conductor and saw the problem first hand. Due to the way trains moved in and out of the area, he had blocked the street to his own neighborhood many times himself, something that caused him great anguish. In most ways, though, Littleville remained out-of-sight and out-of-mind for Paducah. In the 90s, using Federal grant money, the city bought out some residents and relocated them due to the continued problem of providing adequate sewer service. An effort to draw industrial business to the area was semi-successful. Today, there are several employers in the neighborhood.

Courtesy of Paducah Railroad Museum

Littleville’s Union Station Enjoyed A History of Both Feast and Famine It was once a staple of life. Paducah’s Union Station, constructed in 1900 by the NC&StL and Illinois Central rail lines, produced scenes akin to the modern airport terminal. It was where happy vacationers departed to points north and south, most often to visit relatives. Families said goodbye to adult children headed off to college. Emboldened by hope, those looking for new opportunities away from home and those discovering them in

Courtesy of McCracken County Public Library

Young men leave Paducah for military service during World War I.

Paducah passed through the station. And, on the station’s platform, moms, dads, girlfriends, and wives shed tears for hometown heroes headed off to war, praying that they would once again meet at Paducah’s station. In the early 1900s, the joint effort between the two rail companies blossomed as passenger train traffic rose sharply. The stop gave Paducah residents more options for travel. And it exposed Paducah to more visitors. The station was located in Littleville adjacent to J.W. Little’s spoke factory. Outside of the industrial nature of Littleville, it brought a constant influx of life and movement as our nation discovered the convenience and speed of train travel. It was also a central figure in some of our community’s most important moments. During World War I, Union Station was the final point of farewell for young men leaving home to join the military. When they left, it was like a scene from a movie—families lined the platform, waving at soon-to-be soldiers who leaned out the train windows. And during World War II, train service rose sharply as gasoline was rationed and more people took the rails. Union Station’s biggest moment came in 1956 after the death of Paducah native and U.S. Vice President Alben Barkley. A ten-car funeral train carried Barkley, his family, at least 21 senators, and other dignitaries to Paducah for his funeral. Bill Powell, in the Paducah

Union Depot, Paducah, KY

Sun-Democrat, said, “the black steam locomotive—the clang of its red-lined bell sounding almost like a funeral toll—crept into the station. Steam came fitfully out of the stack as the big wheels eased to a stop in the warm spring sun.” A crowd had gathered at the station—Paducahans who wanted to witness Barkley’s final return home. Even though it was a grand sight, behind the scenes, Union Station was coming to the end of the line. Rail travel had been declining for decades. And just about seven months after the arrival of Barkley’s funeral train, passenger service to Paducah came to an end. Union Station’s welcoming of Barkley was its final bow. In 1960, the building was torn down, and all that now remains is a concrete pad where the building once stood.

A P R I L / M AY 2021 • 65

Littleville History The Wrong Side of the Tracks While most travelers remember Union Station fondly, nearby businesses that cropped up to serve travelers quickly created a less-than-desirable atmosphere. Shortly after the debut of the depot, the Brook Hill saloon opened across the street. In 1901, a patron, angry that the saloon owner took too long to wait on him, went outside, pulled a plank off a fence, and returned, striking the owner in the back of the head. The act set a tone for the area that remained for decades. Brook Hill later became the Brass Rail. The saloon featured sleeping rooms upstairs and a restaurant next door called the Kozy Kitchen. In 1949, 42 arrests were made during August and September alone, most for being drunk in public and/or disorderly conduct and fighting. Assaults often involved business owners, both

giving and receiving. The city revoked the Kozy Kitchen’s beer license to quell crime. In the early 1950s, police arrested eight people connected to a prostitution ring at the Virginia Rooms, the boarding area of the Brass Rail. It wasn’t the first time. By the 1930s, Paducahans were accustomed to hearing about the “hobo jungle,” a wooded area near the station where transient rail-riders stopped to rest and wait for another cargo train to hop. Initially known as Hoover Hotel, it was a popular spot with an unorganized group called “knights of the road.” Cooking equipment,

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Keep Listening

66 • PAD U CAH L I FE

improvised from tin cans and other salvage, was cached on the spot at all times, ready for use by any guest. In a 1938 article about keeping the area clean, the Paducah SunDemocrat illustrated the scene by describing fictitious “Weary Willie” who “could swing off a train late in the evening, mooch a few potatoes, and retire to the jungle where a fire and utensils were always at hand. Then after a hard-earned meal, there

was always plenty of soft ground for a nap between train times.” The Sun interviewed a 21-year-old girl who traveled by rail and described the hobos as mostly “nice men and nice looking men. But they were all bums. They were going everywhere—or just anywhere.” In the early 1960s, the lawlessness of the area surrounding the depot came to a head. Howard Yates, who once owned the Kozy Kitchen and had done time in a federal penitentiary for illegal transportation of whisky, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 21 years for the killing of a man in “hobo jungle,” which, by then, was called the “drinker’s jungle,” a place where men would get drunk and then sleep it off. Yates had been a regular fixture in the local newspaper’s crime report, mostly for either doling out or receiving a good whoopin’ at the Kozy Kitchen. In May of ’62, Yates headed to the jungle to find a man who owed him money. He ultimately killed the man. but claimed innocence. The bars of the area continued to operate until the late 1960s. Around that time, most were torn down to build a new Ramada Inn. With the absence of Union Station and the continued exodus of businesses, the little spot near the intersection of Irvin Cobb Drive and Brown Street gradually returned to a community of calm.

A P R I L/M AY 2021 • 67

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68 • PAD U CAH LIFE

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Beth Wyant

ETH WYANT, LIBRARIAN AT PADUCAH TILGHMAN HIGH SCHOOL, IS A READER. But like many others during the pandemic, reading was the last thing on her mind. When she realized how the stress was affecting her, she resolved not to let the pandemic take anything more away. Beth challenged herself to surround herself with books that made her happy, joined communities of readers to keep her inspired and motivated, and made the effort to read harder. It turned out to be one of her best years, reading-wise. But Beth noticed that others were not as motivated. She saw reading habits suffering, particularly those of her students and fellow teachers, who were consumed with the rapid shift to remote teaching and learning. Glazed looks on faces and scrolling aimlessly on phones alarmed Beth, and she decided not to let the pandemic steal anything else from her students and colleagues either.

A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 69

Kynnadie Bennett, PTHS English teacher

Student Landon Snyder

Be a part of the conversation and the movement! Join Read Harder Paducah 2021 Facebook group or follow read_harder_paducah on Instagram. “This is really a crisis,” Beth warned. “We don’t want reading to end with this generation, and you can see it happening. What teens need is reading ‘in community.’ When they see reading as the norm around them, that makes it more powerful.” Beth knew something big was needed to combat this problem. She decided to challenge her students and her community to read more than ever before. Book Riot’s (www.bookriot.com) Read Harder 2021 challenge was her inspiration, and she asked permission to use their name with a hashtag, and adopted it as her own. Thus, #readharderpaducah2021 was born. Through her Facebook group, Read Harder Paducah 2021, and Instagram page, read_harder_paducah, Beth inspires individuals to push themselves to read “harder.” This can vary in definition. Reading harder may mean getting out

70 • PAD U CAH L I FE

of your comfort zone to read something you don’t normally read, or to read more than you typically do. It can translate into scheduling 30 minutes a day to read and get back into the habit. Beth says a real challenge for some of her students could even mean reading their first book! In mid-January, Beth held two kickoff events in the PTHS library. She advertised the events through social media and hung signs throughout the hallways. The English teachers showed her 5-minute video to all their students. Most of the students who participated saw a problem with their reading habits. Beth emphasized individual choice, advising students to select whatever they are passionate about or find engaging. Short or long, fiction or nonfiction, love story or classic—read what you enjoy. Maybe read one book a month, or one for the semester, or just put down the phone for 10 minutes and open a book. They wrote down

Roxie

their personal challenges at the kickoff. They now hang in the library. “This idea is new and has a lot of possibilities,” Beth says. There have been lots of people wanting to get involved and word keeps spreading. People post things all the time about what they are reading, and what they hope to read. I’m looking forward to working with our local librarians on new ideas.”

READ HARDER PADUCAH 2021 on Facebook “This group promotes READING— books, ebooks, audiobooks,” explains Amy Sullivan. “They will recommend books, discuss books, promote reading events and just generally try to inspire and encourage READING. Some of you are voracious readers already and it’s awesome when you share your favorites. Many of us have found that reading in community is powerful. Let’s create a reading culture in Paducah starting with our youth and continuing as a shared vision for us all. We hope you’ll be inspired to post and share!”

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Art

in Paducah P

ADUCAH RESIDENT MICHAEL TERRA IS WELL known for his involvement with civic projects like the Empty Bowls Proect and the Lower Town Arts and Music Festival. He is also a dyed-in-the-wool advocate of public art. Over the last year he has designed, fabricated, and installed six different pieces of public art in the city of Paducah. Public art is exactly what it sounds like – art that is made for public viewing, both physically and visually. Sometimes these are stand-alone pieces, or they could be applied to a surface or incorporated into a landscape. Having more public art in Paducah has actually been part of the city’s mandate for a number of years. “Studies by planners and urban designers about what makes a community safer, more livable, and more prosperous surprisingly have shown that communities with more public art statistically have lower crime rates and higher participation in libraries,” Terra reported.“And people rarely deface public art.” “This past year, we had this huge chunk of time where we couldn’t do things we normally do,” Terra said in reference to the pandemic.“For the most part, we human beings are excellent problem solving monkeys. If there’s a wall, we find a way over it, around it, or through it. We want to know what’s on the other side. Thus, when certain personalities are faced with a pandemic, we just switch gears and continue being creative.” Though not all of Terra’s pieces are named, you can visit “Viewpoint” in front of Etcetera Coffee in Lower Town. Traveling a little further down the street, look between two houses that are set a little back from the road to see his first full-size

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prototype. The last piece on 6th Street, an airbrushed depiction of the word Humankind, portrays a superhero reflecting all colors of the rainbow, symbolizing the idea of everyone having a place at the table. It is located across from Paducah Bank in front of a private residence. Another untitled piece can be seen on the street in front of Terra’s own home at 514 North 7th, his second full-size prototype. On the south side of Monroe, between 7th and 8th Streets is Quanyin, painted to look like clouds and colored as if a piece of the summer sky was plucked from the heavens and set on the ground. As with all public artworks, Terra’s pieces invite community engagement, particularly those that are permanent. Terra recently finalized a major commission for local businessman Mike Cappock that will connect beautifully to Quilt City U.S.A., welcoming quilters from all over the country and the world, and will also be a lovely Lower Town landmark. Mike Cappock and Michael Terra have been friends since the early days of the Lower Town Arts & Music Festival when Mike generously donated time and funding to support the event. During a recent dinner, Mike asked if Terra had any ideas underway for public art pieces. While flipping through the artist’s sketchbook, he was drawn to a particular piece. Terra excitedly accepted the proposed commission, spending a few months’ work transforming his drawing into something real and possible. At Cappock’s property, on the corner of 5th Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Terra will be installing a giant sewing needle made of stainless steel with red thread running through it. Each one of the “stitches” will be a bench perfect for a moment’s rest as folks wander through Lower Town. “Even though the design is finalized, we are just at the beginning of this process,” says Terra. “There is still a lot of work involved before this landmark becomes a reality.” The entire stainless steel design is currently under construction. The science of physics has to be taken into account when striving for safety with a piece of this magnitude. Not only must it weather the elements, but the sculpture also needs to withstand the weight of sitters and climbers. The massive needle and thread will be a striking sight for strolling quilters. Highly visible, Terra anticipates the sculpture to become a gateway to both Paducah’s Lower Town and downtown areas. “It will rapidly become an icon,” he said confidently. “People will talk about The Needle.” This is just one of the Public Art proposals the team at Terra Cottage Studios has out for consideration in Paducah. “Public art is part of the city’s stated goals and we have the local talent and resources to make it happen. Public art always has durable positive effects for communities, and we are looking forward to making that kind of impact in Paducah especially with the generous support of families like the Cappocks.” For more about Michael Terra’s art visit terracottageceramics.com.

A P R I L / MAY 2021 • 73

A little bit of spice, a healthy dose of CBD, and a happy vibe are offered up at the

5 5 COFFEE HOUSE

I H

by Amy Sullivan

THE 505 COFFEEHOUSE WAS NAMED FOR ITS location at 505 MLK Drive in Paducah and the area code for New Mexico. The 505 was scheduled to open on April Fools’ Day in 2020, a day owner Jacinda Janssen thought would be fun and memorable. However, COVID-19 was no laughing matter, and when it hit full-blown and chaos ensued, the shop’s opening was delayed by six months. Yet customers who have visited since agree that it was worth the wait. Jacinda and her husband, Raven Weaver, hail from the southwest and bring a unique laid-back western vibe to our community. When you walk into the 505, you sense its offbeat offerings and feel the mood emanating from a variety of menu options. “Most of our stuff has a little spice to it,” Jacinda reveals. “But we don’t go way overboard because it’s not too common in this market.” Raven can be found stirring his signature red chili simple syrup over the stove where the red chilis are imported from New Mexico. Customers rave about the “Raven Latte,” a weekly labor of love that reflects Raven’s Native American background. The 505 is the only place in western Kentucky (the next closest being Elizabethtown) to serve Carabello Coffee, a specialty coffee roasted out of Newport, Kentucky. “The Carabellos are amazing to work with,” Jacinda said. “They are very particular about knowing how their coffee will be

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served. They know what coffee bean and even what field that it comes from. That’s how involved they are. We know and support these local farmers.” Raven and the couple’s son, Mitch, currently serve as the baristas and pull ristretto shots for the espresso drinks. A ristretto shot is a more highly concentrated espresso shot. Most mornings the duo serves up a dark roast—Addicting Liquid— and a medium roast in the afternoon. For dining in or on the go, foodies are fond of flourless homemade potato soup, also homemade by Raven, who cuts his potatoes precisely so they break down to make a tasty thickener, then tops it with bacon. Jacinda is famous for her crawfish quiche, though her simple smoked sausage, jalapeno, Swiss and gouda cheese quiche also pleases the palate. She’s excited to bring back her enticing empanadas, chock full of chorizo, onion, and a pinch of green chiles – not too spicy. A variety of vegan cake pops, egg muffins, breakfast burritos, and homemade chocolate chip cookies are also menu attractions. The scenery complements the cuisine, complete with color and eclectic decor. The 505 supports various local artisans and displays handmade soaps, beeswax candles, jewelry, and pieces of art, all for sale. A few items came from New Mexico and belong to the owners. But most of the unique pieces on the walls and in the halls, created and priced by local artists, can’t be found anywhere else. The 505 is also a CBD Boutique, one of the only places in the area incorporating American Made reputable lines of CBD into its products. Besides tea and coffee drinks with

infusions of 10-25 mg of high-quality CBD, a variety of other items are available for sale. Customers can choose from lotions, oils, tinctures, lip balms, freezes, patches, pet products, bath bombs, or facial masks. Raven and Jacinda brought their flood-survival 1898 house back to life again. They laid a patio of brick donated by a local couple that were disassembling their home. It took them ten trips in Raven’s truck to pick up the brick, and many hours for the 505 owners to build it by hand. “We have an amazing porch,” Jacinda commented, “with big ferns, comfortable seating, and a very southern flare.” Jacinda and Raven take over serving duty on Saturdays and Sundays. “We love meeting our local neighbors, regulars, and new patrons,” Jacinda comments. “We want everyone to feel comfortable. We don’t have a particular following. We have older customers, young patrons, and occasionally homeless people who we give a free cup of coffee and a space to come inside and warm up. We want to offer acceptance in our shop. We are trying to overcome being new kids on the block. Downtown has so much opportunity, and the more businesses that open, the more people come downtown. You have to bring a variety of types of businesses, and we want to be a part of that. We have amazing neighbors that come in every day who want us to make it. They feel comfortable and can sit down and enjoy their cup of coffee and their conversation.”

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A P R I L /M AY 2021 • 75

Takin’ The Wagon Into Town by Darlene Mazzone

TEVE WARD WAS BORN AND RAISED IN OUR RIVER CITY. “Both of my parents’ families were from western Kentucky and Southern Illinois. They moved to Paducah in the late 1800s. My grandfather, T. P Ward, worked for the Illinois Central for 47 years with only a break to serve with the AEF in France during World War I,” says Ward. “My parents were in the middle of moving to Memphis when I was born. My dad was a career Delta Airlines pilot. My mother returned to Paducah to stay with her parents for my birth as her mother was a nurse for many years at Riverside Hospital, and then later Lourdes.” Ward and his brothers spent many summers in Paducah with their grandparents, either in the city with his mother’s folks or on his dad’s family farm in the county. The Ward family farm was located exactly where I-24 intersects Highway 60.“When the state bought the farm, the highway map showed the center line of the median running right through the main residence. They moved to an adjacent farm that had been in my grandmother’s family on Coleman Road after the highway was built,” Ward explains. “Looking at Google maps of the area today, I see many motels on the land that once was in our family,” Ward adds. “In fact Charles Drury bought one piece of the remaining land in the early 70s from my grandmother and my uncle. He flew over from Missouri and landed his plane on the unfinished I-24 highway to sign the paperwork!” Ward smiles as he says that generations of his family suffer from the disease of hoarding. “When my siblings and I sold the Coleman Road property, we were

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blessed with a large cache of stuff. That included family photos, newspaper clippings, tax and real estate documents, and more. We’ve kept most of these and, thanks to my sister Karen, we have been able to put together a lot of the ancestral tree.” Ward has been an avid photographer since college at the University of Georgia. So the collection of photos in the family’s stash were of particular interest to him. “I have so many personal photos that I purchased a scanner a while back to digitize the bulk of them and I’ve included old family photos,” he adds. “Unfortunately, most from the aforementioned family archives are undated and have unknown subjects. I’m trying to research what I can and to utilize a number of resources to uncover details as they are available.” It helps, he commented, that his wife is retired from a career as a museum curator. The photo that Ward provided to us was taken he believes about 1900 at 113 Broadway. “Note the Mammen Book Binding sign on the window in the background and also Bohannon’s Bar,” Ward told us. After posting the photo on a local Facebook page, Ward heard from Louise Petter that Henry Herman Mammen, Jr. was an uncle of Jacob Henry Petter, her children’s grandfather. We’re so grateful to Steve Ward and those who share these iconic photos with us so that we can then share them with our readers. If you have interesting or seldom-seen photos you would like to share, contact editor Darlene Mazzone, darlene@paducahlife.com.

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Representation Matters Paducah Life Magazine asked Tilghman student Dana Hernandez to write about her perspective, as well as that of other young women, with regard to the election of the first woman of color as the Vice President of the United States

by Dana Hernandez

I WILL NEVER FORGET SITTING IN MY bedroom watching the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on my laptop screen. I felt something I hadn’t felt prior to other inaugural celebrations: inspiration. The swearing in of Kamala Harris as the Vice President of the United States was both inspiring and motivating. I was excited to see Kamala Harris become the first woman of color to ever hold this national position. I hope Vice President Harris’s election is a reflection and a representation of

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what will continue to be America’s attention to diversity. I didn’t realize how much I had in common with our new Vice President. I, too, am a daughter of immigrants. Her mother was from India and her father from Jamaica. And like many others, they chose to come to America in pursuit of a dream. My parents, both from Mexico, made the courageous decision to leave their native land in the hopes of a new and better life for us as a family. Harris also had a very supportive family stating, “My parents laid the path for me.” She credits her family’s sup-

“

Dana Hernandez

port for her drive to achieve academically and on which she built her work ethic and career. I easily embrace that statement. My parents have also created for me a firm foundation for my future. I will be the first in my family to attend college, and I am so very thankful for their belief in my future. Vice President Harris also noted that her parents taught her “to be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people.” I am a female and person of color who is aware of the personal strength required to navigate through today’s world. Even as a student, I have the opportunity to learn about the backgrounds and perspectives of others in my community who are as equally unique as me. We all begin somewhere. But our beginnings don’t have to define our futures. It is up to each of us to decide where the future takes us. In such a visible national position, Vice President Harris has shown us all that preconceived limitations should never hold us back. I am inspired and ready to see where my heritage will take me.

We all begin somewhere. But our beginnings don’t have to define our futures. It is up to each of us to decide where the future takes us. DANA HERNANDEZ

Gloree Nell Wood

GLOREE NELL WOOD: Kamala Renee Chua

Q: How has the election of  Kamala Harris inspired you  to be an effective leader?    RENEE CHUA: Seeing Kamala Harris achieve one of the highest political positions is truly an inspiration. It is a powerful example that women are fully capable of holding leadership positions. She fought the stereotype that women aren’t fit to be leaders because they lack the skills of their male counterparts. Kamala Harris didn’t let racism and gender stereotypes get in the way of her dreams, so I will not allow those two notions to stop me either. Her leadership skills are exceptional, and I plan on working on mine by watching how she takes control and her attention to detail.

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Harris’ election has inspired me to be a leader by showing everyone, and me, that a woman, and person of color, can come out on top despite the setbacks we are naturally given. She is especially inspiring to me because she is South Asian, and I am also South Asian. South Asians are often overlooked as people of color, so it’s nice to have a South Asian in a powerful position in our world. When a person thinks of “Asian” they typically think of a Northern Asian (Chinese, Korean, etc.), so having Asian representation, other than Northern Asian, is inspiring to me and brings me a lot of joy.

ZABRINA HUNTER: She has inspired me to become an effective leader because of her advocacy. She is a leader that shows that she wants to make change in society. She advocates for both women and people of color

Zabrina Hunter

to have aspirations to be a leader for those around them. A lot of times you don’t really believe in something until you see it, and she has now shown us possibilities. I want to be an effective leader to inspire people the way she inspired me.

MAYA ROMANAK: With her election, Harris has proven that a woman can achieve success in a system built by and for men. Before now, the female leaders that I’ve looked up to have either been in media or figures in my personal life. Now, there’s this strong, educated woman in a position where she can create change on a national level. Of course, as a politician, I won’t agree with everything she does or says, but her being in power gives me hope that I too can make a difference someday.

“

{Harris} being in power gives me hope that I too can make a difference someday. MAYA ROMANAK

West Kentucky Community and Technical College

to the 2021 Winners and Finalists of the 4th Annual

2021 Distinguished Faculty (Pre-K - 5th grade) Award

WINNER: Beverly Claybrooks

Finalists: Renda D. Childress

Reidland Elementary School Read to Achieve Teacher

Fulton County Elementary School Second Grade Teacher

Brittany Riley

Morgan Elementary School Technology Resource Teacher

2021 Distinguished Faculty (6th - 12th grade) Award

WINNER: Danette Humphrey

Finalists: Stephanie B. Ford

Reidland Middle School Eighth Grade Language Arts Teacher

Paducah Middle School Instructional Coach/GTC Teacher

Greta Ramage

Livingston Central High School Business and Marketing Teacher

2021 Distinguished Administrator Award

WINNER: Sondra Gibbs

Finalists:

Fulton County Elementary School Principal

Julie Workman Jackson Fulton County Schools Director of Operations

Denise Ann Whitaker Murray Elementary School Principal

2021 Cornelia Reece Unsung Hero Staff Award Finalists: WINNER:

Marianna L. Romero

Reidland Elementary School Family Resource Center Director

Jim Baurer

Murray Independent School District Maintenance Director

Charles W. Ligon

Paducah Tilghman High School Head Custodial Supervisor

Special thanks to our sponsors

GOLD PARTNER: Paducah Junior College Foundation SILVER PARTNER: Community Financial Services Bank

2;# CSI, Paducah Ford, Mr. Ken Wheeler, WPSD Local 6 and BRONZE PARTNER: Maya Romanak

The Paducah Sun WKCTC is an equal educational and employment opportunity institution.

A P R I L /M AY 2021 • 81

Q: Have you, as a young  woman, ever felt limited as   if you were looked at   differently within society?   KATE BIDWELL: Male teachers have

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made sexist comments in the classroom. While these remarks may have been unintentional, no one acknowledged they were still wrong. I’ve felt limited in these instances because I did not feel comfortable standing up for myself, or my fellow female classmates. It’s always difficult to confront authority figures, but especially hard once they’ve made demeaning comments about half of the class. Several female students reported these statements, but their experiences were ignored. When instances like this occur, female students often feel like “the other.” What results is a learning environment where we feel neither comfortable nor valued, which can be detrimental to our academic experiences.

AMIAH SHANNON: As a young woman, people in authority absolutely have looked at me differently. Even as early as second grade, my teachers always looked at boy and girl students as opposites. To most teachers, boys were talkative while girls were expected to be quiet and more mature. Male students were asked to help carry heavy objects like desks and boxes of school supplies; the teacher would often specify that they needed a group of “strong boys” to help them carry things. While the girls in my class, including me, would only be asked to pass out papers or erase the board.

Amiah Shannon

Even now in high school teachers often carry those same stereotypes of “silly, talkative” guys and “quiet, mature” girls. This misogynistic way of thinking is wrong. Gender is a social construct; it does not determine how well you behave in a classroom.

ZABRINA HUNTER: Yes, as an African American student in AP classes, you often feel limited in the classroom. It’s easy to feel that your peers or teachers believe that you don’t belong in that type of class.

GLOREE NELL WOOD: As a person involved in music, women seem to get overlooked sometimes because of the abundance of us involved in the arts. In comparison to men, women completely dominate the fine arts, so, to make up for the lack of interest men have in it, directors seem to show more affection and attention to the men than women to keep them interested. The men may get more exciting music or more practice time, and it is disheartening to have to sing the

same songs every year because we are women and the directors already know we’ll stay. We have started speaking up about it more though, so it is getting better, which is always a positive.

Q. How has Kamala Harris  inspired you to pursue your  own goals? AMIAH SHANNON: Kamala Harris has inspired me to pursue my goals in going to college. She went to Howard University, a prestigious HBCU, which I think is amazing. Neither of my parents have a college degree. I want to prove to them and myself that I can get a good education and have a successful career. I’m considering majoring in physiology. I’ve always been interested in how and why humans behave the way they do. I wouldn’t mind attending a HBCU like Vice President Harris to connect with my black culture. She’s biracial, like me. I love how Harris embraces both her Black and South Asian heritage.

Kate Bidwell

MAYA ROMANAK: What was once just a nice thought is now a reality. Little girls across the nation see someone like them changing history and using their voice and intelligence to help others. It gives me hope for women in the future, especially for women of color. And what is a future without hope?

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RENEE CHUA: Although the road to becoming the Vice President of the United States wasn’t easy, Kamala Harris didn’t let anything stop her, and she stayed true to herself. She has shown me that my dreams can become a reality with hard work, perseverance, and dedication. Her achievements convey that nothing is impossible. She has taught me to embrace my differences and be confident in my own abilities. My goals feel like they’re more obtainable and closer in reach. Kamala Harris has broken barriers that have paved the way for women in politics. I also want to be an inspiration to other young Asian Americans and show them that anything is possible if they just believe in themselves. I want to teach them that they shouldn’t hide their culture, but instead, embrace it.

KATE BIDWELL: Vice President Harris has demonstrated she won’t allow others to ignore or silence her. For example, during the vice-presidential debate, she kept getting interrupted. She firmly repeated, “I’m speaking.” This was a very empowering and inspiring moment for me. Vice President Harris demonstrated how important it is to stand up for yourself so you can be heard. In this moment, she was asking for the same respect she gave her opponent. While I work to pursue my goals, I know there will be opportunities for people to diminish my voice and accomplishments. Vice President Harris has inspired me to remember that my perspective is just as important as anyone else’s.

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Last

word the

CHINA BIRDS b b 

Brenda Foster is a native of west Kentucky and grew up on a small cattle farm, which she credits for her love of nature. he taught math for 31 years, expressing her artistic side through drawing and writing short stories. ow retired, she raises her own cattle and explores the world around her through painting. brenda's work is often displayed at PP Gallery in Paducah where she is a memer. thepapagallery.com

When daffodils begin to peer With heigh! The doxy, over the dale, Why, then comes in the sweet o’ the year; For the red blood reigns in the winter’s pale. The white sheet bleaching on the hedge, With heigh! The sweet birds, O, how they sing! — WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

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APRIL/MAY 2021 • 84

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