Paducah Life Magazine - Dec/Jan 2021-2022

GEORGE WILSON

DOROTHEA DAVIS

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • $ 2.95

SALLY MICHELSON

STEVE POWLESS

DEANA MAY

★ City Ma

gazine

~ SIN

CE

1990~

GEORGE WILSON

Founder of George Wilson S.A.F.E.T.Y. Foundation

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contents 52

Brown Water Spirits is Mellow on the Mississippi

december 2021/january 2022 ★ from the editor page 5 ★ last word page 84

16 | Dorothea Davis 22 | Sally Michelson 28 | Steve Powless 34 | Deana May 41

Paducah Started its Engines

61

The Assorted Artistry of Austin Madding

67

MSU Author Pens Horror Novel

69

Marra McMillan Inducted to MSU Hall of Fame

73

McCracken County Rosenwald Schools

76

Poet Marissa Davis

78

Drake Lighting Keeps Aviators Safe

8

46 Living Mid-Century Modern GEORGE WILSON

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SEE AND HEAR MORE OF THE FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE ON

VOLUME 31, EDITION 6 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 J.T. Crawford

� on the C OV E R George Wilson

� 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 written in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ownership

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I DO SO LOVE WORDS. AND STORIES. BUT BY NOW YOU MUST KNOW THAT. I ran across one (OK actually two) words in a holiday edition of Garden & Gun Magazine about the cultural imprints that history and literature have had upon our current holiday traditions. It’s too long a story for this page, but from it emerged the term “cargo cult,” which I wasn’t familiar with. (It’s a fascinating story however, so DO look it up.)

The definition of the term is also a bit involved for this space. But suffice it to say that it’s kind of what we physically create based on the hope that if we materially produce it, our dreams and desires will somehow come to pass.

It reminded me of holidays on Harts Court, where our family (of five) lived directly across the street from Bob and Jill Wagner’s family (of five). Our lives merged when the Mazzones moved into our house on the cul de sac in 1986 when I was expecting our third son, Victor.

Jill and I met and fell in love. She was of Scottish stock, an only child, a devout reader, an Anglophile, oenophile, and fun lover. She’s also an excellent seamstress, so there comes a time when reality must, if ever so slightly, dash fantasy. (I cannot darn a sock.)

Jill and I thrived on creating perfection when it came to holidays and celebrations. Each of us growing up in a lone household of one kid, we both longed for big, busting family gatherings (thus the six children between us) and cherished memories of snowy Christmas Eves, eggnog dusted with nutmeg, and children with sugar plums dancing in their heads.

What we experienced were three-year-olds shrieking and tugging at a single egg carton game filled with pennies. (A Jill craft creation I’m sure). Cookie crumbs were strewn from stem to stern stuck to gummy pieces of candy canes that had been unceremoniously unwrapped and left adhered to a myriad of surfaces. Arrows (albeit Nerf ones) were shot through rooms and down stairways much to the chagrin of the youngest among the horde, who then ran wailing to the nearest mom or dad. There were battles waged over who would be Skeletor and who would be He-Man. Tears flowed when a Wagner championed a Mazzone at air hockey or the other way around.

Bob Wagner once said, “You guys want us to be the Waltons, but we’re more like the Griswolds.”

And yet, at some point during the dying days of those winter Christmas celebrations, we put on the soothing tones of Perry Como, the kids paired off for quiet games or puzzles, the moms and dads poured themselves a holiday libation, and as we looked around at the chaos that was, we knew that despite the “cargo cult” Jill and I had deigned to design, the moments we were actively living were truly the best. Good night John Boy.

Darlene M. Mazzone darlene@paducahlife.com

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 5

The very core of our mission at PADUCAH LIFE Magazine is to tell the unfolding story of our amazing city and region. The building blocks of that story are the lives of those who day in and day out have an impact on the many facets of our LIFE. This holiday, rather than heralding Christmas decorations and gift ideas, we decided to give you something special—the storied lives of five people we believe deserve our gratitude for the many ways they make LIFE just a bit better for all of us.

GEORGE WILSON page 8

DOROTHEA DAVIS page 16

SALLY MICHELSON page 22

STEVE POWLESS page 28

DEANA MAY page 34

If he builds it, they will come.

GEORGE WILSON’S

FIELD OF

9

★ by J.T. C R AWF O R D

DREAMS AUGUS T / S E P T E MBER 2021 • 9

GEORGE WILSON

G

eorge Wilson pauses for a moment as he descends the ladder, his feet coming to rest on the next to the last rung. He’s been bracing roof trusses all morning, striving to get this construction project in the dry before the arid, late fall days turn into a dreary, damp winter. He looks up, staring into the ceaseless depths of the azure sky. Royal blue stretches out into eternity before him, reflecting in the steely focus of his emerald-green eyes. George, always observing beyond the observable, senses the embrace of generations gone before—those who laid a path toward purpose realized. With a brush of his forearm, he breaks this momentary pause by wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. He springs off the ladder, his feet driving a small plume of dust from the ground into the air.

This land just west of Paducah is where much of George’s character was forged. Retired from the NFL, he played football on the biggest stages, setting franchise records while with the Buffalo Bills. He won the Buffalo Bills Walter Payton Man of the Year Award twice, and in 2008 was awarded the President's Volunteer Service Award. George received endorsements, he’s modeled, and he’s traveled extensively. Yet this patch of earth in west Kentucky continues to hold his heart. Here, his roots remain firmly planted. And now, the cultivation and work of generations are producing radiant blooms.

He strolls to a nearby picnic table and sits on top, eager to share with us his vision for things to come—and the influences that brought him to this point. “This area has been called Reevesville,” says George as he surveys the land. We are surrounded by fields of soybeans. In the midst of the crops is a smattering of buildings and barns, some new, some old. “Reeves is my mother’s maiden name,” he continues. “My great-grandfather bought this property in 1941. He moved his family along with some sharecropping families out here, and they collectively worked the land. There were roughly 20 families. The kids walked the railroad tracks over there to go to Woodland school, the one-room school. This land is where I learned so many of the lessons that helped me.”

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GEORGE WILSON

George credits a long list of people who guided him to become who he is today—a man who enthusiastically and consistently strives to positively affect those around him as well as others beyond. His mind is a constant whir of ideas that build pathways to better things for his community. First and foremost, his character springs from his family. George grew up in Paducah with his two siblings, older brother Keyo and younger sister Shanea, under the watchful eye of their mom, Wanda who worked as a nurse for 42 years. “I saw my mom put dreams and opportunities on the back burner for us so that we would have a mother who was present in our lives,” says George. “And she kept us active. She knew if we didn’t have idle time, we wouldn’t have time to get in trouble. I played baseball in the summer, football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and then ran track in the spring. Activity kept us kids in shape. And it kept me focused on academics because we had to do well to participate in sports.”

The Wilson family lived in Elmwood Court before moving to Forrest Hills when George was about eight. It was there that he witnessed the recruitment process of his older brother to play football for the University of Kentucky. “One night, a coach from UK came to have dinner with us,” says George. “It was Joker Phillips. He made an offer to my brother who accepted.” George pauses, his eyes filling with tears. “When Coach Phillips got up to leave and got to the front door, he turned around and looked at me. I was in the sixth grade. He said, ‘In six years, I’ll be back for you.’ Those words changed my life. He lit a fire under me, and it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.

I was given a vision. I saw my brother forging a path, and it made me George with his know I could do it, too. I found a sense of purpose in the sixth grade.” grandfather, With a foundation laid by his mother and an example set forth by his George Reeves, Jr. brother, George credits his grandfather, George Reeves, Jr. for instilling within him life lessons that allowed him to pursue his goal of playing football in college. As a boy, when George wasn’t in school or otherwise engaged, he was at Reevesville with his grandfather. “The morning after Friday night football games, I was out here doing things like climbing in the tobacco barn, hanging tobacco. Or I might have been working in the fields, or cutting wood, or cutting grass. My grandfather always had something for us kids to do. And what did he teach me? Hard work. Responsibility. Accountability. Sacrifice. Consistency. That’s what he taught me on the farm. And those were all the attributes I needed to be successful. It didn’t always feel good. It was hard. Very hard. Opportunities are often disguised as hard work. Later, when it came to football and running sprints in the heat or lifting weights at 6 AM, that was easy. I knew if I could do the grunt work on the farm, I could push through training. It doesn’t mean things were always smooth, but I had been instilled with a long-term vision that pulled me through.”

When George graduated from Paducah Tilghman in 1999 (with a 3.7 GPA), he had excelled at nearly every sport the school had to offer. And like many others of that generation, left town with little intention of coming back to Paducah to live or work. There were seemingly bigger opportunities “out there.” He went to Arkansas as a walk-on, knowing he’d have to work his way up. It wasn’t long before George made a name for himself, becoming a

12 • PADUCAH LIFE

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leader and starter for three years. In 2004, he made it to the practice squad for the Buffalo Bills. Then, in 2007, in his first NFL start, he intercepted a Tony Romo pass and returned it for a touchdown. It was a moment that pushed his career to the next level. George remained with the Buffalo Bills before finishing his career with two seasons at the Tennessee Titans. It was then that his heart turned toward home, and he started discussions with his grandfather about the future of Reevesville.

“I’d been talking to him for a while about it,” says George, “ and it took him some time to decide to sell. He made countless sacrifices here. He put his blood, sweat, and tears into this. He was just as passionate about it as I was. Back in 2014, on a trip home, we discussed it some more. I was playing with the Tennessee Titans at that time. Before I got home to Nashville, he called and said grandmama told him he needed to go ahead and sell it to me. He agreed it was time.” George pauses, looking down at the ground that sustained multiple generations of his family. This is the dirt where he’d trod so many times—the place where he grew to be a man. “What I didn’t know, is that he’d been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He asked if I was going to do something like subdivide it and sell parts of it off. I assured him my only goal was to make sure it all stayed in our family.” That same year, George Wilson said goodbye to one of his greatest mentors when George Reeves, Jr. passed away. “Now I am a fourth-generation farm owner,” adds George. “And I realize the responsibility of that. It’s labor intensive, but it doesn’t feel like work. It’s a stewardship that is much bigger than I am. And now, I am positioning this place to be sustainable into the future. And it will be a platform for good.”

George named the farming portion of the operations Phonograph Farms due to the early slogan for RCA phonographs— “The gift that keeps on giving.” In addition to continued farming, George opened an event space and center, which has already hosted everything from weddings to live music events to group retreats. Next up on George’s agenda is a camp facility with things such as obstacle courses, rope courses, and zip lines. In the camp, he sees leadership development and health and wellness opportunities for businesses and organizations in the region. All of this spurs employment opportunities and serves to enhance the quality of life in the community. And George intends for it all to be a connecting point for people and organizations doing good in the community.

Since returning to Paducah, George has become an ambitious businessman. But like with most everything else in his life, there is a bigger purpose. “This is a for-profit business that will be used to

George hopes future generations, like fund non-profit endeavors,” he says. these kids from the Oscar Cross Boys One of George’s other influences is and Girls Club, will learn some of the the Oscar Cross Boys & Girls Club, same lessons he did on his family’s farm. which had a major impact on his life as he grew up. At Phonograph Farms, George gardens and raises chickens. He’s already been able to have some of the Oscar Cross kids out to the farm to see a different side of life. “We’ve shown them how to grow food throughout the entire process,” he says. “I was taken aback at how many had never been to a farm, and they didn’t know how we get our food. I liked getting their hands in the dirt, giving them a different perspective. It’s an opportunity to connect and have dialog and let these kids know someone cares.”

Additionally, the Oscar Cross Boys & Girls Club, along with George’s non-profit, was awarded a grant to develop a camp for the club to use. “I used to do a leadership retreat in Nashville,” adds George, “and we only did that once a year for about 60 students. I knew if I could bring that here, I could do it consistently. I saw growth in the youth at the weekend retreat in Nashville. If I could see that in two days, how much could I see over an entire school year? There are so many opportunities here. This can be a platform to teach so many life skills. I’m trying to inspire kids to be bold and courageous in pursuing their goals and dreams.” He also sees his space at Phonograph Farms as a blank canvas for doing special events to recognize groups such as teachers, medical professionals, and other non-profits.

For George, this is just the tip of the iceberg. He is a waterfall of ideas, each one with a mission to further our community by providing opportunities for connection, education, and development of individuals. His passion for investing in others is infectious, and with George, what you see is what you get. His genuine dedication to serve is a priority, and it shines through in everything he does. He’s humble and grounded, tapping into the roots of his upbringing.

“God has continued to bless my life,” says George.“And I pray to be positioned in a way that I can pour those blessings out on other people’s lives. What I have been able to build and achieve is not for me. It’s for others. Yes, I played professional football. But that was another step to something else. This is my life’s work. And I am here in Paducah because of the investments that were made in me—from family to church members to teachers to coaches to those in the community who supported my career and philanthropic efforts. I have so much to be thankful for. Me coming home and doing what I am doing is just a small fraction in paying back what this community did for me.”

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THE of ART ★

by J.T. C RAWFORD

conversation 16

DOROTHEA MANLEY-DAVIS

DOROTHEA MANLEY-DAVIS

“Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking” — STEPHEN HAWKING

‘‘T

common ground. Her mission is desperately needed. And it is borne of her struggles and hardships—a life that has taught her empathy for others.

Dorothea was born in Paducah, and, as a little girl, moved to Chicago with her mother and siblings. While there, her world was turned upside down. “I’ve been on my own since I was 14 years old,” she says. “My mom died from colon cancer. I stayed in Chicago for a very short period before I was brought back to Paducah.” Once back here, Dorothea was homeless and without support.

The winter after her mother’s passing, she returned to her abandoned house with a wood stove on South 5th Street and set up house. She got back into school, but no one knew the severity of her situation. Dorthea’s siblings also moved back to Paducah, but they’d separated, finding different solutions to their homelessness. Once the abandoned house became untenable, Dorothea bounced around from home to home, staying with friends, sleeping on couches.

“One thing about this community is that there is a buoyancy for everyone,” she says. “You won’t utterly drown. People didn’t know what was going on, but they saw points where I needed help and were so supportive. I didn’t know

here is the power of life and death in the words by which we frame our lives,” says Dorothea Manley-Davis with unshakable resolve. Her eyes convey strength mixed with empathy. Her radiant smile, which is nearly constant, is infectious. “It is proven that when we use positive words and expressions,” she continues, “we are met with happy thoughts and attract positive people and experiences. I have personally been profoundly affected by both a negative and a positive mindset. And I prefer the effects of smiling, cheering others on, and encouraging people to go a little further when they feel like completely giving up.”

Dorothea spreads positivity wherever she goes. And she looks for opportunities to do that on the community level through Project Speak Life, an organization that seeks to foster communication and underAs a junior in high school, Dorothea was living wherever she could between relatives and friends. standing through conversation, often Despite her struggles, this determined young woman managed to graduate from the University of Louisville. She is now a Project Support Associate at Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership. using art as a catalyst for finding

18 • PADUCAH LIFE

to tell anyone or to ask for help. I was kind of clueless about my situation. But there were a lot of people I looked to for inspiration, and they were a huge part of the engine that kept me going.” Dorothea did well despite her situation, being the first student to volunteer with the board of education. She was also class president.

“All I knew to do was to follow what my mom taught me,” says Dorothea. “She gave me life. And before she died, we walked all over the city. She would tell me things and teach me and help me understand that it was going to be ok and that I would make it. She was giving and empathetic and taught the value of that to me. Now, it’s important to me for others to know that kind of love and hope. I don’t want anyone giving up.”

After high school, Dorothea went to the University of Louisville before moving to Indiana and then to Chicago. But she never lost her affinity for Paducah. In 2017, she decided to return home and give back to the community that fostered life for her in her most vulnerable moments. Here, she formed Project Speak Life.

“I gained a lot of strength from what I’d been through,” she says. “And I want to share that with others. I want to create opportunities for people to understand who they are and their purpose and how that can affect the world. Part of what Project Speak Life does is creative and cultural events that bring the city together. We began with something called Conversations, which is a conduit to spark dialog between neighborhoods, between cities,

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between politicians and constituents—between people. Doing whatever needs to happen to get people talking to one another in an environment of truth, opening up opportunities for love and happiness to come forward.”

When Dorothea didn’t see a lot of dialog regarding local elections in 2020, she put Conversations to work and helped organize the first mayoral debate. “It was part of our mission to open up conversation and communication with the community.

That creates transparency. And our local elections were the perfect place for that kind of dialog.”

That led to the creation of the Paducah Diversity Advocacy Board. “I was talking to Mayor Bray before he was mayor,” she says. “He was at a meeting with African American business people, and in talking about diversity, he was very forthcoming and said he didn’t know how to approach multiculturalism here in the city. He said he’d love to have an advisory board to help others understand it. I told him that if he got elected, I would hold him to it. We met as soon as he was in office. We’re not part of the city and not only for the mayor. We are focused on diversity, equity, and inclusivity for everyone.”

But more than just talking, Dorothea is mindful of the medium of conversation. Project Speak Life has partnered with the Yeiser Art Center to host events, the first of which was titled S.H.E. (Speak. Heal. Exhale.) “I had written a series of monologues between God and woman. The woman is speaking to God about her life situations.

While we were doing the monologue, there was a dancer, dancing out all the emotions and feelings. At the end, we had music. The culmination was healing.

It was an awesome event.

Through that, we hoped others would see themselves and find healing.”

Dorothea sees art as a conduit of communication.

“Art, in all its forms, speaks to my heart,” says Dorothea.

At a Yeiser event centered on conversations, Dorothea used She credits her Tilghman a variety of art forms to get people TALKING. choir director, Loretta Whittaker, as one of the first people to inspire her through the art of music. “She was very present in our lives,” says Dorothea. “And she nurtured us and our talents. And she exposed us to many different opportunities.”

And while in Indiana, Dorothea worked with painter Mason Archie and his wife, learning more about visual arts. “He was incredibly inspirational,” she says. Add in a love for dance, and

LIKE us on And get MORE out of LIFE! This was the last photo Dorothea had made with her mom, Ida Mae Manley.

She’s holding her niece, Chakeia Johnson alongside her cousin, Demetrius.“I was 13 in that photo,” she says.“I miss my mother more than words can say.”

Dorothea sees platforms by which we can connect.

“Art, in all its forms, speaks to my heart,” she says. “It speaks to my soul. It’s a vital part of who we are. It’s a vehicle that drives opportunity to connect. Music, for example, has always drawn people together. It can create a shared moment of joy, peace, and love.

Everyone wants that. It levels the playing field. Art doesn’t care if you are black or white or rich or poor.

It’s an organic point of engagement, and it can bring us together in a way that nothing else can.”

Dorothea now sees her life coming full circle. The lessons bestowed upon her have become gifts for our community. “Project Speak Life simply wants to open up possibilities for everyone,” says Dorothea. “And we want that for all people. We want all aspects of our community’s life to be reflective of who we are—in all aspects. Hopefully, we can open doors to come together in a way we haven’t before. It’s all about encouragement. I want, through talking to people, to inspire and let people know how amazing they are.

Every single person can achieve greatness. You were created to be great. Where you take it and how far you take it is up to you. I want people to see that.”

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GOOD FOOD. GOOD WORKS.

GOOD FOR THE

COMMUNITY.

Sally Michelson, and a team of vibrant volunteers, takes the words of the good book and puts them into action each and every day for the good of their friends and neighbors. ★

by DARLENE M. M AZZONE

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

MATTHEW CHAPTER 25

22 • PADUCAH LIFE 22 • PAD U CAH L I FE

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SALLY MICHELSON

S

ally Michelson’s parents moved from Arkansas to the river city of Paducah before she was born.

Her roots here are long and strong and she views them with a sense of affection that has, for years, translated into compassion for her fellow citizens.

“I began this mission when I was a part of New Covenant Church on Jefferson,” Sally says.

“The church is located in the heart of the city and every week we were observing people walking around our neighborhood obviously in need. We could clearly see there were drug issues and at-risk children and families. One day the minister asked me if I would be interested in helping to create a community kitchen. The rest, as they say, is history.”

So Sally and her church family began feeding folks in and around the organization’s location on Jefferson Street. That was 11 years ago. “We did it five days a week,” Sally recalls. “We passed out thousands of flyers wherever we saw the need. We took them to the Irvin Cobb and to the Jackson House and other local residential sites. We wanted to make sure that we were reaching those who needed food assistance whether young or old, single or families. We didn’t care who came, as long as we were serving their hunger needs. This has always been a mission to live the words of the scripture.”

Now Paducah’s respected Community Kitchen is synonymous with Sally Michelson and a full time provision of daily meals. But the hosting of hot lunches on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive was merely a seed that has grown into a bounty of compassionate care that now pours forth from this group of dedicated volunteers and supporters.

“We have a wonderful board of directors who have been instrumental in working to create and strengthen this provision of services,” explains Sally. “We have about fifteen churches that are involved without whom we could absolutely not accomplish what we do here. We also have an incredible group of volunteers who sincerely care about every person who walks through our doors.”

The care that Sally refers to includes everything from the availability of washers and dryers and a clothes closet to social services counseling and the daily presence of a minister for outreach and guidance. There’s a handicapped access shower and a full supply of personal hygiene products. Sally and her team work with Heather Anderson at Paducah Tilghman to keep the lines of communication open with regard to homeless children and families. They frequently refer individuals to recovery centers in Mayfield and Nashville.

24 • PADUCAH LIFE

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“They come on foot, or on bicycles, or in wheelchairs, or on crutches,” Sally relates with fervent personal concern. “One day one of our volunteers mentioned that his mother had a supply of quilts that we could provide. So they came in and we gave out more than 50 quilts that day. If they need a bike to get to a job, we find one. We buy bus passes for maybe a month to help get them to school or work. We do our best to talk with everyone each day to find out what’s going on in their life so that we can meet needs that go beyond soup and a sandwich. It’s a tossed salad here and we love them all.”

During the height of the COVID 19 pandemic, the Community Kitchen was feeding more than a thousand people each day. On the day of our visit in October the team had served about 560. “We are always aware of the importance of our presence in the community,” Sally says, “but the pandemic truly heightened our awareness of how vital these services are to so many.

There were parents who weren’t working and children who were home all day and in so many homes, there just weren’t enough resources to go the distance. Some were without power and many without enough food.”

If you’ve never met Sally Michelson (and we hope you have) then you should know that she absolutely exudes positivity and hopefulness. But she’ll also be the first to tell you that sometimes she and other teammates employ tough love. “We make a point to try and understand as fully as we can what’s going on in someone’s life so that we can address the unique needs of each. But we also adhere to the philosophy that we all must be willing to help ourselves.”

The Kitchen is not just a place of inspiration, but also of information. Within the confines of this spotless kitchen and dining hall are brochures and notices about support systems, educational opportunities, jobs, and health outreach programs. Especially during the beginning of vaccine availability, the Community Kitchen was a lifeline for many seeking details about how to get vaccinated. Many of the clients at the center have little access to the media.

“So much of this is generational poverty,” Sally explains. “This can so often be a downward spiral. The difficulty for any person or family to pull themselves up from often dire financial or socioeconomic situations is not for the faint of heart. That’s why we try to find as many ways as we can to seek out specific answers for specific issues. The depression and the sadness is often difficult for me to overcome. But if I have to sing and dance out there to keep hope alive, that’s what I’ll do.”

The stories are endless which is why Sally says she’ll keep up the good work for To provide financial support as long as she can. She recalls a little boy who needed glasses, so she called on her to the Community Kitchen, friend Dr. Mark Owens. Dr. John Craft has provided needed dental services on send contributions to 1237 many occasions. BikeWorld works with the organization to help locate and provide Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, bikes. Pharmacy volunteers assist with flu shots. The Kitchen hosts a health fair Paducah, KY 42001. each month to help with insurance needs, medications, and basic check-ups. If someone needs car repair or tires, Sally and friends get them to the right place and help with the bill if necessary.

“We are the listeners,” says Sally. “We’re sincerely here to help, but we’re also realistic about what we can do. We’re honest with each person. That’s the only way to make a true difference in their future.”

But at the heart of this miracle-making each weekday (and a church service on Sunday) is the compassionate care that emanates from hands outstretched with good, rejuvenating food, served with love and mercy, just like the good book instructs.

26 • PADUCAH LIFE

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 27

28 • PADUCAH LIFE

A LIFETIME of

defining moments

Steve Powless Shares His Roadmap to a Destination Characterized

by Corporate Success and Compassionate Commitment ★

by DARLENE M. M AZZONE

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — MAYA ANGELOU

I

n May of 2011 Steve Powless, Executive Chairman of Computer Services, Inc. (CSI), found himself face-to-face with a young man in Joplin, Missouri. A mile-wide 200-mile-per-hour tornado had swept through the community leaving a 22-mile long path of destruction. “A men’s group that I was a part of at the time had decided to go and spend a week helping out in this devastated community,” Steve recalls. “While other men in the group had gone on mission trips before, I never had and it’s safe to say I was unprepared for how hard that week would be both physically and emotionally. All around us were empty concrete slabs where once houses had stood. Piles of splintered wood and broken glass were everywhere. Even the hospital had been picked up off its foundation.”

Steve’s group had been assigned to help out in a food and clothing distribution warehouse. People who had lost everything were able to grab a shopping cart and select from donated items of canned goods,

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 29

STEVE POWLESS

bottled water, mattresses, toys, and other necessities. “My job was to help people find what they needed and load it into their car. It involved long periods of standing and moving bulky boxes or heavy furniture.

That was taxing, but nothing compared to confronting, day after day, the misery and hopelessness that was the human condition in Joplin.”

Near the end of their week of work a young man came through the door. “He looked like he was in his early 30s,” Steve remembers. “Right away I could tell that he was sort of out of it. His eyes were unfocused, he was dirty, and his shoulders curled around him protectively.” As Steve helped the young man to gather donated items he eventually learned that his youngest son had been swept from his wife’s arms during the storm and did not survive.

“I held it together long enough to help the young man to his car,” Steve added. “And when I came back into the warehouse, I asked my friend Dale Hancock if we could have a private moment. And then I lost it. Tears streamed down my face. And I felt the weight of this young man’s burdens as if they were my own.”

The story haunted Steve for many months after the encounter. “It’s the kind of moment that you truly never forget. You instantly realize that you don’t have any real problems considering what these families were going through. We helped where we could. We weren’t doing anything major. But perhaps we metaphorically wiped the faces of our brothers and sisters with a servant’s towel and maybe that WAS major.”

This life-changing event came subsequent to Steve’s journey of servant leadership learned at the hands of CSI’s patriarch, John Williams, Sr. “When I joined CSI in 1987, John Williams was one of the busiest men I knew in Paducah,” Steve explains. “And yet I observed that he was ALWAYS ready to lend a hand, secure resources, or otherwise provide leadership to charitable causes in the community.” John Williams encouraged Steve to adopt a similar mindset. “He often said to me, ‘we’re renting time here on earth.’

I took that to mean we have but a small window in which to pay our dues.”

So when John asked Steve to join the Paducah Public Library board shortly after coming on board at CSI, his window of opportunity opened. And it changed his outlook on life from that moment forward. “I’m not a ‘library guy,’” Steve admits, “but I served on that board for 13 years! I have a technology background and they needed help in that area at the time. Over that decade or so, I learned that giving back is not a one-way street. When you give, you also greatly receive.”

The experience provided Steve with aspects of corporate leadership that are still a part of his career philosophy to this day. He often speaks to groups of young professionals about his journey from Vice President of Corporate Development in 1987 to his current position as Executive Chairman of the company. In 1999, Steve was named CEO of CSI, only the second person in the history of the company to hold that position. The other person, of course, was the founder, John Williams, Sr. In his remarks to groups of up-and-coming business professionals, Steve speaks to the defining moments in his life and how those often unexpected and seemingly unimportant experiences can change the trajectory of a career or a personal history. Steve explains that each defining moment for individuals is like threads that speak to the fabric of every person’s character.

Steve often introduces his comments by explaining his total devotion to CSI when he was hired. In 1987, the company had 100 employees and served about 120 banks in three states. It was Steve’s mission to grow the

30 • PADUCAH LIFE

company and continually expand into new markets. (Today the company has 1,200 employees and serves 2,800 clients in all fifty states and 30 countries.)

“Like most aspiring young professionals,” Steve comments, “I was career driven, anxious to establish myself, work obsessed, and willing to put in long hours, working nights and weekends, and on vacations in order to get ahead.”

On a family vacation when Steve’s daughter, Ashley, was about seven years old, they arrived at the beach and Steve promptly opened his laptop in the condo and started working. His young daughter climbed onto his lap, looked up at him and said, “Daddy, do you have to work on this vacation too?” It cut straight to the heart, Steve now says. “I never took my computer on vacation again after that.”

Lesson learned? A defining moment that instructed Steve’s future commitment to three things in this order: faith, family, work.

As part of that philosophical tenet, Steve came to realize that the servant’s towel was an accouterment that was critical to his role as a corporate manager as well as that of every unique member of the CSI

Steve and his daughter Ashley.

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team. “After watching John Williams create a company built on benevolence and volunteerism, it became apparent that these were fundamental principles of nurturing a company and the people who are its lifeblood.” The towel part came in the form of a Cal Maritime commencement address by Dr. Rick Rigsby.

“First, if you haven’t watched this amazing speech, Google it as soon as you can,” Steve instructs. “In it you will hear Dr. Rigsby say, make sure your servant’s towel is bigger than your ego. That’s really good advice.”

Consequently, over the years Steve and the many dedicated people at CSI have proven this adage to be true, time and time again. A testament to that goal is the company’s commitment to such invaluable community organizations as the United Way. In 1997, CEO John Williams asked Steve if he would take the reins of CSI’s United Way campaign, then contributing about $7,000 annually to the campaign. “As the years went by I became truly emotionally invested in the amazing work of the local United Way,” Steve says. “And that enthusiasm spread among our entire workforce. We saw the need and we were determined to meet that need through our own personal contributions but also through some fund-raisers that were as much fun as they were of value to the United Way’s campaign goals.” In 2020, the company and its staff donated $200,000 to the United Way, constituting nearly 20% of the local chapter’s operating budget. “All told, we’ve given nearly $2 million to the United Way,” Steve added.

This shows true resolve you say? Indeed—kind of like running a marathon?

Late in life, Steve became an avid runner. He had never run a race in his life until the age of 48. In the years to date, he has completed 13 full marathons, one 53-mile ultra marathon and dozens of half-marathons. “I’m not sure where that inner passion came from,” Steve muses, “but it became a total dedication; a desire to be all in. I loved the adrenaline and the training discipline required to run these distances.”

So in April 2013 Steve embarked on the ultimate runner’s

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dream—the running of the Boston Marathon. “The day could not have been more perfect. The sky was clear, temps were in the low 50s, and huge crowds lined the course. It was a once-in-a lifetime moment for me,” he explains.

That year may strike a chord of historic memory. It was the year that a bomb went off during the race, killing three people and injuring more than 250. “I remember looking down at my watch. It showed 25.75 miles, less than a half mile short of the finish,” Steve recalls. Seconds later Steve received a text from his son. It read: bomb has gone off. Are you OK? The networks were jammed so Steve could not communicate with his son, Ryan. “At that point, there was terror and confusion and emergency vehicles and people running to find family Left: Steve and his son, Ryan, members. All I could think of was getting to my children,” Steve at the Boston Marathon. says. Eventually Steve was safely reunited with his children at Above: Runners in the 2013 the hotel. And yet another defining moment was staring him in Boston Marathon were invited the face. The resolve to do whatever it took to find his son and back to “finish the race” the next daughter on that fateful day would substantiate his continued year. Kenny Hunt, Bob Haugh, and Steve didn’t hesitate to go belief in staying the course even when obstacles block the way. back and honor those who lost their Steve continues to count on that stalwart sense of resolve as lives or were injured.” It was so he now guides a new endeavor, that of Paducah’s Lifeline moving to see the huge crowds that Recovery Center. For the last few years Steve has served on the year,” said Steve. “With their presence they seemed to say: we board of this Christ-centered recovery program for those dealing will not let this act of terrorism with life-controlling addictions. With his guidance, a dedicated staff, and the instrumental support defy this great race tradition.” of many in the community, this program has reached ever-important objectives to be able to provide a nationally accredited residential recovery program in Paducah.

“Giving is a sort of lifeline for each of us, I think,” says Steve. “When I hear people say, ‘I don’t really have anything to give,’ I remind them that they do indeed have plenty to give, even it its just their time and compassion. You just don’t realize it until you put yourself out there; until you literally step into the path of a tornado. That’s when you see how much you have to give. Then you hold your family, your coworkers, and your neighbors a little closer.”

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bridging

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by J.T. C RAWFORD

I

t’s a fairly quiet moment at Paducah Day Nursery. Most of the children are in their classrooms, busy working on projects that impart knowledge and stretch imaginations. Down the hall, the youngest ones are settling in for nap time.

And it’s not quite time for the older kids to return from school. Executive Director Deana May sits in her office, completing some administrative tasks while there’s a moment of calm.

She hears a slight shuffle at her door and looks up to see one of the mothers served by the nursery. On the mother’s hip is her one-year-old. In her eyes are tears.

It takes but an instant for Deana to reflect the emotion. Deana’s lip trembles. “Oh honey,” says Deana. “Come in here. Come in.” She stands and greets mom and baby

34 • PADUCAH LIFE

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DEANA MAY

with open arms, tightly embracing them both. “Tell me, what’s going on?” Deana asks.

It’s her instinct to react that way. Not only does she serve single mothers, but she also is one. Deana knows the pain of forging a path in life on her own. She was suddenly thrust into that position at a young age herself when she lost her husband unexpectedly in an accident.

“I was working at the time and decided I didn’t want to work that many hours with two small kids at home,” says Deana. “My kids were three and eight at the time. So I stopped working to be with them. And I found out that being a single mom is hard. Being everything for your children isn’t easy.”

Her best friend worked at Paducah Day Nursery, and once both of her kids were in school, she encouraged Deana to get out and come work with her during school hours. Deana jumped in, becoming a part of their mission to help families. “Coming to work every day and interacting with the kids was moving,” Deana says.

“There are so many challenges, yet I saw a lot of joy. The kids were so happy. It didn’t take a lot to make them smile.” Later, when her kids were older, she took the opportunity to apply for Executive Director.

Non-profit Paducah Day Nursery has been in existence for over a century. In 1911, the Paducah Mothers Club initiated a program that would provide for the care of children of working moms who had been widowed or abandoned. Through the decades, Paducah Day Nursery has kept many from having to decide between their children and survival.

Today, they offer care for children of parents with limited resources. Most come from single-parent homes with many parents continuing their education while working to make ends meet. Children are provided three full meals a day including dinner before they leave for the day. Families who live in any Paducah Housing Authority complex are given first consideration.

“We strengthen our relationships with families by building meaningful partnerships that foster two-way communication to better support each child’s learning journey,” says Deana. “Our ultimate goal is to prepare each child for primary and secondary education and lay the foundation for life success. More than half of our staff have degrees in early childhood education and/or are CDAs (Childhood Development Associate). We want to foster long-term stability as well. I’ve been here 14 years, and most of our teachers have been here just as long if not longer. They are a part of the community and know it well. Some are seeing kids they served years ago now with children of their own.”

Additionally, the staff serves families with children who face challenges such as autism.

“We help in every way we can,” adds Deana, “and when we don’t have all the answers, we know who to call to get them. We try to be there for every parent no matter what they need because you never know what might bring a person to the door. It could be something like a death in the family or homelessness or a job loss. No matter the case, we try to find the resources to meet the need.”

There are 26 staff members at Paducah Day Nursery, and, at the time of our interview, 120 children. The number has historically been a bit higher (around 150), and Deana expects the number to go back up.

36 • PADUCAH LIFE

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DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 37

DEANA MAY

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Deana’s continued push for quality with a focus on education maintains Paducah Day Nursery’s five-star facility rating, the highest rating from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. And it is the only five-star center in McCracken County to serve all ages, six months to 12 years old.

While the work of Paducah Day Nursery has been desperately needed for over a century, 2020 brought their mission to the forefront. “It’s hard to find childcare,” says Deana, “and that’s been even worse for the past year or so. Paducah Day Nursery has been exploring opening a second location, and we need it now more than ever.”

Deana’s heart is always with the families they serve. But she keeps her eyes on the future knowing that, as it has been for over a century, there will always be a need. “As a working single mom, I understand the struggles families have just making it from day to day,” she says. “Sometimes you feel isolated, especially when resources are limited. I love the children at Paducah Day Nursery, and the families hold a special place in my heart. I strive to connect with each of them and let them know that we are an extended part of their family. I am passionate about helping others in any way that I feel that I am led to serve.”

After taking time to comfort the young mother—and then finding a resource to help her—Deana makes her way to the playground outside where a group of preschoolers are outdoors to play. She’s immediately greeted by a pouting young lady who fell and banged her knee.

Deana knows by the way she’s holding her leg she needs some attention. “Oh honey,” she says, “Let me take a look at it.” In no time, the knee is completely better.

“I love this environment and being here every day,” says Deana. “We’ve all become family, so work isn’t work. It’s being with the ones you love. And we’ve seen so many successes. I’ve been here long enough to see kids we’ve served grow up and do things like go off to college. There are lots of parents who were able to go to school while their kids were here. And now they have started careers and are able to take care of their families.

That’s what we are all about. I love to see those successes.”

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H

by J.T. Crawford

Paducah, Start Your

ENGINES!

B

Y THE LATE 1800S, AMERICANS WERE ACCUSTOMED TO THE CONCEPT OF TRAVEL VIA propelled vehicle. Trains had captured the collective imagination, causing people to envision life beyond their geographic footprints. Innovators wondered if the new technology could be scaled down, perhaps to the size of a buggy (minus the horse). Motor-driven, horseless carriages soon emerged from Europe. By 1900, manufacturers appeared in the U.S., and the word “automobile” entered our vocabulary.

Dr. Jeff D. Robertson was the first Paducah resident to purchase an automobile. On Saturday, November 2, 1901, he took it to the streets much to the delight of gathered crowds. It was said that the “population turned out like a rural community on circus day.” We’ll refrain from commenting on Dr. Robertson’s driving skills, but three days later, Paducah recorded its

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 41

Paducah Auto History mobile came to town. Finis Lack owned a five-passenger, two-cylinder, sixteen horsepower car that he named “Queen” and sought to rent it out. That’s pretty enterprising. He also had another car named “Red Devil.”

New terminology had to be introduced. Residents posed the question— what is a garage? The paper answered—an automobile livery stable. Finis Lack and some friends opened The Automobile and Garage Co. on S. 3rd. There, you could store your automobile where they would take care of it and bring it to you when you needed it. Broke down out in the country? They’d retrieve you and the vehicle.

By then, enthusiasts had formed an automobile club. They regularly drove together, doing things like taking the Cairo Road route to tour Grahamville, Ragland, Bandana, and Hinkleville for the purpose of testing their machines over various

first automobile wreck. It was a single-vehicle accident as there was only a single vehicle in the entire city. He was “going along rapidly” near Ninth and Jones streets when he tried to dodge a wagon and a hole in the road at the same time. Dr. Robertson was thrown from the vehicle, which ended up in a ditch. Fortunately, he was uninjured, and his Oldsmobile was repaired and back on the road that week.

The number of automobiles in Paducah grew slowly. Four years after Dr. Robertson introduced the first car, only 18 more had been added to the population. In 1905, the News-Democrat reported on the “automobile fad.” Even though growth had been slow to that point, they estimated that by the end of the summer, there would be at least 30 or 40 “gasoline buggies” in town and that horses would be “sent to the boneyard and exchanged for pocket knives, an auto cap, and goggles.” We’re not sure of the connection between cars and pocket knives.

The paper regularly reported when a new auto-

42 • PAD U CAH L I FE

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roads while trying to break local records.

In the summer of 1905, Paducah introduced ordinances related to automobiles. The city set the speed limit at 8 mph with a limit of 6 when going around corners. They also introduced license plates; restricted cars on the streets from sunset to daybreak if they didn’t have lights; required vehicles to have an alarm bell, gong, or horn; and stipulated that they couldn’t be left unattended while running.

Initial discussions about proposed ordinances included the thought that vehicles should not be left unattended in public at all, something the auto club rebuffed. One enthusiast said, “When a man leaves his machine, he removes a plug from it and puts it in his pocket, and no one on earth can start that machine until the plug is put back. Yet the council seems to think that the machine cannot be left without someone in charge of it because it might run away.”

1907 brought the city’s first serious accident. On a Sunday afternoon, at 4th and Broadway, dozens of people rushed to board a trolley car. A.R. Garner drove down the busy street in his automobile and came upon the group quickly, striking four of them. Several were severely injured. Oddly, Dr. Jeff Robertson, owner of Paducah’s first auto, was at the corner at the time of the accident and rendered aid.

Despite the potential danger, the automobile industry boomed.

Foreman Bros., a Paducah company that specialized in electrical supplies such as light bulbs, electric fans, and telephones, became one of Paducah’s first automobile distributors. They’d already tried their hand at vehicle manufacturing. Quickly, they switched to selling new Ford vehicles. In a Ferris Bueller kind of moment, a report in 1909 stated that L.L. Hager, a machinist in the Foreman Bros. garage, took Leo Keiler’s car out for a joy ride after he’d repaired it. Hager stated that he simply wanted to test his repairs, but he did so by picking up five passengers and driving to Melber, a trip that kept him away for several hours. In defense, he stated he wanted to make sure the vehicle worked properly up and down hills.

By 1909, there were four automobile dealerships in Paducah offering Ford, Buick, Studebaker, and Autocar lines. By 1910, the reformed company of Foreman & Gresham was selling used cars. A 20 horsepower Rambler set you back $250, while a Model T Ford with 6,000 miles went for $800.

A few years later, Fords sold in Paducah at a pace of a couple dozen a week. We were well on the road into the future.

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46 • PADUCAH LIFE

★

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Living Mid-Century

MODERN The house was once Evie Hildreth’s childhood dream. Now, she calls it home.

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 47

W

HEN EVIE HILDRETH WAS A LITTLE GIRL, she loved to walk down Primrose Place in the west end of Paducah. That’s where her favorite house was—the one she always envisioned herself living in when she grew up. “My aunt lived down the street, so I passed by there all the time,” says Evie. “It just fascinated me.”

The home, built around 1964, has a Frank Lloyd Wright quality to it.

With its stone exterior, a plethora of windows, and a combination of jutted overhangs with complementary right angles, it has captured our collective imagination for decades.

It is simply known as the Hannan house. Ed Hannan was an architect, establishing Edward T. Hannan and Associates in Paducah in 1960. When it came to building his own home, he levied his skills, designing and constructing an ultra-modern house like no other seen before in Paducah.

Ed passed away in 1973 after an automobile accident, and it remained in the family until around 2014 when they sold it. A year later, Evie and her husband Justin put their house up for sale and started looking for a new home. Evie could only imagine one place she wanted to live.

“I kept driving by, and I didn’t see a lot going on at the house,” she says. “I wondered if the owners would be willing to sell it. I wrote a letter and put it in their mailbox. Three weeks later, I got a call. We talked, and they told me that they owned another house, and they’d never really done what they wanted to do with this one. So they said sure, we’ll sell it.”

Evie’s dream came true.

They found that the house was, for the most part, kept original. And Evie was able to connect with some of the Hannan children and grandchildren who had strong ties to the house. They provided plenty of information.

“I found lots of interesting things,” says Evie. “Like the main beam in the living room is constructed from redwood. And there’s a small pet cemetery behind the house. I was told there are about a dozen family pets buried back there.”

The house features a sunken living room, a feature that saw its heyday in the 1960s.

Behind the home is a sunken patio. Both are footprints for entertaining, meant to foster communication when entertaining. Around two sides of the living room is an open hall, of sorts, that, with a 90-degree angle, leads from the common areas (the kitchen, bar, and dining room) around the living room to the rest of the house (three bedrooms). Along the way, there are built-in cushions that allow guests to sit along the outer edges of the living room. “When we have parties, people naturally sit in those areas,” adds Evie.

Mid-century light fixtures adorn the walls of the house and illuminate the flow of the house and, in certain instances, mirror the angles of the architecture. Most are on the original dimmers. The interior walls are mostly cedar.

Many qualities of the home were commercially built. The electrical service, for example, was designed to

48 • PADUCAH LIFE

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 49

accommodate heavy loads and was run through conduit. There are four heating and air units with the house divided into different zones. There were circuits run outdoors and underground to facilitate the melting of snow from the driveway, the patio, and the outdoor patio.

The Hildreths have discovered that Mr. Hannan meticulously planned every aspect of the house. “We even noticed that the way he placed it in regards to the sun,” says Evie. “Every night, around dinner time, we have a great view of the sunset from the dining room window. The way the wind comes through the carport toward the sunken patio, you have a nice breeze in the summer. And there’s never glaring sun back there. And the way the house is built on the hill, we have a lot of privacy. We know he planned all that.”

Evie and Justin keep with the original spirit of the home. Their house is a central gathering for entertaining among their friends. Their Halloween party is one of the high points with upwards of 150 guests.

The Hildreths are at home in the past—an architectural past unlike any other home in Paducah. And if they ever made any changes, it would only be in following some blueprints they discovered, left behind by Mr. Hannan. “One of these is an expansion of the master bedroom,” says Evie. “In these plans, he also had ideas to add on a glassed-in room with paddle fans inside. For the bedroom, the wall would get pushed out which would extend the height of the angled roof and give us a much bigger room. I’d love to do this, and we’d do it according to the plans Mr. Hannan left. If you look at the way this house was built, and then you look at the plans he had for the future, you realize how ingenious all of this was.”

Evie and Justin have fully embraced the home, becoming the next caretakers on what will hopefully be its long journey. “You know, a lot of times you move into a house, and you look to see what you will change,” says Evie. “I wanted to see how this house would change the way we did things. And it did. It’s very minimalistic.

You don’t have a lot of walls to hang artwork or a lot of places to put stuff. It’s streamlined. Now we look at what we have in a different way.”

“I wanted to see how this house would change the way we did things. And it did.”

50 • PADUCAH LIFE

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A Pioneering Young Entrepreneur is Bringing a 21st Century Innovation to the Artistry of Aging Bourbon ★

by DARLENE M. M AZZONE

53

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E

“How solemn and beautiful is the thought, that the earliest pioneer of civilization, the van-leader of civilization, is never the steamboat, never the railroad, never the newspaper, never the missionary—but always whiskey! Such is the case.

Look history over; you will see.”

IN -Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

his seminal work about the goings-on around and about and upon the mighty Mississippi, we find this, as always, colorful indication that Twain believed all life’s civilized developments historically derived from the emergence of that ageless spirit we call whiskey.

His narrative goes on to describe how each of the previously mentioned societal successes was created AFTER whiskey had been delivered to their doorsteps and their drawing boards!

So now, centuries later (why did it take so long), Hank Ingram has crafted the idea of merging the aging of that much sought after product, derived from the clear creeks and limestone formations of Kentucky, with the ever-roiling currents of the muddy Mississippi River. And he’s strategically placed those chosen charred wooden barrels on a barge moored alongside

54 • PADUCAH LIFE

GEORGE WILSON

DOROTHEA DAVIS

SALLY MICHELSON

STEVE POWLESS

DEANA MAY

★ City

2022 • $ 2.95 DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY

GEORGE WILSON

Founder of George Wilson S.A.F.E.T.Y. Foundation

Magazine

~ S I NCE~

1990

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Subscribe online at

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How lovely are thy branches.

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DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 55

the river’s rural shore in Wickliffe, KY. It was, in fact, some of the long-lauded American rivers that brought the Ingram family south from the piney woods of Wisconsin. Orrin Henry Ingram, Hank’s namesake and great, great, great grandfather, chiseled out the family’s first corporate enterprise by transporting lumber down the Chippewa and Mississippi as part of the Empire Lumber Company. The Wood River Oil Barge Company followed, expanding the family business into river barge transportation.

Hank’s great grandfather brought the family to Nashville where he founded the Ingram Barge Company in 1946. Hank Ingram, founder of Brown Water Spirits, is navigating new channels down the river road with his masterful melding of whiskey and river currents.

“I wasn’t that much of a beer drinker in college,” says Vanderbilt graduate Hank Ingram. “So I started gravitating to the bourbons. That’s where I got my basic appreciation for the product. In business school, as part of a wine and bourbon club, I began to not only enjoy the spirit, but also the story that went with it.” In this unique scenario it seems, drinking and learning were a perfect blend.

It was here that Hank discovered the link between the evolution of bourbon and America’s waterways.

The more whiskey lore Hank uncovered, the more intrigued he became about the potential of putting these two native elements together. “In those early days, as the bourbon traveled that long journey on flatboats from Tennessee and Kentucky down to New Orleans, those barrels rocked back and forth. Once it got to the destination, it had a better flavor and had interacted and pulled mellowing notes from the bourbon barrels. Having a bit of a connection to the river,” Hank laughed, “I really couldn’t pass up what looked to be a true potential business plan.”

While pursuing an MBA at Vanderbilt, Hank cultivated an idea to bring his knowledge of the river, passion for history, and penchant for a bourbon

56 • PADUCAH LIFE

nightcap, together. He and a team of classmates took on the novel notion of aging bourbon on the river, interviewed experts, researched the various physical facets of such an operation, and presented their findings to a team of judges in a class competition. “We won the competition,” said Hank. “And that gave me the boost I needed to go out and actually give it a try!”

Now seven years later, a floating rick house is gently aging some highly respected bourbon going by the name of O.H. Ingram.

“I kind of get a kick thinking about how from its inception, barrels of bourbon literally floated by Wickliffe and Paducah a century ago,” Hank explained.

Today they calmly move with the continual lapping of waves against the Kentucky shore, patiently waiting for their contents to be revealed.

As any successful entrepreneur knows, there’s the product. And then there’s the branding. And they both have to be top quality. “I chose Wickliffe partly because of its location on the Mississippi. I liked the idea of the bourbon being ‘mellowed on the Mississippi.’ And the confluence of the rivers was also an influence. Here below the dams, is the start of the uncontrolled river.

The movement is more natural.”

Navigating the legalities and corporate structures of a never-before-incorporated river aging operation was much of the reason for the time it took to get Brown

O.H. Ingram River Aged Straight Rye Whiskey “Soft amber color and smooth aromas of spice.

Creamy, layered, and elegant with sweet, lush flavors of vanilla, oak treacle, cinnamon, and caramel; long and lovely.” —T TST P

Mellowed on the mississippi MOTION – The motion of the river keeps the whiskey inside the barrels constantly churning, exposing more liquid to the surface of the barrel where it extracts more flavor from the wood.

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TEMPERATURE – River aged O.H. Ingram experiences large diurnal shifts (the difference in temperature between daily highs and lows). The heat from the daytime sun causes the pores in the wood to expand and absorb more whiskey. At night, the river pulls the heat from the barge causing the pores to squeeze the whiskey back into the barrel along with the flavors it has extracted.

HUMIDITY – The humidity

from the river keeps the barrels moist. Aside from slowing down evaporation of the spirit (known as the angel’s share), the sugars in the barrels do not dry out in the heat—keeping a nice molasseslike consistency.

This allows the whiskey to better extract the flavors from the wood.

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 57 O C TO B E R / NOV E MB ER 2021 • 57

want your bourbon to be tasted and talked about, were at limited capacity. But despite those limitations, we have been really pleased with our distribution and our reception of O.H. Ingram whiskeys,” Hank admits. “Western Kentucky has really embraced our bourbon, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who has connected with our brand.”

Getting bottles on shelves in retail establishments is, of course important. “But having people experience bourbon is how you tell your story,” says Hank.

Part of Hank Ingram’s story is that of a legacy of generations of fathers and grandfathers with a work ethic entrenched and endowed through the decades.

Hank continues that stream of entrepreneurial strength by working both in the Ingram family business and now with his own endeavor. “I think there’s two things I feel driven by,” Hank concludes. “One is to have this kind of family history of doing big things the right way. A reputation that matters was kind of knocked into us as kids. I think that sets up expectations, and I want to find a way to get to and excel at that level. The other is a little bit of tough family love,” he adds. “Our parents were of the philosophy that you better get your butt off the couch and build something on your own. We never expected to step into anything. We knew that it would be our personal dedication to the work at hand that would prove our success over time.”

That’s why Hank Ingram says he decided O.H. Ingram River Aged Straight Whiskey to put his name (and that of his ancestors) “This 96-proof whiskey is silky on the palate with notes on each bottle of O.H. Ingram Whiskey. “I of crème brulee, marked with papaya, dried apricot, think that will keep me honest,” he says with and pine nuts. The long finish brings forth key lime pie a smile. “My word is my bond.” and graham cracker crust!” —T TT P

Water Spirits up and running, or should we say rocking and rolling. “One of the first things we learned was that it’s illegal to warehouse spirits on a vessel,” Hank recalled.

So there was that.

“And there’s no real straightforward playbook since it had never been done before,” adds Hank. “So we pretty much took our basic business school plan and started executing it. Surprisingly enough, probably about 80% of our original idea was put into practice.”

In its first year of operation, Hank and his team have pulled about 70 barrels from their off-the-beaten-path point in Ballard County. They expect to pull perhaps another 20 before the end of 2021.

“We’re still developing our strategy on when it’s best to bring the bourbon to its destinations,” Hank adds.

“It’s naturally more pleasant to be inside the barge in cooler months. So fall may tend to be the time of year we complete that task. That’s a good time to see what effect the summer has had on the bourbon. There is obviously less action within the barrels in the winter.”

And like everything else in the world of economic endeavors this past year, the pandemic took its toll on rolling out a new product.

“Bars and restaurants, the places where you

it I heard ... on NPR

58 • PADUCAH LIFE

HANK INGRAM, left, Founder and Proprietor of Brown Water Spirits.

SCOTT BEYER, right, Director of Sales Operations.

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The

Assorted

Artistry

of Austin Madding by Dustin Wilcox

A

USTIN MADDING HAS HAD CREATIVE

aspirations for as long as he can remember — aspirations he’s been able to bring to life right here in Paducah.

There are three pillars to Austin’s creativity: filmmaking, design, and art. Traditional pen-and-paper pieces were how he got his start, but he increasingly gravitated toward digital design as he has pursued his career. Filmmaking tapped into his fondness for the medium.

Austin is the creative director for Innovations Branding House, a digital marketing agency working with clients in Paducah and beyond. But his

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personal creative work takes him into the other worldly realms.

FILMMAKING Now in pre-production on his first full-length feature film under his Escapist Pictures label — an account of the Hopkinsville Tobacco Wars titled Black Patch War — filmmaking is often on the forefront of Austin’s mind.

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUARY 2022 • 61

Austin MADDING

He recently created a proofof-concept to promote his team’s fundraising campaign. You can watch the proof-of-concept on the film’s Facebook page (facebook. com/blackpatchwar). Black Patch War sees a disgraced law enforcer “race against time to stop a torch-wielding army of nighttime vigilantes before fire consumes the territory.”

Up to this point, Austin has shared all his creations on his personal social media pages. But a YouTube channel called “Indie Epics” designed, specifically for the peripheral content related to Black Patch War, will keep people who are invested in the project informed.

“This is happening in one way or another,” Austin said.“It’s just going to depend on how many people are involved to what kind of scope and scale it’ll be. But in that marketing strategy, a big part is to show people how you can bring stories like that to life—demonstrating some of the stuff we pulled off to make it happen.”

Austin envisions a release strategy for the movie that will be familiar yet novel to moviegoers, potentially involving a roadshow theatrical release and eventual distribution on home media such as Blu-ray and DVD. Much of the aforementioned peripheral content will be included with the discs.

“If you build your audience beforehand online, you

62 • PAD U CAH L I FE

can plan out events and try to sell tickets for them,” Austin said. “The ones that don’t sell enough tickets to hold the event? That’s fine. Go on to the ones that did and put on this little tour where you can go out and meet people. It still gets its theatrical run. You’re just doing it a different way.”

To develop his storytelling abilities, Austin watched the works of such renowned filmmakers as Michael Mann, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, and the Coen brothers. He enjoys the challenge of crafting a tight narrative, often tying it to history and world-building.

“I’m obsessed with story structure a lot, and I love tinkering with all the elements of it to try and fit it into an almost mythical structure,” Austin said. “I’m also really interested in what gets people to identify with a character. What gets them to that point?”

Austin said Paducah’s vibrant film community has helped make his dreams a reality, citing the film festivals held throughout the year at Maiden Alley Cinema as especially crucial. Before his wife Rebecca became Executive Director of the cinema, Austin worked on a host of short films for its annual 48-Hour Film Project.

O C TO B E R / NOV E MBER 2021 • 63

Austin MADDING

“It’s a good lab for experimentation, and it’s great for people who want to try it out,” Austin said. “People who have never made a movie before have a wonderfully accessible avenue to try it out and see how it feels.”

At the end of the day, Austin’s goal is to shake up the usual way of going about independent filmmaking — all while balancing his ever-flowing engagements as a graphic designer and happening hobby of ink art.

DESIGN Austin’s penchant for design naturally bleeds into his personal life. Starting last October, he challenged himself to produce ink-based art for Instagram on a semi-daily basis as part of “Inktober,” and this year, he produced fictional logos as part of “Hallogoween.”

“Doing something in a day is not really indicative of the process that a brand goes through or the intuitive process of creating a logo,” Austin said. “You get a bite-sized portion of what you do day-to-day, and it’s really more about the concept and story than anything.”

A recent post toward this effort transformed Carfax Abbey of Dracula into a bed-and-breakfast. Austin said he spent a few hours of balancing realism and narrative before sharing the idea with his followers.

“I’m always surprised what logos or drawings people react strongly to and what they don’t,” Austin said, citing

64 • PAD U CAH LIFE

a Cask of Amontillado logo on which he spent a short amount of time yet drew substantial positive feedback.

ART As one of his formative creative pursuits, art remains an important portion of Austin’s repertoire. He mainly draws as a hobby, though it comes in handy when he needs to storyboard a film sequence or add a personal touch to a design.

“Drawing is one of the arts that fits into whatever else I’m doing,” Austin said. “I just finished up this summer doing some cover art for a podcast that I’m going to be a part of. I don’t think I’ve ever sold any of my ink hand-drawn art.”

In that regard, Austin’s Instagram page is a more informal outlet through which he can share his doodles, whether that’s for a monthly challenge or purely of his own accord. The earliest drawings on his page were published nearly a decade ago. The story continues to unfold on paper and on screens of every size.

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66 • PAD U CAH L I FE

BOOKS

Reprieve is less horror fest, more character exploration Former Murray State professor publishes his second book to strong national reviews

H

by Dustin Wilcox

J

IM HAN MATTSON, A FORMER EDUCATOR WHO

spent two years at Murray State University, recently published a literary horror titled Reprieve, his first project since his debut as a novelist in 2017.

Reprieve follows a group of four contestants who work their way through a full-contact escape room to win a cash prize — only for a man break into the house and kill one of the contestants just before the group succeeds. (A full-contact escape room is one set within an entire house or other facility.)

Jim said the haunted escape room concept was inspired by a YouTube video he saw on the subject, though horror is one of his lifelong interests.

“I didn’t realize there was such a popular underground industry [for full-contact escape rooms], so I sort of became obsessed with them,” Jim said.“I did a whole lot of research, I talked to some proprietors, and it was fascinating that there’s this world of full-contact haunts that I had no clue about.”

And his penchant for horror arose from growing up as “a dorky Asian kid” in the “flat-tongued country” of North Dakota. His interest ebbed and flowed as he grew older and reemerged within the past few years.

“I felt pretty isolated, and I always thought Stephen King did a really good job of showcasing the outsider as main characters in his books,” Jim said.“So it was nice to see myself in that sense reflected in the pages. And yeah, the scary elements were always fun to read from an imagistic level.”

Eagle-eyed readers may notice the subject matter of Reprieve marks a stark departure from Jim’s previous novel, The Lost Prayers of Ricky Graves, a result of his changing interests.

“The first book has to do with technology and bullying, and that was

what was consuming me then,” Jim said.

“There’s no real horror element to it.

My next book is also very different from the second book.”

Despite the horror label, Jim said he doesn’t want to pigeon-hole the book into a specific genre at risk of limiting its reach.

“Some people who go into it thinking it’s going to be this unrelenting gore fest of a horror novel are disappointed because the novel is not like that,” Jim said. “The novel takes time with its characters and essentially becomes a character study with horror more as a vehicle to talk about the themes that emerge in the book and the characters’ lives.”

But his favorite part of the process was writing the “horrific” scenes inside the haunted house because he hadn’t had the chance to do so in a while.

“It allowed me to expand my imagination into this ‘house of horrors,’” Jim said.

Jim Mattson

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA N UA RY 2022 • 67

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68 • PAD U CAH LIFE

H

A College LIFE on

Target

Marra Hastings McMillan was inducted into the 2021 Murray State University Athletic Hall of Fame

by Darlene Mazzone

M

MOST COLLEGE FRESHMAN LEARN TO ADJUST to their quirky roommate, eat junk food 24/7, study into the wee hours, grapple with the Sunday morning hangover, oversleep for that 8 AM class, hide their grades from their parents, and otherwise just try to make it through the first semester.

Marra Hastings (McMillan) won an NCAA Championship.

But let’s take a step back and focus our sites on an earlier decade. As Marra’s father, Michael, drove through their hometown of Kingston, Washington one rainy Saturday morning, he noticed a storefront he wasn’t aware of. The sign said Junior Rifle Club. Michael Hastings was a Navy man with a penchant for target practice. He looked at his eight-year-old daughter and said, “Let’s go in and check it out.” And so they did.

The owner asked if Marra would like to give it a try. She picked up a rifle, took aim, (while a bunch of little boys looked on) and wowed

the crowd. After a few minutes of bringing the gun to her shoulder and firing at a paper bull’s eye, the proprietor pulled her father aside and apparently commented that Marra was a “natural.” And that was all Michael Hastings needed to hear.

“From that point forward, I went back and trained with the Kingston Junior Rifle Club,” says Marra. “And when I started winning competitions, we just kept moving up the ladder to bigger events.”

Marra kept firing and kept winning through her elementary and high school years, eventually being invited to work with the National Development Team at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. There she met lots of collegiate rifle team athletes and started her ultimate search for a place to compete on the college level.

“I was recruited by a good many colleges,” Marra remembers, including West Virginia, the University of Kentucky, Alaska Fairbanks, Tennessee Tech, Xavier

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 69

Marra Hastings McMillan

Marra Hastings, second from right, takes aim at victory during one of the many collegiate competitions as a student at Murray State University.

and a slew of others. But Marra had met some students from Murray State at the Olympic Training Center and learned about MSU. She knew she wanted a small school. And MSU, she found, was consistently ranked in the top five college rifle teams in the country.

So she came. She saw. And she liked what she saw.

“The indoor rifle range was probably one of the nicer ones I had seen when I had visited several schools,” Marra explained.

So Marra made the decision to say goodbye to the northwest and travel cross-country to western Kentucky to join the 1997 MSU Rifle team.

“I really loved Murray’s coach, Elvis Green,” Marra recalls. “He was a great instructor and I soon saw why MSU was a high caliber college team. It was a fun year and, well, by the end of 1997 it was a REALLY great year.”

It was because of that year, and the three that came after, that Marra McMillan was inducted into the Murray State Athletics Hall of Fame in November 2021. Marra is the ninth rifle team athlete to be inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame.

It obviously didn’t take long for Marra to assert herself as not only one of the top competitors in the Ohio Valley Conference, but also nationally when she came to MSU from North Kitsap High School that fall of 1996. In a remarkably consistent performance from freshman year to graduation, Marra racked up four OVC team championships under Hall of Famer Coach Elvis Green. During her time at MSU, Marra helped extend the Racers’ OVC championship winning streak to seven in a row, as the Racers won the first seven titles in the history of the OVC competition.

Helping her team to success, Marra made it a clean sweep of becoming All-OVC in both the smallbore and air rifle in all four seasons, giving her a perfect eight-of-eight in ALL-OVC honors.

But it was in 1997 that Marra performed at her best when it

Zack, Alex, Marra, and Sophie McMillan at the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

“My experience at MSU had such an impact on my life both personally and professionally. The bonds you develop with your coach and teammates lasts a lifetime.” -Marra Hastings McMillan

mattered most. She earned the title of NCAA Air Rifle Champion. Marra was an All-American for the MSU rifle team for four consecutive seasons (1997-2000) earning All-OVC Championship Team honors each of her four years.

“Those were some pretty spectacular years for me,” Marra remembers. And not only did Marra hit the highest mark in her sport, she also met her future husband, Zack McMillan. “We met in a camping and canoeing class our senior year,” Marra laughs.“You know, one of those electives that you have left your last semester. Zack is an avid outdoorsman and hunter. And when we met, he had NO idea that I could put a bullet through a bull’s eye from 50 feet!”

Undeterred, Zack asked Marra to marry him and they now have two children, Alex and Sophie. Marra is Vice President, Private Banking Relationship Manager at Paducah Bank and Zack is an attorney with McMurry & Livingston in Paducah.

“Being from the northwest, I would never have imagined that I would find myself going to college across the country so far away from my family and friends,” Marra says. “All it took was one visit to Murray State and my meeting with Coach Green and his amazing staff. My experience at MSU had such an impact on my life both personally and professionally. The bonds you develop with your coach and teammates lasts a lifetime. To be selected for the 2021 MSU Hall of Fame is an honor that means so much to me.”

CHAMPIONSHIP CREDITS 1997 NCAA Air Rifle Champion • 1997-2000 OVC Championship Team Member Four All-OVC Air Rifle Awards • Four All-OVC Smallbore Awards • 2000 OVC Smallbore MVP • USA Rifle National Development Team

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 71

21/22 SE ASON JUDY! JOAN ELLISON SINGS JUDY GARLAND WITH THE PADUCAH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FEBRUARY 12, 2022

TICKETS AT PADUCAHSYMPHONY.ORG 72 • PAD U CAH L I FE

Historic Rosenwald

Schools Improved the Quality of Education for Generations of African Americans ★

by A MY S ULLIVAN

P

ADUCAH LIFE’S FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 ISSUE featured former Paducahan Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, whose year-and-a-half survey in 2003 of Kentucky’s Rosenwald Schools on behalf of the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Heritage Council, led him to the understanding of the beauty and the power of historic buildings. Documenting the Rosenwald Schools showed Brent how a professional approach to preservation could make a real and lasting contribution to society.

Left is the Union Station School; lower right is the Woodland School. Photo courtesy of Fisk University.

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 73

Historic Rosenwald Schools into an independent foundation.

The Julius Rosenwald Fund was established in 1917. By 1928, one in every five rural schools for blacks in the South was a Rosenwald school, four in McCracken County: SANDERS SCHOOL located near Park Avenue Built in 1924-25.

Total cost of construction: $2,500 GRAHAMVILLE SCHOOL Built in 1925-26.

Total cost of construction: $2,076 UNION STATION SCHOOL Built in 1929-30.

Total cost of construction: $4,145

Rosenwald schools provided the educational foundation for generations of African American students in 15 southern states in the early 20th century. Of the 5,357 schools constructed between 1912 and 1932, 158 were erected in 64 Kentucky counties, four of which once stood in McCracken County in Paducah.

These one-room schoolhouses have a rich history and were constructed for one purpose: to improve the quality of education for children in rural areas.

Julius Rosenwald, philanthropist and CEO of Sears Roebuck & Co., met Booker T. Washington, a prominent African American educator, in 1911 at a fundraiser in Chicago. The two discovered they had similar goals of helping African Americans obtain a better education. At the time, schools were segregated and white schools received more funding, better teachers, and more comfortable buildings than black schools. Rosenwald was impressed with Washington’s founding of the Tuskegee Institute and supported his efforts to improve the educational environment for African Americans.

In 1912, Rosenwald gave a small grant to the Tuskegee Institute and Washington used the funds to build six African American schools in rural Alabama. These first Rosenwald grants allowed black students to move into buildings designed to be schools, and they no longer had to attend school in a church or a field. This was the start of the Rosenwald school building program.

Two years later, Rosenwald donated $30,000 to build 100 more schools in Alabama. Other states heard about this and applied for funding, and, with Washington’s and the Tuskegee Institute’s support, Rosenwald donated more funds in 1916 to build 200 schools outside of Alabama. When Washington died in 1915, Rosenwald chose to manage the Fund without Tuskegee and turned it

74 • PADUCAH LIFE

WOODLAND SCHOOL IN LONE OAK Built in 1929-30.

Total cost of construction: $2,350 The Woodland School was located in what was the MassacHills Chapel community on Hocker Road in McCracken County.

Nothing of the school remains except historic marker #2404, which celebrates the history of this one-room school that educated students grades one through eight from 1929 to 1963, closing when Kentucky schools were integrated.

Union Station Rosenwald School

in Paducah served as a grammar school for African American children from 1928 until 1966, when McCracken County schools integrated. The property stands about three miles directly south of downtown Paducah, at 3138 Roosevelt Street, also known as Flagman Street, just off Lane Road in the area known as Littleville.

Though it’s still in disrepair, there are many local supporters who have been working on its restoration since 2006.

Many of the Rosenwald schools remained in operation until the 1960s and 1970s when Brown v.

Board of Education of Topeka, the 1954 Supreme Court ruling against racial segregation, was implemented.

Though many Rosenwald school buildings have been demolished and others have not been used as schools for decades, the stories of these schools have been kept alive through oral history. Former students have been interviewed and published articles, and formal oral history projects have been conducted, including “Remembering the Rosenwalds,” a county-wide project in Robeson County, North Carolina, in 2002.

In 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rosenwald Schools near the top of the country’s most endangered places and created a campaign to raise awareness and money for preservation. At least 60 former Rosenwald Schools are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2015 the National Trust classified the Rosenwald Schools as National Treasures.

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 75

BOOKS

Paducah poet is singular sensation in multiple languages

M

★

by C ONS TANCE A LE X A N DE R

ARISSA DAVIS KEEPS COLLECTING KUDOS FOR her poetry and translations. In 2019, the Paducah native won the coveted Cave Canem Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize for My Name & Other Languages I Am Learning How to Speak. About choosing the manuscript for the award, Danez Smith described Davis’s work as “a voice so varied and skilled one has to step back to see that the work is not that of a great, anthologized generation but one stellar talent singing all the choir parts perfectly, wildly.”

While working on a BA at Vanderbilt University, Marissa began publishing and receiving recognition for her work. In 2019-2020, the first year of her MFA at New York University, she was a Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellow. Her second year she became Translations Editor for Washington Square Review. In 2021, she

76 • PADUCAH LIFE

served as one of the judges for the prestigious PEN Award for Poetry as Translation.

Barely twenty-six, Marissa has already published poems and translations in an array of literary journals and online sites. Currently working at Penguin Random House with Viking, Penguin Books, and Penguin Classics, she describes her professional responsibilities as helping with the technical part of the publishing process.

“I figure out details like advances and move a project from the editorial to the production phase,” she said. Another aspect of her job is acting as “a first eye on submitted manuscripts.”

At Vanderbilt, Marissa lived in a foreign language immersion dorm for three years and then spent two years in France. ‘So for five years straight, I was somehow lucky enough to sneak French into my daily life,” she explained.

Her obsession with language is intrinsic to her poetry. According to an interview in Cave Canem’s “Dogbytes,” she is fascinated by words that are untranslatable and how the same word-idea can carry different nuances in different languages.

“There are studies showing that people feel they can more easily express emotionally complex matters in a foreign language than their native tongue, apparently because the words don’t carry the same ingrained emotional associations.

I like to muse on what this means for poetry,” she said.

In spite of her impressive literary credentials, Marissa is unimpressed with herself. When I contacted her to schedule an interview for this article, she responded right away

and reminded me we had met before, either through a presentation at Paducah Middle School or Paducah Tilghman High School. She also shared fond memories of attending Morgan Elementary and then in high school participating in Governor’s School for the Arts.

“I was writing fiction then,” she recalled, adding that her first forays into poetry were inspired by exposure to contemporary poets.

“They were more relatable and diverse and closer to me in a certain way. I began to have more of a sense of understanding that poetry doesn’t belong solely to history. It has its own life.”

Past and present intermingle in her work. For example, her poetry often focuses on nature, the inevitable cycle of the seasons, and the connections of humans to the land. Her poem “Singularity,” described by Maria Popova in The Marginalian as a “quiet cataclysm of a poem,” starts like this: In the wordless beginning iguana & myrrh magma & reef ghost moth & the cordyceps tickling its nerves…

Line by line, unique couplings tease the reader into following along, taking visual leaps through white space to consider “ocean

salt & crude oil,” “black bears & gladiolus & pink florida grapefruit.”

When first published by the Academy of American Poets, Marissa explained how she was inspired to write “Singularity” by a poem of the same name by Marie Howe.

“Here, the scientific meets the spiritual; becomes it, even—we’re given the chance to frame any living thing (any existing thing, really) as our brethren, that with which we once laid together in an ancient, cosmic womb.”

Marissa Davis currently calls the Bushwick section of Brooklyn home, but last year COVID brought her back to Paducah for a time. She appreciates the landscape she grew up with but acknowledges its beauty was mitigated by being “raised on a fault line, in tornado country, in a river valley not wholly impervious to flood, and destruction on some scale felt not just possible, but impending.”

Wherever she resides, her mission is clear. “I’m always striving toward the organic: in language, for a Junelike lushness; in tone, for a rolling, arabesque-ing, beeze-in-treetops sort of elegance.”

Marissa Davis’s award-winning chapbook, My Name & Other Languages I Am Learning How to Speak is published

by Jai-Alai Books. Her website www.marissa-davis.com contains additional information about her many publications and upcoming literary events.

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 77

by J. T. Crawford

Working with their heads in the

Clouds Drake Lighting keeps aviators safe by providing beacons in the night (and day)

L

OCALS DAVID SHEPEARD AND Doug Jones are used to being high (in elevation, that is). Both have 20-plus years experience in obstruction lighting, an industry that serves those who construct and/or own any object that stands 200 feet or more in height (or are above an established airfield aviation elevation within three nautical miles of airstrips).

Such structures (mostly buildings, communications towers, industrial stacks, and in more recent years, wind turbines) pose a potential hazard to aviation, and obstruction lights provide the necessary signals to help pilots avoid collisions. Obstructions are marked/lighted to warn airmen of their presence during daytime and nighttime conditions.

David and Doug, with their experience in the obstruction lighting field and expertise in FAA rules and regulations, discovered an opportunity to partner with Technostrobe, a Canadian manufacturer. In 2014, David and Doug formed Drake Lighting, setting up shop in Graves County and becoming the exclusive, North American distributor

78 • PAD U CAH L I FE

for Technostrobe. Over the years David and Doug have introduced new designs and engineering solutions to Technostrobe’s existing line of obstruction lighting products, making them a more viable end product for customers.

And, in August of 2021, Drake Lighting announced an expansion of its corporate office and operation into Paducah’s Commerce Park.

“Our experience did not result in immediate sales,” says David. “We started with small to medium tower owners/ operators. Eventually, one lead to another, and the word got out. Then the boys were back in town! What makes us unique and different from other distributive models is that we service and support all the products we sell. That’s why we formed a service company in 2016. We implemented other program features such as installation, construction, and engineering services. We have been fortunate to have great customers, great bankers, and great people to support and believe in us.”

Now, Drake Lighting serves a variety of clients across many industries in telecommunications, broadcast, utilities, and wind/renewable energies. “Some of our most promi-

nent clients are SBA Communications, NextEra Energy, jobs require special crews who are experienced in installNBC Studios, and E911/sheriff’s offices across America,” ing lights at such heights.” says Doug.“Our most interesting client so far has been While the field of obstruction lighting is highly specialNextEra Energy where we have installed obstruction ized, it is something we are all familiar with. We’re all used lighting systems on wind farms from Michigan to New to seeing the red and/or white lights on towers and other Mexico. Our services crew structures. And most of us has battled the elements have naturally wondered Conditions can change in an instant, (from heat and rain to cold who changes those lights. and you must be prepared and aware and snow) to make sure While the conditions of of yourself, your tools, and the people NextEra stays compliant working high in the air in you are working with. One small slip with FAA obstruction the open elements can be a lighting standards as well up, and it could mean disaster for you challenge, it also provides as providing them a system and your crew working on the ground. those who take on such that keeps their lights jobs to view panoramic on and without failures. vistas of our nation that Another notable client is SBA Communications. SBA few others will see. And it takes education and training to assists wireless service providers in developing their own get up there. networks through site acquisition, zoning, construction, “Working on tall structures is no small task,” says and equipment installation. They have a lot of tall towers David. “You must be certified to climb by going through across America at 1000 plus feet, and we provide them multiple safety courses in a classroom and then applywith high-intensity lighting systems. These high-intensity ing that knowledge by climbing a tower with your safety

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 79

DRAKELIGHTING

Shining a

LIGHT on Technology

Ever wonder why lights on tall objects are sometimes different colors and/or flash in different patterns? Here’s the breakdown: Drake Lighting founders Doug Jones and David Shepeard

instructor. From there, you are placed with a crew and off to work in the air.

Life is a little bit different especially when it’s on a tall structure at 1000plus feet. Conditions can change in an instant, and you must be prepared and aware of yourself, your tools, and the people you are working with. One small slip up, and it could mean disaster for you and your crew working on the ground.”

But for David and Doug, the risks are worth the reward. The views, the travel, and the adventure are compelling. But more than that, they know they are continually facilitating the growth of our nation’s industries and infrastructure by promoting and ensuring safety.

And they are excited to expand and grow in Paducah. “It means a lot to be a local company, providing jobs in an industry that is fascinating and essential to society,” says Doug. “While our customer base is scattered across the United States, we are actively pursuing clients in our own backyard (Kentucky and -David Shepeard the tri-state region) to increase awareness and brand presence. While a couple of our major established competitors are based out of Nashville, we take pride in being a family-owned business without such a massive corporate structure while also providing jobs in a town/city that has massive potential.”

“We are a small business with large plans,” adds David. “This move will allow us to work on our growth and expand into new opportunities.

We look forward to the move and building a strong relationship with the business community of Paducah.”

“We are a small business with large plans.”

80 • PAD U CAH L I FE

Aviation Red Obstruction Lights Flashing aviation red beacons (20 to 40 flashes per minute) and steady burning aviation red lights during nighttime operation. Aviation orange and white paint is used for daytime marking.

Medium Intensity Flashing White Obstruction Lights May be used during daytime and twilight with automatically selected reduced intensity for nighttime operation. When this system is used on structures 500 feet or less, other methods of marking and lighting the structure may be omitted.

High-Intensity White Obstruction Lights Flashing high-intensity white lights during daytime with reduced intensity for twilight and nighttime operation.

When this type of system is used, the marking of structures with red obstruction lights and aviation orange and white paint may be omitted.

215 Jefferson Street Downtown Paducah Dual Lighting

We’re here...

A combination of flashing aviation red beacons and steady burning aviation red lights for nighttime operation and flashing high-intensity white lights for daytime operation. Aviation orange and white paint may be omitted.

Starfish Ministries PADUCAH, KY

Catenary Lighting Lighted markers are available for increased night conspicuity of high-voltage transmission line catenary wires. Medium intensity omnidirectional flashing white lighting system provides conspicuity both day and night on catenary support structures. The unique sequential/simultaneous flashing light system alerts pilots of the associated catenary wires.

High-intensity flashing white lights are being used to identify some supporting structures of overhead transmission lines located across rivers, chasms, gorges, etc.

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We’re for the people, by the people and we’re proud to support GOOD causes, those like Paducah’s Starfish Ministries who are nurturing children through foster care, build-a-bed efforts as well as adoption services.

At the end of the day, it’s always been about how we help enable, encourage and empower your business’s, your family’s, your success.

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We’re Independence Bank. We’re Here. For Good.

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Paducah_HFG_4.75x7.25_Sept_2021.indd 1

11/4/21 4:19 PM

DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 81

H Happy New Year!

Join us for our Feb/March edition of PADUCAH LIFE Magazine!

Deadline for advertising is January 7.

Paducah Creative Council

Launches New Registry Website

by Melanie Reason

T

W 82 • PAD U CAH L I FE

THE PADUCAH CREATIVE & Cultural Council is calling creatives in Paducah and the surrounding area to be part of a new project coming soon. The Council, in partnership with the City of Paducah, is launching a website with an online directory to leverage and promote local and regional artists.

The Creative & Cultural Council began meeting virtually during 2020 with the mission to connect and promote the creative arts in Paducah.

Council Member Cindy Ragland says, “When the Council was formed, we quickly realized that in order to best serve our local creatives and creative organizations, we first needed to connect with them. This directory serves multiple purposes by both promoting our creative professionals and connecting the Council and

community with their work and passion.”

The Council is looking to use the online directory to feature creative professionals in many areas including architecture, design, film, photography, art education, performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, and more.

The website is designed so that creative professionals will be able to go online and submit the survey and photos of their work to be listed online. There is no fee to participate in the directory.

Creatives will be searchable by art type, location, professional affiliation and the opportunities they are seeking such as mentorships, commissions, residency programs, performance bookings, and teaching opportunities.

Council Member April Cochran says,“When people think of Paducah, we want them to think of our unique creative atmosphere. Our Council serves as a connector. We want to connect our organizations, businesses, and local creatives with that larger creative atmosphere in order to showcase all that Paducah has to offer.”

If you are interested in learning more, reach out to paducaharts@paducahky.gov and be watching for upcoming information about the launch of the website.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the City of Paducah and the Paducah Creative & Cultural Council.

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DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 1 / JA NUA RY 2022 • 83 AUGUS T / S E P T E MBER 2021 • 83

LastWord the

Thus sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud; and after summer evermore succeeds. Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold; so cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet. —SHAKESPEARE FALLings ★ by Grady h. penninGton W G fs fllw s sc lgs,  ’ us cl. S  suck w   k. “i   Uvs f akss,  i m  fss L dvs. t i g  css f usg  mzg wl f cl.” G xm w m mums u fcus m  wcl. “nw, m  s ll u cl. i s  i v smg scfc  m w i g  c. i ls  musc w i c  g,   c vlvs  wll w ls f mul  m.”

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84 • PAD U CAH L I FE

DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022 • 84

Live Holiday Ever After HOME this holiday season means more than ever after the past few years. What could be more welcoming and heart-warming that the place where memorable moments are made! From baking cookies, to decorating the tree, to game night with the family, every moment at home becomes a cherished part of our holiday celebrations. To all of the wonderful people I have had the privilege of working with this year and in the future, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY 2022!

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270.556.3697 suzygilland@gmail.com 3225 Coleman Road • Paducah, KY 42001

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