Paducah Life Magazine - 30th Anniversary Edition

ANNIVERSARY EDITION 2020 $ 2.95

Celebrating

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F RO M our E D I TO R

Celebrating 3O Years of Life THE INAUGURAL EDITION OF PADUCAH LIFE Magazine came off the press at Christmas 1990. It was little more than an idea, and though at the time I felt as if it was “our” publication, I quickly came to realize that it was actually “your” darlene@paducahlife.com magazine. We DO put the words together, and our designers create artful layouts, and our advertisers provide the financial support we cannot live without, but it is, and always has been, the people of this incredible community who “produce” PADUCAH LIFE Magazine. The stories are yours. The generosity of sharing comes from you. And the readers who have turned the successive pages during the last three decades are the reason we have survived—not only survived, LIVED the good LIFE! Following is my FIRST of hundreds of editorials that would be penned during a span of 30 years. I ended that essay with my wish that our readers would join us on an engaging journey. You have, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We still hope that because of the trip, you’ve gotten more out of LIFE. I know WE have.

Darlene M. Mazzone

Paducah/McCracken County. A city and county located in far western Kentucky. A community snuggled up to the convergence of three rivers—a river town. A rural community with a bit of a big city flair. A regional medical center. A shopping hub for a hundred-mile radius. A farm economy growing alongside a substantial industrial base. Good schools. A great place to raise a family.

These are just a few of the facts, but what about the feelings? What is LIFE like as a Paducahan? Who are we, and what makes us this way? Are we different from the rest of the world?

What does it mean to live life in Paducah? What is Paducah life?

Well, there are many of us who think it’s a wonderful life! Many of us who started life out here and are happy to continue living life here. Many of us who wound up here and have grown to appreciate and respect the advantages and uniqueness of a small but sophisticated community. Many of us who left and made a conscious decision to return for a

2 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

quality of life that’s not so abundant in other locales. Many of us who want nothing better than to grow old here among family and friends in a place we call home.

And just as each individual story is unique, so is the community in which we live. A city isn’t gauged by the number of square feet it occupies or the kinds of businesses that are located there. A city bears a certain personality because of the relationships among its members, its connection to families and their sense of values, its balance between commerce and caring.

These are the elements which will be explored on an ongoing basis in Paducah Life. We’ll look at the people and places of our hometown in a creative way. We’ll bring you colorful characterizations of local personalities. We’ll delve into our past for clues to our current way of life. We’ll probe the thoughts and minds of local leaders as well as concerned citizens. We’ll paint a portrait of a city and county that just might surprise you with its wit and wisdom.

We hope you’ll join us on this engaging journey. And we hope that because of the trip, you’ll get more out of life— Paducah Life!

VOLUME 30, 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

on the C OV E R A handful of our beautiful covers from the past 30 years!

Paducah Life is published six times a year for the Paducah area. All contents copyright 2020 by Mazzone

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The Warmth and Heart of Home Associate Editor J.T. Crawford flips through the pages of his mind and memory to uncover how much the stories have meant to the man who wrote them.

P

ERHAPS IT IS APROPOS THAT IN 2020, a year filled with challenges unlike those experienced in generations, we celebrate this magazine’s 30th anniversary, and I contemplate my 15 years working with Paducah Life. We’ve already been doing a lot of reflecting, focusing on what is most important, so these milestones feel even more acute.

I’m occasionally asked which stories are my favorites.

There are many to remember. I’ve met Ozzie Smith. I’ve interviewed in Steve Cropper’s Nashville studio near the spot where Dolly Parton recorded the song “Jolene.” I’ve cruised our inland waterways, taken laps around a racetrack at high speed, and stood under the goal as Ja Morant, now NBA’s rookie of the year, dunked a basketball with authority. These were all big for me—things I never imagined I would experience.

But there are other stories that mean even more. In 2013, as we worked on a series featuring Paducah’s best hamburgers, I met Susan Duncan, G&O Pharmacy grill manager. She’d been there for 11 years, and for the previous 28 years, she worked at Skinhead’s restaurant, a job she got when she was 15.

Skinhead’s had been a nationally known breakfast diner. She’d re-established G&O as a prominent, Paducah burgerjoint and knew just about everyone who walked through the door, even telling me what certain customers would order as soon as she spied them walking in. And she was invariably right. As I interviewed Susan, she acted nervous and bewildered. “I still don’t know why you are interviewing me,” she’d say.

She’d never realized her significance. She may not have thought much of her role in life, but without realization, she helped define part of the personality of our city.

Sadly, Susan received a cancer diagnosis months later, and not long after, she was gone. My heart sank

when I heard the news. I was delighted that we had the chance to share her story. Not only that, she’d appeared on one of my favorite covers, a recreation of a Norman Rockwell painting. Her story helped me to personally redefine the meaning of significance. It takes all of us, day in and day out, to contribute to the story of Paducah.

Significance isn’t accomplished by one’s title or one’s paycheck—it comes from deep within a person who gives it their all. When those lives interlock within a community, we end up with a sum that is greater than its parts. I still think of Susan often.

Such stories are numerous. I remember profiling Paducah barbers, a cook on a towboat, a couple of brothers who sold Christmas trees, a son and his dad who shared a lifelong passion for boating, a 63-year employee at a local grocery store, and brothers who grow tons of pecans in West Paducah, a venture that was started as a hobby by their late father. We profiled Harper Hams, since lost to a tragic fire. I visited a local dairy farm on a sweltering summer day to interview the man who’d hand-cleared a lot of the land to accommodate his cattle and crops. He is no longer with us.

There was Ken who has sold lemonade from a stand at Lowe’s for decades. And I’ll never forget the bewildered look at the Silver Bullet when I showed up to take photos of the downtown dive bar.

There are countless others just like these. On the surface, these seem like “ordinary” folks. But I’ve learned through my time with Paducah Life that most people are extraordinary in their own ways. These people comprise the story of Paducah, and I feel privileged to bring them to you. They deserve elevation. Every single one is more grace bestowed upon my heart and upon us all. Together, they are community. And when you open our pages, I hope it opens a door into one of the greatest feelings we can experience—the warmth and heart of home.

J. T. Crawford jt@paducahlife.com

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by DA R LE N E M A Z Z O NE E X E C U TIVE

E D ITO R /P U B L ISH ER

the Art of Storytelling

I

HAVE A PRINT HANGING IN MY OFFICE by folk artist Mary Englebreit, whom I met back in the 80s when we were both first starting our careers. It depicts a young woman clad in overalls, with a cocky hat, sitting with her feet propped up on her desk next to an old black Underwood manual typewriter. (I have one on my desk too.

Overalls never were my look, however.) She’s dreamily looking out the window at an idyllic farm scene. From the corner of her mouth is a thin, floppy piece of straw. There are notes scattered around her desktop along with pencils, an apple, and a bright bunch of flowers. And at the bottom in Mary’s own characteristic style are the words, “We don’t care how they do it in New York.”

When I saw it long ago, I bought it on the spot.

Those of you who are long-time readers know that I grew up on a farm “in the middle of nowhere.” When I went to Murray State University one of my arrogant English professors commented upon my introduction at the beginning of class, “Do you have to take your lunch when you go to the mailbox?” It was true.

And I was NOT ashamed. (Neither is Rick Bragg or

Wendell Berry. If you don’t know their work, you should.)

And on that farm, I had a book. LOTS of them. My face was almost always planted in one, much to my farmer father’s chagrin. But that is where I learned. I learned the art of storytelling sitting under a tall pine that shaded part of our massive garden. I learned perched on a front porch swing. I learned at the edge of a pond where cattle were lowing. I learned under a lamplight in the dusky days of summer evenings.

Art is ubiquitous. It can be found in the mustiest corners, down a country road, at a kitchen table. And as I’ve continued to learn the art of storytelling for the past 30 years, I have found it in places I would never have imagined.

On these pages, for the last three decades, we have imagined the art of storytelling. And thanks to the stunning work of our Art Director, Scott McWilliams, we have beautifully illustrated it as well.

So in this, our special anniversary edition, come along on a little imaginary trip back through time, and explore with us once more . . . the art of storytelling.

HOLIDAY 2020 • 7

ADVENTURE

Life’s Great Adventures ★

On a Winged Journey Every year, millions upon millions of Monarch butterflies make their way south to Michoacan, Mexico in one of nature’s greatest migrations. In 2008, Dabney and Dr. Bob Haugh along with Bill and Nancy (pictured) Black tagged along—and they took us with them!

When we look back at the last three decades, we are frankly astounded at the truly incredible and amazing adventures that people in our little neck of the woods (woods which many have actually explored) have taken on! From the great heights of some of the world’s mountainous peaks, to crossing Europe on a bike, to a French road race, to tracing the Monarch trajectory we’ve brought their adventurous stories to you in depth and detail. Man, woman, boy, girl, young or old, those with the spirit of adventure deep in their psyche can never be constrained.

8 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

Reaching the Peak Mount Ranier—it’s at the top of the list for most mountaineers. Fortunately for Paducah adventurers, Levi Kepsel had reached the summit more than 30 times as a guide for Ranier Mountaineering. He headed up a team consisting of Bob Wagner, Dr. Bob Haugh, and George Bray for a climb of lifetime.

FA LL 2020 • 9

ADVENTURE

Riding Through

Life

Most of us have the desire to see the world. But few of us would do it on the seat of bicycle. Kevin Myers two-wheeled his way across Europe and America and arrived at a new place in his personal life.

INTO THE WILDERNESS In 2009, five Heath High School Seniors decided to do more than write papers for their senior projects.

They took to the woods for six days, journeying without any packed food or shelter. They studied and researched before heading into Shawnee National Forest to live by their wits and natural resources.

TWO DANGEROUS WOMEN Dashing across the French countryside in a white 1985 Mercedes SL380 with a navy-blue ragtop, navigating the cross-country race Rallye de Princesses sounds like a story plucked right out of a movie. But Paducahan Sue Bryant along with former Paducahan Debbie Smith-Fletcher did it! And they did it with great style, adopting the team name Deux Femmes Dangereuses.

10 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

AMAZON ADVENTURE In a 1994 edition, Tracey Buchanan documented a medical team’s Amazon adventure to provide medical care to an environ the travelers described as a place “where poverty polluted paradise.” This team of 18 Paducahans traveled to Brazil for a medical mission trip organized by Dr. Richard Walker, a Murray resident, and founder of the Amazon Mission Organization.

AND THE BIKE GOES ON

CLIMBING TO THE TOP Paducah native and freelance writer Bret Roedemeier gave us his perspective on Paducah’s world-class rock climber Whitney Boland in a 2005 edition.

SHE’S A SURVIVOR Miriam Muscarella submitted an essay to us for our 2005 winter edition about her escapade into the winter land of Maine on a Destination, Outward Bound, Dogsledding and CrossCountry Skiing adventure!

Associate Editor J.T. Crawford searched for and found the key to this coast-to-coast adventure undertaken by Rob Webb and John Shadle in 2007: friendship. Rob had started the trek back in 1971 when he biked from the west coast to his hometown of Louisville. But he never felt the trip was complete. He had always wanted to make it to the east coast. So in 2007, fellow pedal pusher John Shadle hopped on his seat and accompanied Rob to the journey’s ultimate completion.

A DEEP DIVE Architect Don Peck has long been a friend of PADUCAH LIFE Magazine, so when we found out that he had a deep devotion to diving down under, we knew it deserved some investigation.

Then we learned that the WHOLE family was getting in on the act. Not only did Don savor the salty underworld of the globe’s oceans, he also brought remnants of it back for all of us to enjoy by way of his underwater photography.

Take a

Hike Four friends and hiking buddies traveled 4,500 miles through eight states, amidst four Indian reservations, in ten days, to celebrate a 50th birthday and a spiritual excursion no one would ever forget.

Karen Anderson documented the team’s hike into the Grand Canyon in 2003. Along for the trek were Tom and Gail Butler.

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12 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

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ANIMALS

Animals

So Much More than Sows & Cows

and Friends ★

Tiny Paws & Claws Last year, we left the domestic animal world for a while and got a little wild. Jina Peterson shared her love for helping injured or abandoned wildlife.

Along the way, she taught us the importance of all beings within our wonderfully wild world.

We had SO much fun putting together this story on the Lone Oak FFA group back in 2013. And YES we can unequivocally say that the current FFA is so much more than cows and plows . . . and well, chickens.

Whether they be domestic or wild, we love animals. They remind us we are not the top dogs. This is a world we share with countless creatures, many of whom take on the roles of best friends. Throughout the years, we’ve highlighted your love for all things living, often devoting editions to your wild side. From hedgehogs to possums to pups to equines, Paducah’s population is more than human.

13 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

ANIMALS

Hedgehogging the Spotlight Assistant City Manager Michelle Smolen wasn’t happy with her pet situation. Her pup, Walden, had taken to her husband Jim. So Michelle wanted a little friend of her own. Instead of going the traditional route, she found a pal in a little hedgehog named Basil. And, because of his downright cuteness, he instantly became a Paducah celebrity.

Pups on

Parade

In 2006, we got a real treat when we checked in on Gloria Meriwether’s prized Papillons, Jenna Manchester’s terrific Terriers, and Gene Glastetter’s crew of amazing agilitytrained pups.

THE STABLE LIFE Stable owner Jill Love has fostered both love and learning when it comes to the equine activities at Four Rivers Sport Horse Center.

Many students, including our cover girl in the spring 2005 edition, Mary Marshall Haugh, have parlayed their affection for these beautiful animals into a lifelong passion for riding. Also in that issue was an essay by young Carson Love, Jill’s daughter, about her partner and friend Shy Sherry.

A DAY IN THE LIFE Another much-loved layout appeared in our fall 1996 edition. Writer Sheri Coin Marshall spent the day in the office of Paducah’s beloved vet, Dr. Eugene Ceglinski. At the time, this was one of our best selling magazines, which came as no surprise. “I remember for weeks after that edition appeared, EVERYWHERE I went in Paducah, people wanted to tell me their personal stories about how Dr. Ceglinski saved their pets,” said Editor Darlene Mazzone.

14 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

HOLIDAY 2020 • 15

ANIMALS

Holiday for Horse Lovers In our holiday 1997 edition, we photographed Pat and Nancy Smithson and their son, Casey, snuggled up in their horse-drawn sleigh on their McCracken County farm.

Ceglinski ANIMAL CLINIC

SHE’S A BIT SHEEPISH Tammy Zimmerman’s sheep farm, along with all the adjacent animals involved, was brought to our pages in an idyllic layout in our spring 2005 edition.

A DOG’S LIFE We love our dogs! In 2016, we introduced you to some of Paducah’s furry friends including Jazzy, the musical mascot. Jazzy’s human, trombonist and Paducah Middle School band director Lindsey Williams, discovered that music does indeed soothe the savage beast. Jazzy went wild if he wasn’t allowed to attend the practices of the jazz en-semble at the Van Fleet Music Studio.

Vets Who Love Pets Rennie Church, D.V.M. John Kelley, D.V.M. Laura Williams, D.V.M.

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HORSE COUNTRY It happened merely by chance. Large farms sold into smaller parcels of land, allowing those with aspirations of horse ownership to realize a dream.

In this layout about “horse country” in McCracken County, we featured horse lovers John Ladd, Buzz and Gail LaGesse, Keith and Kim Jones, Gary Fowler, and Owen and Judy Wallis . . . and of course, their magnificent steeds.

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours.

Gary B. Houston / E. Frederick Straub, Jr. R. Christion Hutson / C. Thomas Miller James R. Coltharp, Jr. / Sharlott K. Higdon Nicholas M. Holland / Elizabeth A. Wieneke Ryan T. Polczynski / Eric C. Straub Matthew S. Eddy Of Counsel, Richard C. Roberts

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HOLIDAY 2020 • 17

ART

Life Imitates Art ★

here is a reason that PADUCAH LIFE Magazine was honored with a Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2016.

Since the first pages came off the press, we have been seeking out and lifting up those in our community who exemplify the gift of creativity. Being a bit “artistic” ourselves, we have always had a sincere desire to communicate the value these endeavors add to the lives we lead every day.

The Journey of Discovery Art isn’t a destination; it’s a never-ending adventure. Through the years, we’ve tagged along, documenting the discoveries of artists such as John Romang. We introduced him first as an art teacher and impassioned ambassador to our area’s youth. Then, we watched as John developed his own creativity through his ink-resin works and, most recently, National Geographic collages.

18 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

NEW LIFE FOR NOTABLE ART Carl Cook never set out to be an artist.

Through an employer who offered incentives for recreational activities, Carl and his wife took painting lessons and unexpectedly fell in love with the arts. When he retired in 1973, the couple moved to Paducah. Many of his landscapes reflected LIFE in our city at that time. By the mid-2000s, his works were scarce. Through the release of a private collection, a new generation came to know Carl and his vision of Paducah.

Homegrown

Talents

Long before the Lower Town Arts District came to be, Paducah had a strong arts community. Through the Paducah Art Guild, which later became the Yeiser Art Center, creatives encouraged and inspired one another. In 1964, Jerry Watson took a night class in painting. His teacher, Mary Yeiser, saw talent and encouraged Jerry to continue to develop his skills. Jerry Watson’s definitive style would grace the walls of the Yeiser Art Center for years thereafter.

FA LL 2020 • 19

ART

Market House Theater The magazine has visited this iconic art house in our midst a great many times over the years. In 2004, MHT was celebrating 40 years of existence.

We thought that was cover worthy!

WORDS ON ART & LIFE

MURAL OF MEMORIES

E.J. Abell really needed no introduction. But like John Romang, E.J. is not only an artist. She's a driving force behind our city's arts culture. Since the 1970s, she's privately taught hundreds of students about art and its impact. "I always say an artist has no choice,” said Abell. “An artist can't not make art. It fuels the soul and sustains the spirit."

Charles Manchester captured the mission and the motives behind the creation of Paducah’s floodwall murals in an article focusing on the Dafford panels that now impress visitors to our historic riverfront.

THE ART OF FRIENDSHIP The Lower Town Arts District brought to our lives a new host of friends. In 2006, we introduced you to Paul Lorenz. Paul, an abstract painter, already had works shown all over the world—from San Francisco to Florence, Italy. Recruited by another Lower Town artist, Paul fell in love with Paducah and opened Studio Mars.

20 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

INDOMITABLE SPIRIT Our story on Joan Dance in a 1998 edition spread the word that her artwork had been duly noted in a new book entitled, Kentucky Women, Two Centuries of Indomitable Spirit and Vision. An apt title for an astounding local artist.

ART IN COLOR This spread in our 2005 edition was one of the first forays into using color on our inside pages.

And what better way to make use of our new inks than to display the talents of some of our prodigiously talented artists.

Blending Art and Science

DOWN BY THE RIVER The Paducah Film Society, established in 1991, saw the need for an art house cinema in Paducah.

In 2001, Maiden Alley Cinema opened as a theater for independent films. Then in 2004, MAC introduced the River's Edge International Film Festival, now one of the oldest in the Commonwealth.

ART CARDS In only our second year of publishing the magazine, we found out about the lovely art of Virginia Black, mother of Chris Black of Ray Black and Son. In the holiday card depicted in the layout, the stork was expected to bring little Chris into the world on Christmas Eve. (He actually arrived a week early.)

COMMUNITY SERVICE TO ART For decades, the Woman’s Club of Paducah has provided a means for local artists to hone their skills and display their work. This early feature appeared in 1995.

In 2005 Vicky Cecil interviewed one of our favorite people, artist Todd Birdsong. His series titled Memories of Dixon Farm was a captivating example of how computer technology was beginning to allow artists like Todd to merge and manipulate photos into works of art.

THE ART OF CHANGE As we have learned over the years, the impact of art can have a myriad effects. In a 2005 issue, Melinda Martin spoke with Judge Cindy Sanderson about a new program using art as therapy for troubled youth.

HOLIDAY 2020 • 21

ART

Frightful

Art

Art in Paducah is not limited to gallery works. In 2016, director John Holt released his vision for the big screen, the horror flick Dooms Chapel Horror. Utilizing mostly locals for cast and crew, John completed the monumental task of taking a project from idea to completed film.

PAINTING A BRIGHT FUTURE

GOVERNOR'S AWARD IN THE ARTS

It’s been really fun to look back to the early days and to reveal our thoughts about the futures of some of our young profiles. This one in 1994 would come full circle as we again featured the iconic art of Paducah native Tim Jaeger in a 2014 edition when he came home for an exhibit at Maiden Alley Cinema. We simply have a good eye for good art I guess! Tim Jaeger was recently appointed as the Director and Chief Curator of Galleries and Exhibitions for the Ringling College of Art and Design.

From the very first edition in 1990, PADUCAH LIFE has been passionate about the pursuit of art. From early pieces about the artist and YAC namesake Mary Yeiser to our 2020 feature on contemporary artist Jessica Brown, we would wager that almost EVERY issue of PADUCAH LIFE has encompassed some reference to art!

In 2016, the magazine was honored for our devotion to the promotion of art and artists.

We received the distinguished Governor’s Award for the Arts from the Kentucky Arts Council for Art in the Media.

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS In the spring of 2003 publisher Darlene Mazzone, met with Mark Barone about a new idea “whose time had come.” The Artist Relocation project was Mark’s brainchild. “This was one of the most momentous issues we had done at that time,” said Mazzone. "This nationally-acclaimed initiative has had a LIFE-changing impact on our historic neighborhoods.” We were there when it all started.

22 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE 22 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

The Carson Center for the Performing Arts n the spring of 1995 there was an excitement building about a new idea that was being fostered. The two people who were doing a lot of the talking and planning and fostering of the idea were Dr. Ted Borodofsky and owner of Owen Cleaners, Dave Perry. “I will never forget this interview,” says Editor Darlene Mazzone. “This was one of the most exciting projects I had ever watched being undertaken in Paducah since I had moved here in 1976. And it was an easy decision to put Ted and Dave on the cover of that spring issue as Paducah visionaries.”

In the summer of 1994 Ted and Dave signed on to co-chair a 14-member volunteer committee with the task of planning and seeing to fruition the development of a Paducah Performing Arts Center. “I really believe that if we are able to see this project through and do it right, this structure will be one of the first things we show people when they arrive in Paducah. Whether it be business associates or visiting friends, I think this institution will be a tremendous source of pride and community identity for our entire area,” said Dave Perry.

“And not only will it serve our cultural needs, it will also serve as a very powerful economic development tool. There is no question that when we recruit businesses and industries into our market, they always ask about our cultural amenities. This new development would become a key factor in helping to define this community and in speaking to our quality of life,” he added.

“We believe it can be done,” said Dr. Ted Borodofsky. “The Performing Arts Center will offer something for everyone. People of all ages will discover the thrill of attending the live performances that this center will provide. The center will have a tremendous influence on our quality of life, will offer educational opportunities for our children, and will have a significant economic impact on our community for years to come. We hope to have the support from everyone in our region to make this a reality.”

A reality it became and also a frequent feature on the pages of PADUCAH LIFE Magazine. From this moment in 1994 through our Around&About digital post just a few weeks ago about the Carson Center’s Bourbon Dinner, our magazine has been a continual and ardent partner with the Carson Center for the Performing Arts. This is one of so many marvelous stories which have played out their ebb and flow between the covers of our city’s feature publication.

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BUSINESS

Champions A Sparkling Tradition In 2005 PADUCAH LIFE took note of the 100-year history of Michelson Jewelry.

The intro to the story read: He’s flown through the air with the greatest of ease.

He’s shook, rattled, and rolled to the pulsating beat of Elvis.

He’s done a little surfing with a sparkle in his eye. We were talking, of course, about the effervescent character who has lead one of Paducah’s oldest commercial concerns—Louis Michelson.

of Commerce ★ n our first edition, we talked about the commerce of caring. We had little notion of how that turn of a phrase would be carried out as the next 30 years unfolded. Even in those first few years, when we only had about 36 pages to work with, we covered healthcare developments, river industry growth, chamber of commerce initiatives, the arrival of new companies, and the renovation of historic architecture. We wrote about wood whittlers, the business of blizzards, sparkling jewels, classic clothiers, dog trainers, landscape artists, award-winning chefs, bourbon connoisseurs, railroads, rug weavers, corporate concerns, antique dealers, bread bakers, bankers, paper makers, and much, much more. And not only did we profile the people and the innovative thinkers who were creating a vibrant economy in our hometown, we also lifted up their sense of charitable consciousness as they sought to serve the people of this community with a true sense of compassion. On the following pages is our tribute to a SMALL sampling of Paducah’s champions of commerce.

24 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

The Business of Blizzards Built in the 1950s, The Dairy Queen drive-in across from Noble Park was a legendary landmark. Thanks to the Page family, Dairy Queen remains as one of Paducah's oldest restaurants. And the Page family has introduced Paducah to even more great brands throughout the years. In January 2009, we introduced Jay Page, thirdgeneration owner and the new CEO of the family business. We think you’ll agree, it was one of our COOLEST covers.

Off to Market with Andy In 2012, young entrepreneur Andy Carloss returned to Paducah with a vision—an urban market featuring local produce, gourmet items, high quality meats, and meals prepared by local creatives.

Midtown Market added a new color in Paducah’s foodie landscape, created jobs, and set forward a movement to revitalize Midtown.

BUSINESS

LIFE ON TWO WHEELS

A Clean

Sweep

We love to celebrate Paducah’s historic business. Few can claim a hundred years of continued operations. Owen Cleaners can. Their history not only parallels that of our city, but it is also intertwined and inseparable. And Owen Cleaners have been supporters of Paducah Life Magazine from the beginning! Cheers to helping us tell three decades of Paducah’s story.

Paducah’s business acumen is built on a foundation of entrepreneurs who, day in and day out, pursue their passions. A shining example is BikeWorld, Martha Emmons and Hutch Smith’s expression of love for cycling. In 2012, we celebrated their 25th anniversary. Throughout the decades, they have breathed vibrancy into our city, becoming a shining example of how our small businesses define and create the unique personality of our city. We couldn’t imagine Paducah without them!

SOME THINGS STAND THE TEST OF TIME In 1946 Zelphia Lamon started a furniture business that included reasonably priced antiques. “She located the business on the same piece of property where the Paducah Library stands now,” said Joy Lamon Walden, owner of Lamon’s Antiques, in our 1995 fall edition. “I grew up with the business, then raised my two children, Laura and Glen in the business.” And the business is still in business!

So few Paducah entities have stood this test of time, but Joy Lamon has long devoted her eye for antiques to a successful concern that still pulls those with a sense of history into her shop on Bridge Street. In 2009, Paducah Life chose Lamon’s to serve as a beautiful backdrop for our holiday fashion layout.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP DOWNTOWN We’ve discovered, over the past 30 years, that downtown Paducah is a living entity—constantly in motion, shifting and changing over time in order to thrive. In 2014, we told the story of businesses such as Simply B (now Selcouth)

26 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

and McMurry & Livingston who were utilizing Paducah’s historical spaces, bringing them respectfully into the future. Then, in 2019, we witnessed another renaissance. One by one, entrepreneurs opened a slate of new businesses that together ignited a spark downtown. Nightlife returned, and, like decades ago, the streets and sidewalk were awash in new LIFE.

BONJOUR FROM FRENCHTOWN Paducah thrives on imagination and ingenuity.

Ginny and Chris Hutson have both in spades.

They turned their sights to a nearly forgotten patch of land between Broadway and Jefferson Streets. Frenchtown was an area that most of us drove through without taking much notice,

reaches of the Commonwealth.

While living in Lexington, Paducahan Brian Shemwell discovered the world of bourbon.

Later, as he traversed the country for his job, he visited top bourbon bars, soaking in knowledge of Kentucky’s native spirit. He also began building his own collection of bourbons.

Brian loved the inclusiveness of bourbon—how it could bring together people from every background. In 2015, we told the story of how he brought that spirit to Paducah with the introduction of the Paducah Bourbon Society, which quickly grew into the largest bourbon group in the state.

Just a few years later, Brian opened Barrel & Bond with what is believed to be the largest, publicly available bourbon collection in the country. Now, thanks to Brian, Paducah plays a major role in Kentucky’s bourbon culture. traversing the path between midtown and downtown. They, however, couldn’t get the little 1930s gas station building at 11th and Jefferson out of their minds. They bought it, went to work, and turned it into Frenchtown Station, one of Paducah’s most unique stores. Just a couple of years later, in 2019, we brought you the story of Slim’s, the historic BBQ stand next door to Frenchtown Station. Ginny and Chris expanded their vision by renovating that building as well and, in their singular fashion, opened a darling little companion shop.

CHEERS! THE BUSINESS OF BOURBON COMES TO PADUCAH If you mention Kentucky to an outsider, chances are they’ll envision things like horses and bourbon.

Those industries, however, are largely removed from the far western

CSI HAS ALWAYS HAD A VISION FOR SUCCESS In one of our 1996 issues, CSI was envisioning the future of consumer banking. And not surprisingly, they actually DID have a vision for the developing technologies being used today. Read on!

“Imagine that your convenient ATM will be able to read deposited checks, issue travelers’ checks and serve as a twoway terminal allowing you to speak directly with your bank’s officers. Imagine that your loan officer can tap into any number of local or network professionals located in any part of the

Big Screen.

Small Screen.

Ice Cream!

PADUCAH LIFE Magazine has been along for the ride with Dippin’ Dots since Curt Jones showed our publisher, Darlene Mazzone, around his small operation when the dots were little more than the brainchild of their creator. Over the years, this now international company has always graciously shared their journey with our readers including this 2004 appearance on Oprah!

HOLIDAY 2020 • 27

BUSINESS

world! The loan officer might even tie in a handful of experts before the meeting is over.

And the deal you’re working on could be closed before your banking representative leaves your office. This is the future of consumer banking and it’s being created today by the information handling pioneers at Paducah’s premiere financial processing company.”

The Dough Rises Again In 1998 Paducah Life was thrilled to REintroduce Kirchhoff’s Bakery to the community. Ginny Elmore, the great great granddaughter of Franz (Frank) Kirchhoff stoked the oven and ignited a smoldering flame that had first sent the heavenly scent of freshly baked bread along the riverfront in 1873.

THE MAN WHO MADE BEAUTY BIG BUSINESS At first there were some combs and brushes, boxes of perms and crème rinses, clips, curlers, a few barber chairs and a couple of dressing tables and mirrors. The MAN in the mirror was Ed Hough, Chairman of the Board of Heil Beauty Supply. In 1998, there was a $30 million distribution business operating in more than nine states. Ed Hough is one of so many Paducah entrepreneurs who created a business climate, which inspired others to put down commercial roots in our river town.

STUFFED WITH SUCCESS For some people their business is their bread and butter. For Kathy Moore, her bread and butter ARE her business. “Growing up in a family of cooks (mother and grandmother), I just naturally lean toward the kitchen,” says Kathy Moore, newly established entrepreneur of Flamingo Row Bakery. “And one thing leads to another. When I encountered some Baltimore cheese bread while traveling a few years ago, I tried to find it in other places and couldn’t. So I decided I’d try to create it myself.” And we all know the REST of that story. We introduced Flamingo Row to our readers in 1995!

28 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

PADUCAH’S TOP CHEF In September 2015, we brought you the story of a restaurant that hadn’t even opened yet. But there was plenty of story to tell. The freight house was the continuing saga of Sara Bradley, hometown girl turned seasoned chef who’d been honing her skills at top restaurants in New York and Chicago. She returned to Paducah with a vision— an eatery like we’d never seen before. Sara wowed us with reimagined takes on southern fare. And it caught the attention of culinary industry leaders.

She continually popped up on our pages—from being featured in Kentucky Tourism ads to mentions in Garden & Gun magazine to cooking at the James Beard House. Then we all followed along, sitting on the edge of our collective seats, as Sara competed on season 16 of Top Chef, making it all the way to the final competition.

COMMERCE OF CARING There are few companies more committed to a “beyond expectations” philosophy than Paducah Bank. One of scores of local projects and programs the bank has spearheaded through the years was the award-winning Artist Relocation Project. The bank’s provision

Winter Wonders

of low-interest loans and later the actual construction of a spec building to house artists catapulted this nationally-acclaimed Lower Town initiative to its ultimate success.

at BikeWorld!

FAITH, HOPE & CHARITY Beneath this headline in our 1998 profile of Western Baptist Hospital’s newest addition, were the words, Western Baptist

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Academic Excellence, Tradition, and Pride since 1864.

Hospital exhibits the science and the soul of tomorrow’s medicine. Through the years, and the changes, and the growth, Paducah Life has, and will always, be grateful to Baptist Health for not only their exemplary devotion to the provision of excellence in healthcare, but also for their belief in our publication.

The hospital has been with PADUCAH LIFE Magazine since 1990!

HOLIDAY 2020 • 13

HO L I DAY 2020 • 29

BUSINESS

A SISTERHOOD. A SHARED COMMITMENT. SERVICE TO THOSE IN NEED.

Garden

Spot

Lourdes Hospital and the many, many dedicated people who have staffed this anchor healthcare institution in Paducah, has graced the pages of PADUCAH LIFE on numerous occasions. One of the earliest was a look back at the hospital’s history in our spring 1998 edition. Don’t we ALL love those nostalgic photos? More recently, we again lifted up the longtime legacy of this critical institution as we announced the name change of Lourdes to Mercy Health.

The Garden Spot The Sanders family has long been a fertile and fabulous leader in the LANDSCAPE that is western Kentucky!

30 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

DOWN TO EARTH

Schmidt Farms is a legacy business in Paducah.

Started as a small, roadside store on the side of a gravel road in 1921, Lewis Henry Schmidt built a budding business selling locally grown produce. For many families, going to Schmidt farms was part of Paducah tradition. Chances are, if you grew up in Paducah, it was part of your childhood.

Every year, busloads of kids

visited the farm on field trips, drinking that delicious, Schmidt Farm apple cider at the end of the tour.

We featured Schmidt Farms in 1995 and then as a cover story in 2008. By 2016, the future of Schmidt Farms was unclear. In 2017, Nathan and Meg Huyck stepped in, saving the farm, and keeping it in the family.

LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER! Many will remember the coastal cachet of Whaler’s Catch, a Paducah seafood landmark. This has long been a favorite cover of many of our readers, which featured the late John Harris, long-time owner and curator of good times on Paducah’s riverfront.

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HO L I DAY 2020 • 31

COMMUNITY

The

Company We Keep H

“

rarely go to a ballgame, or the drugstore, or the grocery, that I don’t run into someone and we chat about, well, life in this place we call home,” says Editor Darlene Mazzone. In that first editorial one of the most striking statements rings as true today as it did 30 years ago. A city isn’t gauged by the number of square feet it occupies. A city bears a certain personality because of the relationships among its members.“I’ve heard it over and over from visitors,” adds Mazzone. “Paducah offers a certain personality that is second to none.” That’s been born out on our pages year after year after year.

MAKING WAVES In our 1991 edition, we talked with parents, coaches, and swimmers who were members of the swim team Shock Waves. Tracey Buchanan wrote, “They give up Friday night slumber parties. They give up sleeping late on summer mornings.

They give up free time after school.

For swimming. These dedicated young people, ages 5 to 18, insist its worth it.” Again in 2018, we revisited the Paducah Swim Team’s newest devotion to the sport of swimming.

The waves just keep on breaking as Paducah swimmers keep on taking to the competitive pool. It’s a community effort that has spanned time and talent.

Happy trails With an increased focus on community health and recreation, the City of Paducah took stock of our local resources and devised a plan for a walking/running/cycling trail. In July 2008, we featured the new Greenway Trail on our cover. The trail quickly became a widely used resource for those looking to take a walk or cycle without leaving town.

Over the years, the trail expanded with additional work completed just this year.

BUILDING A PROMISING PADUCAH We’ve felt it coming for a while—a new renaissance in Paducah.

Old neighborhoods came back to life, new businesses sprouted up, and young entrepreneurs decided to call our city home and pursue their passions. The intensity of the resurgence picked up speed over the last few years, propelling our imaginations to the possibilities of the future. At the beginning of this year, we looked at some new plans for Paducah, and our eyes grew wide with delight over what might be.

LADIES OF THE LEAGUE If you’ve ever seen the movie “Something To Talk About” and whether you knew it at the time or not, you’ve gotten a little inside look at some of the “ladies of the league.” That was our intro to this reflection on the Charity League of Paducah. The movie was written by Paducah native Callie Khouri, who loosely based the movie’s premise on the sometimes-personal “goings on” that often swirled around such traditional southern women’s groups.

But our premise was the enormous good work that these ladies have accomplished for Easter Seals West Kentucky since 1928.

In that same edition we featured the 50th anniversary of the Easter Seals facility along with the long-standing support provided by WPSD’s Telethon of Stars.

HO L I DAY 2020 • 33

COMMUNITY

The library!

If you are a devoted reader of this magazine, then it will come as no surprise that we LOVE the library. It would be impossible to showcase ALL the times we have featured our beloved local library on our pages.

A couple of years ago we celebrated MCLIB because it’s just so incredible!

LIVING ALOFT

PADUCAH SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN

For many years, it was difficult to imagine living in downtown Paducah. After a downturn in the 90s, a lot of buildings were empty and in disrepair. But once new businesses moved in and renovations started, a new generation of Paducahans took to living aloft. We featured three downtown dwellers: Todd Jones, Laura Kauffman, and Fowler Black.

Paducah is known for education and the arts.

West Kentucky Community & Technical College stepped up to the plate to merge the two.

First, they opened classroom space on Broadway. Then they set their sights to renovating Madison Hall and the old Kitchens, Inc. building in order to be in the heart of Lower Town.

The Kitchens, Inc. building alone provided 29,400-square feet of space. By January 2014, the final push for funding began. Now, we can’t even imagine our city without it.

THE FUTURE MEETS THE PAST The old railroad freight building near downtown Paducah had once been a hub—a center of activity for our city. By 2013, produce and grocery goods were no longer coming in by rail. The building sat empty.

Less than a quarter-of-a-mile away, the Paducah Chamber of Commerce and Paducah Economic Development shared a cramped, drafty building. The two organizations set a shining example of what is possible in Paducah. Working with A&K Construction, they reimagined the old railroad stop and turned the building into beautiful offices and a meeting space.

A MURAL OF MEMORIES As Ro Morse drove past the gray stone visages of our dull but necessary floodwall day after day in her position as leader of our visitor’s bureau, an artistic notion must have appeared in her mind’s eye. In 1996, the magazine explained to readers what was to eventually become a wall of artistic murals devoted to the many facets of our collective community memories. In the article Robert Dafford commented, “There’s such a progressive attitude here toward preservation. You’ve saved some really fine buildings.” Dafford hoped that by reminding locals of their heritage they would be even more inspired to continue the effort to revitalize the downtown area! Mission accomplished.

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A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Over the last three decades, we have been witness to many rejuvenations.

After a resurgence of life downtown, residents turned their sights to the historic Fountain Avenue area. Many renovated some of the old, historic homes while others found empty lots and built new. The neighborhood came back to life as families found a place to call home in the heart of our city.

A WALK IN THE WOODS “I had a personal stake in this story,” says Editor Darlene Mazzone.“My son, Paul, was a part of the Clark School GTC program in 1996. And under the gifted leadership of environmentalist Ron Webb, some members of the class took a Saturday for a very instructional walk in the woods.” Paducah is so very blessed to have giving volunteers in our community who continue year after year, day after day, to give of themselves for the sake of the education and inspiration of our youth.

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HO LI DAY 2020 • 35

COMMUNITY

THE AMERICAN QUILTER’S SOCIETY

OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

Probably few institutions have had the community impact on our city than the creation of the American Quilters Society by Bill and Meredith Schroeder. Quilt City USA was born of this family’s devotion to resurrecting this American craft.

In 1995 we did one of our scores of stories on the AQS quilt show and competition. Under “cover” and on the cover were AQS Quilt Show Director Bonnie Browning, Shirley Hoy, and Ro Morse.

There are few places in our community with more to offer the people of our community than our family of churches. “We have so enjoyed taking this journey back across the pages and publications of our city magazine to put together this reflection of our 30 years in print,” said Editor Darlene Mazzone. “One of the consistent topics with regard to the spiritual life in Paducah has been our focus on the churches that dot our landscape, as well as provide scores of services that bring a richer life to our citizenry.”

UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art Outside of the annual Quilt Show, there has probably never been a time in our city’s history when the WORLD came to our doorstep on a mission of celebrating creativity. Mary Hammond and her team of Paducah promoters worked diligently for many years to ultimately achieve our designation as a UNESCO creative city. It was a milestone that many thought we could never reach. Since that time, this international title has established Paducah as a respected member of this collaborative creative collective around the world.

Then in 2017, we hit yet another mind-blowing moment in time. Paducah hosted the Annual Meeting of the world’s UNESCO Cities of Crafts and Folk Art. Representatives from around the globe descended on our shores and spent time working together to learn from each other and to pledge, as a group, to work towards a number of cooperative initiatives designed to sustain creative endeavors on an international scale.

To commemorate the spectacular occasion, local artist Kijsa Housman created a work in progress as the days’ meetings were held. Each day Kijsa added elements to the art piece representing the thoughts, experiences, and goals of those in attendance from around the world.

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36 • 30 YE ARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

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Community.

It is comprised of unique people, places, and events. And all of those are encapsulated in our local restaurants. They are more than eateries—they are where we gather to celebrate our lives together. When our restaurants are disrupted, our community is disrupted.

Their survival is essential to who we are. The following want to thank you for your patronage, Paducah. Your continued support means everything!

BLUE GINGER

GRILL 211

Asian fusion take-out & delivery, cooked to order 3235 Olivet Church Rd Suite C Find on Facebook & Doordash

Changing the way Paducah eats 211 Broadway grill211paducah.com

BRANCH OUT

From sushi to pork chops 2201 Broadway the-hajimari.business.site

Plant-Based & Gluten-Free Deli & Bakery 713 Kentucky Ave branchoutfoods.com

FREIGHT HOUSE

Traditional southern flavors with a modern twist 330 South 3rd freighthousefood.com

THE HAJIMARI

JUST HAMBURGERS

Paducah’s favorite hamburger joint 2532 Jackson St 3526 James Sanders Blvd

PADUCAH BEER WERKS

Brewery with a full food menu 301 N 4th St paducahbeerwerks.com

PIZZA WAREHOUSE

Fresh-made pizza and pasta 451 Jordan Drive, Suite A pizzawarehousepaducah.com

ROCKET FIRED PIZZA

Quality, quick served pizza 1745 Kentucky Ave suite C rocketfiredpizza.com

STRICKLAND’S

Paducah’s seafood tradition 900 North 32nd St. stricklandsseafood.com

FOOD & FASHION

A Flair for

the Good Life ★

Dinner in Short Order In 1996, with women entering the work force in ever-greater numbers, many moms were looking for efficient ways to share the workload away from “work.”

These three crafty cooks developed a meal co-op to combine their cooperative culinary skills in order to keep their families fed and their sanity in check! In this issue we introduced Lisa Harding, Christie Caturano and Liz Wilkerson.

ince we put together the very FIRST pages of this premier Paducah magazine we have had a flair for the fare that makes life fun and interesting. From cornbread to coq au vin, from consignment closets to couture fashion, from barbecue to burgers, we’ve not only concocted some delicious stories for our readers, we’ve also had the good fortune to do a little sampling along the way. LIFE is good when you’re writing about food and fashion!

Food, Fashion and Reading

Librarian Ann Fendley put reading and ritual together for a deliciously delightful annual culmination of her girls’ reading club. The event took on the flair of a summer afternoon tea party.

38 • PADUCAH LIFE

The Business of Blizzards Built in the 1950s, The Dairy Queen drive-in across from Noble Park was a legendary landmark.

Thanks to the Page family, Dairy Queen remains as one of Paducah's oldest restaurants. And the Page family has introduced Paducah to even more great brands throughout the years. In January 2009, we introduced Jay Page, third-generation owner and the new CEO of the family business. We think you'll agree, it was one of our COOLEST covers.

Fashion Forward from Fashion Past In our special 2011 Styles Edition, writer Kelly Walden walked us through the often thorny attempts at dressing vintage. Our teen thrift shoppers, Jordan Price, Lawson Connell, and Rebecca Hummel proved themselves to be beautifully adept at the process.

Seasons in Style “These are the seasons that bring basket loads of blessings,� we wrote in our winter style layout in 2012, which featured our model and Paducah CVB Marketing Director Laura Oswald. Some words are timeless.

FOOD & FASHION

WILD GAME HOLIDAY FEAST Through the years we featured the clever quips and savory suggestions of wild game connoisseur and cookbook author Russ Chittenden. In this 1995 issue we laid out a West Kentucky holiday menu that featured fare like roast wild turkey, camp creek curried fruit, duck soup, and Lucille’s sour cream cornbread.

A FAMILY AFFAIR WITH FOOD

Unique, Experiential Shopping for the Holidays!

• Antiques • Vintage • Garden • Architectural • Industrial • Clark and June Paducah Christmas Candles • Paddywax Candles and Apothecary

From the very beginning this magazine has been partial to the palette. Food has been part of our journalistic fare since 1990. It would require a full issue to document all the many foodie features we have incorporated into our 30 years of publishing.

But when we looked back and saw this cute guy who presented some family recipes in our first edition, we couldn’t resist his sweet smile, checkered mittens, and the yummy recipes he pointed to on this page 30 years ago!

MEN WHO COOK Dona Rains wrote this fun lead in to our Three Men and a Kitchen piece in our 1991 edition. “That kind of cooking has long been considered ‘wimmen’s work.’ Even the emerging new home life of two-career yuppie couples {remember yuppies?} where marriage partners share house work as readily as they share stock certificates, hasn’t brought a drastic change in most households. There are a few men, however, who are just as comfortable in the heart of the kitchen as their female counterparts. Meet some of Paducah’s men in the kitchen.”

STYLISH KIDS, SMART MOMS Victoria Potter was just eight years old in 2003 when we featured her stylishly smart self on our fall cover. The idea was how to find cute clothes at a fraction of retail by scouring the well-stocked shelves of local consignment shops.

Speaking of smart, Victoria graduated with honors from Vanderbilt with a degree in chemical engineering and now works as an engagement manager with McKinsey and Company.

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KENMIL PLACE In this winter 1990 edition, we focus on two of our important partners, Kenmil Place and Glenn Hall. In our very first edition, Paul and Juliette Grumley graciously loaned us the beautiful backdrop of their historic home for a fashion shoot for the holidays. And our truest and best friend, Glenn Hall, did our very first fashion photo shoot, which set the tone for decades to come in terms of our readers’ expectations of both content and imagery.

Since that Christmas 30 years ago, Glenn has brought to life hundreds of stories in a way that only he can portray. And only a year ago, we revisited Kenmil when Paul Grumley revealed his coffee table book about the family’s home and history.

MAKING MOM’S DAY! Our contributing style editor Susie Sigler helped us seek out sources for special ways to shower gratitude on all those loving moms in this special Mother’s Day layout in 2012.

WHAT’S ON YOUR LIPS? We had SO much fun with this quirky piece back in 2012. We had heard that the shape of a woman’s lipstick often said something about her personality.

So we asked some of our readers to boldly share their “colorful” characters in this clever layout.

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HFLIDAYS! • Normal Brand Clothing • Olivina & Paddywax Apothecary • Hazel Village • Baby Lit Primers • Jack Rabbit Creations • Winter Water Factory Baby Clothes • Books • Vintage Home Goods • Clark and June Paducah Christmas Candles • Gift Baskets!

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FOOD & FASHION

Burgers & Barbecue hen it comes to food, Paducahans like to stick with the big Bs—burgers and barbecue. We dedicated an issue to each, asking you which burger and barbecue joints you loved most. Here’s what topped your lists!

BURGERS There’s something about the sizzle of a burger on a griddle or a grill. It’s a staple of our culinary landscape—a go-to meal. When we asked you about your favorite burger joints in 2013, you loved places like G&O Grill, an old-fashioned diner located in G&O Pharmacy. It is truly the last of a breed. Then there was Dairyette, Lone Oak’s historic burger shack. Just down the street, there is Parker’s, one of the last drive-ins. And who would make a best-burger list and leave out Bob’s Drive-In? Bob’s is one of Paducah’s oldest. And at the time, The Station Burger Company was the new kid on the block. And no burger list would be complete without Paducah’s favorite, Just Hamburgers.

BARBECUE Western Kentuckians are proud of their barbecue, to put it mildly. In 2009, we went hog wild, following Dale Perry through the process of smoking a whole hog for 24 hours.

We also visited landmark barbecuers such as Leigh’s in West Paducah and Bill’s in Metropolis. Then there were the relative newcomers such as Backwoods. To top it off, we spent some time at Harned’s and the family that helped define Paducah barbecue. Most recently, we took a trip to Lake City to spend some time in the pits at Knoth’s who is currently working on a new venture in Paducah.

42 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

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Hearing Rehabilitation HO L I DAY 2020 • 43

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44 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

HISTORY

Our

Signs of the times In the spring of 2011 we loved discovering the hand-painted signs of H.B. Hargrove who for many years created the sandwich board signs for the Columbia and Arcade theaters in downtown Paducah.

LIFE and Times H

“

’ve written many times of my encounter with Charles Manchester when he was the curator of the Market House Museum,” recalls Executive Editor Darlene Mazzone.“On a foray into the museum’s archives one day I laid eyes on a file drawer FILLED with every magazine we had published at that time.”

“It’s our history,” Mr. Manchester exclaimed. And so it is. And a rich history at that. With the help of many very capable writers, we have unearthed so much of our community’s past, which often informs our community’s present.

We’re ready for our close-up The Paducah area has been the backdrop for several Hollywood movies. But none made a mark more than the 1962 How The West Was Won. This western epic set up shop in Paducah for quite some time, utilizing many locals as both cast and crew. Jimmy Stewart and Debbie Reynolds stayed in a hotel by Noble Park, and Debbie, with her daughter Carrie Fisher, were often seen around town.

From 1918 to today In 2018, we marked the 100th anniversary of the 1918 flu pandemic. The outbreak drastically changed life around the world and in Paducah.

It was a grim time with the daily paper reporting the climbing death toll. The epidemic stands as one of the largest in modern history, a natural disaster of tremendous size affecting nearly every part of the planet.

Little did we know that two years later we would face a very similar situation.

HO L I DAY 2020 • 45

HISTORY

Famous Fires In a 2004 edition, we reached back into the archives at the Market House Museum to recover from the ashes some amazing stories about some major fires in the community.

ROLE IN RADIO Our first two-part series was written by our now Associate Editor J.T. Crawford. J.T. had prepared the piece for a class at Murray State University, then pitched it to our editor, Darlene Mazzone, for publication. The magazine published the full history in two succeeding issues and a collaborative relationship was formed that thrives to this day!

A HUNDRED-YEAR CELEBRATION In 1956, Paducah threw its 100th birthday party. From July 28th through August 4th, Paducah hosted a grand gala complete with parades, pageants, fairs, and more. Residents firmly embraced the aura of the mid-1850s. In a time when clean-shaven was the style, men grew beards and mustaches to emulate the look of their ancestors.

Residents staged a multi-night program, The Saga of Paducah on Keiler Field at Augusta Tilghman High School.

46 • 30 YE ARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

FAMILY, FEUDS, AND A FARAWAY TIME Gwen Lentz was the mom/grandmother/ great grandmother we all want. She cleverly and colorfully documented her early life for her children and their children and those of us who love a good memoir. We shared one of Gwen’s many essays in our Fall 1998 issue.

STELLA’S STORY STILL HAUNTS Our 2004 story on Stella Cohen and the ghost that some say still haunts the building at the corner of Second and Broadway is one of many investigations we have pursued into the long and storied history of our downtown corridor.

RUDY’S DEPARTMENT STORE In the mid-2000s, we began asking—have you ever heard of Rudy’s Department Store? Most had not. We researched and brought you the story of Rudy’s, Paducah’s equivalent to Macy’s of New York. Rudy’s was THE place to shop. They were the sponsor of the city’s annual holiday parade and the owner of Paducah’s first radio station. Sadly, this grand store closed forever after the ‘37 flood.

CHILDREN OF PROMISE The story of segregation in Paducah’s past was the topic of a piece in our summer 2004 edition. Accompanying the article was a Q&A with Commissioner Robert Coleman with regard to the city’s current growth and development.

TIMELESS TEMPLE MEMORIES Paducah has a rich Jewish history. And we have peered into that religious milieu on many of our pages in the past. In our 2000 edition, Berry Craig brought to life a look at the first synagogue in Paducah, built in 1871 and located at Fifth and Adams Street. He also mined the memories and mementoes of Caroline Yaffe, one of Paducah’s most accomplished curators of its Jewish history.

LIFE IN THE CIVIL WAR We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the “historic” role Berry Craig has played on our pages through these 30 years. Berry wrote about a whole host of parts and parcels of his life, but in many instances he helped us to take note of our place in the history of THIS place. This piece from 1994 is just one of dozens of articles Berry brought to life from the years surrounding our part in the War Between the States.

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48 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

LET’S ALL GO TO THE FAIR

The McCracken County Fair is steeped in pure Americana. From the livestock shows to the judging of canned goods to the selection of the McCracken County Fair Queen, very little has changed. And that’s what we love about it. We got a hot dog and some cotton candy, hit the grandstands for some entertainment, rode a few rides, and told you the story of the fair.

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50 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

3000 Broadway • 444-3996

HISTORY

Endless Summer

POSTCARDS FROM THE PAST Our associate editor J.T. Crawford is a digger.

And during some of his diligent digging in the archives of the Market House Museum or the boxes and bins at local antiques and collectibles stores he has uncovered some wonderful postcards. We have have used these on numerous occasions to herald a past that has been forever postmarked as indelibly our own.

THE VEEP Many historic figures have graced our pages on many separate occasions. But Vice

President Alben Barkley is one that we have captured as one of our most noted claims to fame. In our fall 1992 bicentennial edition, we looked back at the famous political figure both at home and on the campaign trail during his tenure in the halls of power in our nation’s capital.

PADUCAH’S NAMESAKE AND HIS LEGEND Despite the many personal opinions of whether or not Chief Paduke actually existed, there is no denying that it is around the legend of this now well-known figure (since we have an actual statue in his honor) that the identity of our community is woven. In this 1992 bicentennial edition, we contemplated the many variant stories behind our namesake Chief Paduke.

It was the happiest place on earth—at least it was for a lot of Paducah kiddos.

Noble Park Funland was an amusement park that operated from the 1950s to 1988. If you were a kid in our region at any point during that time, chances are you have fond memories of riding the Wild Mouse, or The Spider, or the bumper cars, or the train that lazily made its way through the park and around the lake. We were proud to bring you the first, comprehensive story on Funland’s history.

HO L I DAY 2020 • 51

HISTORY

Cobb was born in Paducah, but he found fame elsewhere—as a World War I combat journalist in France and as a writer and humorist in New York and Hollywood. Even so, he always treasured the time he spent in his hometown. And Paducah loved its famous son back. The city created an Irvin Cobb Park downtown on the Ohio. The Irvin Cobb bridge spans the Ohio between Paducah and Brookport. Adolph Weil christened the lofty, English style lodgings the Irvin Cobb Hotel. Few Paducah landmarks are better known than the Cobb on Broadway. The building stands on the site where Cobb attended a private school, Newman wrote.

And of course our favorite quote of the witty Cobb was, “I would rather be born a homeless orphan in Paducah, than duly certified twins anywhere else on earth.”

SCOUT TROOP ONE

IN NAME AND IN PRINT Berry Craig provided one of MANY pieces dedicated to one of Paducah’s most wellknown native sons, Irvin S. Cobb. The introduction read: “There’s an almost automatic requirement for getting something important named in your honor. You’ve got to be dead. But a Paducah-born author, humorist, and war correspondent was a conspicuous exception. Before Irvin S. Cobb died in 1944, admirers came up with Cobb park, bridge, hotel, cigar, towboat, flower, tree, canon, fishing lure, burgoo, hunting trial dog, race horse, hunting shirt, corncob pipe and smock.

Cobb didn’t make much, if any, money off the naming, wrote his biographer Anita Lawson.

Cobb was so warm, so open, people just wanted to repay his kindness. Anyway, Cobb liked to joke about the time he donned a namesake smock and was mistaken for Greta Garbo.

It really happened, according to Fred G. Neuman of the old Paducah Sun-Democrat.

Cobb had just bought Garbo’s Hollywood home.”

52 • 3 0 YE ARS of PAD UCAH LIFE

Local Scout Troop One, sponsored by Grace Episcopal Church, is one of seven oldest chartered troops in America. Now THAT’S a story. It’s one we told everyone about in our summer 2002 edition. Troop One has been helping to develop the character of young men for more than a century. It was chartered in 1911. And it’s still at work forming the healthy hearts and minds of Scouts in and around Paducah.

50 YEARS OF OPERATION The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant celebrated 50 years of operation in 2002. The 152-acre original site boasted 15 miles of roads and nine miles of railroad tracks. Shelf space needed to control the supplies was estimated at 750,000 square feet Power used at the beginning of the plant’s production was more than twice the amount used by the city of St. Louis.

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FROM OUR OUTDOOR FAMILY TO YOURS, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HO L I DAY 2020 • 53

HOME & GARDEN

Home Life the

★

ndoors or outdoors, around the hearth or around the kitchen table, PADUCAH LIFE Magazine has been blessed that so many wonderful families in this community have welcomed us into their homes and gardens.

Home is a special private place where we live out our personal lives in a way that exemplifies our truest sense of what’s important.

It has been our privilege to enter into these sacred spaces and to share them with others.

BACKYARD BLOOMER Chris Janne’s potting passion transformed her little patch of city ground into a grand gardening experience just steps from her back door. We featured Chris on our spring 2010 cover to plant the seed that it doesn’t take a pro or acres of property to produce a bevvy of blossoms and a vat full of veggies.

It’s a Beautiful

SIGHT

What would a holiday edition be (anniversary or otherwise) without a holiday house? “I think we all felt like we were opening a Christmas card and stepping inside when we featured the Shaker home of Linda Houston Harper in 2013,” remembers Editor Darlene Mazzone.”

HOLIDAY 2020 • 55

HOME & GARDEN

A CABIN IN THE WOODS

Warm and Wonderful Living Spaces Our lovely home interior layouts were a tiny bit dampened in the early days by our restricted use of color.

But the stories behind the tabletops and wing back chairs were the focal points anyway.

This story curated the Speck’s beautiful home furnishings and accents in the context of raising a family.

We all have some favorite pieces that we’ve put together over the years. “The Ransler family cabin was one that released my inner pioneer,” says Darlene Mazzone. “I have a penchant for history and houses so this article covered all the components. And through the years we’ve had an occasional link to the rich and famous. When U.S. Marshalls was being filmed in Paducah, actor Tommy Lee Jones stayed in the family’s cabin during the filming and took home with him (we hope) a copy of PADUCAH LIFE Magazine, which featured his cabin in the woods.”

ARCHITECTURAL WORK OF ART The contemporary Hogancamp house graced our cover in the summer of 1995. It began like this. “She was thinking curves. He was thinking angles. She saw chrome and gray. He was seeing natural woods. Believe it or not, David and Karen Hogancamp managed to compromise so that neither completely surrendered.”

GARDEN GODDESSES

LIVING LANDMARK In this 2002 publication, our editor Darlene Mazzone sat down with Guthrie and Carolyn Allen about the reclamation of the Crounse family home. The historic structure had just been placed back into the hands of the Crounse grandson, connecting two centuries of caretakers.

56 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

So in 1995, and overcoming weather that ALMOST derailed the arrival of the famous garden goddess Martha Stewart, Carolyn Roof pulled off the ultimate home and garden coup.

She got THE Martha Stewart to visit Paducah and share her one-and-only take on all things domestic. It was THE social event of the season!

The Couple and the Crumbling House Once upon a time a young woman made her way into the world to find her passion, forge her future, and begin her career. And as she encountered these various facets of her life, she met a young man and fell in love. They rode off into the sunset of the west coast, but as time passed the woman and her love yearned for a place where they could truly BUILD a life together. That place was Paducah. That couple was Levi Kepsel and Lauren Jackson.

HOME & GARDEN

TRIED AND TRUE GARDENER During the 90s, writer Tracey Buchanan provided a profusion of prose for us at PADUCAH LIFE Magazine, MUCH to our readers’ enjoyment. In this article on Sharon Clymer’s garden, she drew on her colorful language skills to profile a tried and true gardener among us.

SPANNING THE CENTURIES Richard Holland’s feature on the StewartKatterjohn-Jermstad-Shelton-Jones house on Pines Road was one of many of Mr. Holland’s opuses on architectural history on our streets and avenues.

Ginny’s

Folly

An anniversary celebration took the form of an English folly in Chris and Ginny Hutson’s beautiful backyard.

We all learned a little something about English architecture in this story on Ginny’s lovely, little, fanciful cottage.

DESIGNING WOMAN In the 90s, accredited interior designer Sue McDougal gave us lots of reasons to go about spiffing up our spaces. She often lent her eye for interiors to our pages all to the delight of our readers.

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN (OPPOSITE PAGE) Zach and Marra McMillan are making their own personal history in a home that has grown through the years from seeds of love sown by past generations.

Our story on Zach’s childhood home that now the second generation of McMillans are inhabiting was a tribute to making a house a home.

NEWS YOU CAN COUNT ON

Local. National. Global.

Your community. Your radio.

58 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

HOLIDAY 2020 • 59

MUSIC

Words of Note ★

ust as the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers roll rhythmically through Paducah, so do the sounds of our native music. Our city has always been fertile soil for song. From the days of the river roustabouts to the youngsters of today who are etching out their first tunes, Paducah has produced a plethora of musicians, from Grammy winners to local legends. We have featured many of them, even dedicating entire editions to new crops of creatives. Here are some of the high notes over the years.

ROCKIN’ RAY Ray Smith may not be as wellknown as Elvis or Carl Perkins—but for those in the know, he was just as influential. Carl Perkins said of the Paducah native that “to say something about Ray Smith, you’re talking about a man who had as much to do with the foundation of rockabilly music as anybody I knew.” We brought you his story in 2015, and we were oh-so-close to getting an interview with one of his biggest fans, Jerry Lee Lewis.

BAWN IN THE MASH When Associate Editor J.T. Crawford interviewed the members of Bawn in the Mash for the first time, there was a bit of confusion. “I wandered around this big, old house they all lived in,” he says. “I had no idea who was who. It was exactly what you'd imagine of a pad where a band lived together. Finally, someone rounded up the core group, and we went to the living room. They took turns, giving me their names. Then the giggling commenced. They had been giving me fake names. Yeah, it was confusing.

But one thing I knew was I really liked their music.” Bawn turned into one of the most celebrated bands to

Legend Among Us

come out of Paducah. And even after they called it quits as a band, subsequent reunion shows were celebrated events. From Bawn emerged Wheelhouse Rousters comprised of Nathan Lynn (our very own River Hobbit), Eddie Coffey, and Josh Coffey. All have become cornerstones of the Paducah music scene, and Josh, through his business Time on the String, is educating and influencing a new generation of musicians.

FROM THE RIVER BOTTOMLANDS When we introduced you to Kelsey Walden in 2011, she was not long out of Ballard County High School. “Blues, folk, rock—it doesn’t matter to me as long as it has those deep roots. I love rootsy songwriting,” she said. By applying her love for song, she caught the attention of legendary singer/songwriter John Prine. John signed her to his label, and he introduced her to the rest of the world at a duo performance on the Grand Ole Opry in 2019. “Her music continues an important arc of traditional folk and country music,” John Prine said. “I love Kelsey’s singing—her

voice is one of the more authentic country voices I’ve heard in a long time.”

STITCHING THE MUSIC SCENE TOGETHER When discussing local music, it’s always natural to turn one’s attention to a litany of performers. Just as crucial are the supporting cast members— those who provide artists with all they need to succeed. None fill the bill better than Paducah's Allen Music. The story begins in 1945 with Allen Sewing Machine Exchange.

Young Boyce Allen, son of Annette and C.E. who opened the sewing machine store, started playing guitar after listening to his sister’s Elvis records. Boyce helped his parents at the business, and, over time, his love for music shifted stock from sewing machines to guitars. Allen Music is now one of the most revered music stores in this region.

“Someone casually mentioned to me that Vic Dana lives in Paducah. I thought they must be mistaken,” says Associate Editor J.T. Crawford. “Sure enough, it was true.”

Vic was discovered as a youngster by Sammy Davis, Jr. who brought him into the music business. Vic’s first hit “Little Altar Boy” in 1961 became a Christmas standard. He had a good recording career, scoring his biggest hit with “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” in 1965. Friends who lived in Paducah encouraged Vic to move here when he retired.

HOLIDAY 2020 • 61

MUSIC

Missing

Piece

How ironic that the title of Megan McCallon’s debut CD, “Missing Piece,” would now come to signify a missing piece of architecture on Broadway. Megan grew up in Paducah while her father, pastor Kevin McCallon, led the worship at First Baptist Church. Her musical talents were spawned at Paducah Tilghman High School, then further developed at Baylor University where she was designated as a “Baylor Icon” in 2003.

THE LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS In the mid-90s, eclectic musician J.D. Wilkes put together a band—The Shack Shakers. J.D. wrote songs at the nexus of punk, blues, polka, bluegrass, and rock and roll. He covered all the bases, just to be safe. The band worked—and worked—and worked—churning out high-energy performances in the same spirit as Jerry Lee Lewis or Iggy Pop. As AC/DC sang, “It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll.” The work paid off. One song appeared in a Geico ad.

Others made it to TV, one appearing in HBO’s True Blood. Now, J.D. is asked by fans around the world to bring the band to their towns. They regularly do world tours. Because of his travels, J.D. has become a UNESCO ambassador for Paducah, meeting with dignitaries in cities such as Edinburgh, Scotland on our behalf. Back home, you'd never know J.D. is a world-wide star. He’s an author, artist, and one of the most fun people to talk to.

And let’s not forget the Shack Shakers spin-off: the Solid

62 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

Rock’it Boosters. Early Shakers members Todd Anderson and Nathan Brown formed the Boosters, and we couldn’t imagine LIFE in Paducah without them.

MARK EVITTS Not long ago, Paducah native and ‘99 Tilghman graduate Mark Evitts sent Editor Darlene Mazzone a message. He was backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, relaxing between practice sessions. He was talking to several other Paducah natives, some performers (Steven Curtis Chapman), and others who worked in support of the music business. He remarked at how much our city has had an influence on the business there. Mark was destined to be a musician, mastering instruments such as fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and piano early on. He’s often called on to arrange, play in the studio, and go on tour. And he’s one of our biggest fans!

He tells us often how much he loves to read the stories of Paducah.

OUR 1999 PADUCAH PATRIOT

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN Terry Mike Jeffrey was our 2006 Paducah Patriot and, well, he’s been one of our favorites all the way along. No one represents our hometown out in the world any better than Terry Mike Jeffrey. Since he was a teenager with a guitar playing music that wiggled the hips then alternatively sent our thoughts on a stairway to heaven, he has been rooted in his hometown like no other performer. We like nothing better every now and then than to check in with Terry Mike and learn about where his harmonic life has taken him on his musical journey that has consistently led him back home.

On the occasion of profiling native son and award-winning singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman, we began a process of choosing an occasional Paducah patriot. Steven was our first honoree AND our first centerfold!

It has always been so heart-warming to find celebrities that find it in THEIR hearts to come back home and revisit the place where it all started. Again in 2013 we talked with both Steven and his father, Herb Chapman, about their scene-stealing appearance at the Grand Ole Opry together. It has been a joy and a privilege to keep in touch with Steven throughout his career as he has followed a spirited and spiritual commitment through life.

Recently Steven released the song "That's My Dad" and the album Deeper Roots: Where the Bluegrass Grows to honor his Kentucky and family heritage.

DOWN THE ROAD AND BACK AGAIN “How much have I loved my job?” asks Editor Darlene Mazzone. “Well where else can you interview budding young artists who are hoping to see their name in lights on one end of the spectrum and then spend an afternoon with legends like Larry Stewart who have been to the mountaintop.” PADUCAH LIFE writers have taken our readers on many a winding road. “In our 2011 edition it was my turn to tell the lyrical story of another of Paducah’s claims to fame, the incomparable Larry Stewart. And it was everything I expected it to be.”

Docs ‘N

Rockers In 2000 we diagnosed the music scene and found that Paducah’s men of medicine were also rockin’ to a distinctive beat. So we talked with Dr. Bradley Rankin, Dr. Jim Long, physical therapist Mark Vance, and Dr. John Kraft about how they blended their world of science with their more soulful side.

THEY DREAMED A DREAM In 2005, Tilghman choral director Art Deweese revived the landmark musicals that once emanated from the stage in the high school auditorium. Deweese, and his team of choral students, took on the monumental task of producing Les Miserables after an 18-year absence of high school musicals. The dream came true!

HOLIDAY 2020 • 63

MUSIC

THE PADUCAH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Bringing Music to LIFE for 40 Years ★

by DARLENE M AZZONE

t gives me a warm feeling to share a special celebratory moment alongside the Paducah Symphony Orchestra this year. This organization, like so many others in our vibrant community, was brought to life with the utmost dedication, along with an energetic drive, by people who are named specifically in our 1998 reflection by Richard Roberts. It’s reprinted here 20 years later. I was one of those people who, back in the day, passionately cared for the classics and who was willing to clean bathrooms, sweep lobbies, dust seatbacks, and pass out programs RAFFAELE PONTI, current PSO Conductor just so the strains of pieces performed by a full symphony orchestra could become a vital part of our community’s culture.

On these pages, on OUR anniversary, we take a quick look back at some of the marvelous moments that we have celebrated together.

64 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

Richard Roberts Remembers AS THE PADUCAH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ENTERS ITS 20TH SEASON, WE CELEBRATE ITS BEGINNINGS WITH MEMORIES OF CHARTER CHAMPIONS (First printed in PADUCAH LIFE Magazine in 1998)

W

e remember the beginnings of the Paducah Symphony Orchestra as our parents remember having walked to school five miles through waist-deep snow. The ability, dedication, intelligence, and hard work of people like Richard and Carolyn Roof, John and Karen Drew, Allen Parsons, Mike Resnick, Jack Tick, Ted Hirsch, Karon Turpin, John Shadle, and many more made the beginnings easier then they now sound.

Only once did we co-sign a note on Monday morning to cover checks written to players on Saturday night and not know from where the money would come. After the second concert, an anonymous benefactor underwrote the season up to $10,000!

David Weddle and Doug Van Fleet, who taught instrumental music in the city’s schools, organized a symphony orchestra to play for the 1979 Paducah Summer Festival. They suggested that contributors meet and make the orchestra permanent. We did.

Everything was ad hoc during the 1979-80 season, but the orchestra ably presented four concerts at Paducah Tilghman auditorium. Much credit is due David and Doug.

The second season we moved into the Jetton School auditorium, and enjoyed its marvelous sound for 17 years. The time and money Allen Parsons put into that hall can be explained only by his love for the orchestra.

Before the blessed arrival of Charles Manchester, board members and officers did everything except play the instruments. Hands-on involvement by board members became an attribute of the Paducah Symphony Orchestra, which greatly contributed to its success, and must not be lost. Board members differ from each other, and should and do discuss different ways to do things.

However, their only motive is to improve the orchestra.

We had much to learn. Mike Resnick, the first treasurer, footnoted a cost overrun “composer

too young,” when we had to pay royalties. A late substitution of Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto for Bach’s in an otherwise all baroque concert caused the hiring of 20 extra players who twiddled their thumbs during two thirds of the concert. However, leaders from the Owensboro Symphony and the American Symphony Orchestra League helped, and people were patient.

Post concert receptions are traditional, and Karen Drew and Julia Roberts led this work, with help from many others. For two years, Phyllis Russell managed the box office almost alone.

Leadership and management were provided by John Drew, Richard Roof, Jack Tick, Ted Hirsch, and John Shadle. Richard’s forte is organization, but he decided that there would be nothing to organize without money to pay for it, so he organized fund-raising.

Music directors contributed greatly and uniquely. David Weddle began the orchestra. Gerald Welker injected a high standard of professionalism. Players came out of the woodwork to play for Bob Baar. We continue to be amazed at the music Jordan Tang produces and his grace in doing it.

Karen Drew organized and rehearsed the first symphony chorus, which presented Rachmaninoff’s Vespers on Easter Sunday, 1982.

Paducah Symphony Orchestra’s present strength and sustainable form was created by the hard work of those who followed us. But we had the most fun!

Belles of the Ball In 1996, the magazine featured a group of fathers and daughters, which introduced to the community the inauguration of the Paducah Symphony’s first Father—Daughter Dinner Dance. This tradition is still in full bloom and scores (pun intended) of young women and their dates have graced the dance floor to honor and support one of Paducah’s longstanding musical legacies.

Small Players with Large Instruments In our 1998 edition, we announced the creation of the Paducah Symphony Youth Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Lonnie Klein. Charles Manchester and Harolyn Rasche led the charge to establish this brand new arm of the city’s classical music organization.

The Symphony Youth Chorus Under the inspired leadership of the late Anthony Whitfield, the Symphony Youth Chorus ushered into our community culture the opportunity for young singers to gain classical instruction in choral music, to perform some of the world’s great works for voice, and to travel to international venues of the highest renown. This program was later led by Murray State professor Bradley Almquist and stands strong today for now more than a quarter century.

HOLIDAY 2020 • 65

Accents on

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66• •PADUCAH 3 0 Y EARS LIFE of PAD U CA H LIFE 62

SPORTS

the

Sporting

Life ★

From equestrian show jumping courses to the fields of America's pastime—from the gridirons of high school Friday nights to the round ball hardwood courts—sports are a cornerstone of who we are. Throughout the years, we’ve met many competitors. Paducah has produced plenty of professional athletes. And we've brought you the stories of those who have generated inspiration for us all.

In the end, sport is a metaphor for LIFE. And through it, we’ve learned a lot about who we are.

Most Valuable Player Hunter Cantwell was a Paducah Tilghman recordbreaker. As the football team's quarterback, he became the school's all-time passing leader, completing 458 of 756 passes, for 7,272 yards, and 70 touchdowns. He went on to play at the University of Louisville, earning MVP honors in the 2006 Gator Bowl. After we brought you his story, he went on to play for the Carolina Panthers.

Mad About March By the fall of 2018, you’d find us at every Murray State basketball home game. All of west Kentucky was abuzz about their breakout star. Pretty soon, the buzz would stretch across the country. Ja's high-flying dunks and mindboggling plays became regular highlights on ESPN's SportsCenter. Soon, NBA scouts were a common sight around Murray. We were there, every step of the way that season, in awe of his and the team's amazing talents. Ja now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies and was recently named the NBA's Rookie of the Year.

Even though he has reached stardom, he always gives love to his home team at Murray!

HOLIDAY 2020 • 67

SPORTS

Legacy on the Track Paducah Tilghman High School’s track team is a legacy program. With their 2007 state title, they held the top spot for Kentucky state championships, 26 at the time.

BACK IN THE BLUE George Wilson is a Paducah legend. The hometown boy and 1999 Tilghman graduate had a passion for football. He went on to play for Arkansas, and in 2007, we presented the story on George signing with the Buffalo Bills. That year, in his first NFL start and on Monday Night Football, he intercepted a Tony Romo pass and returned it for a touchdown. That led to a long career with the Bills before he made his way to the Tennessee Titans. Now, George is a community activist, giving back to his beloved Paducah and its youth.

THE LURE OF THE OPEN WATER Like many boys from Kentucky, Mark Menendez loved to fish. At the age of ten, he entered his first tournament.

At 15, he won his first bass club championship. He never looked back.

He built a fishing career, and by 2007, he had twelve, top-ten finishes and an all-time B.A.S.S. Big Bass record.

ON THE ROPES Many would argue whether professional wrestling is indeed a sport. “Climb into the ring with us for a day of training before you make that decision,” wrestler Bad Boy Phillips told us in 2006. We’d spent the whole summer following Bad Boy and the rest of the Old School Wrestling squad around west Kentucky.

Every Saturday night, we reveled in the entertainment—and we learned a lot about their dedication to the show and to training.

68 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

Moms on the Run In 2015, we jogged along with this group of dedicated runners. Before sunrise, you’ll often find them running together. They may be training together for a marathon or half-marathon, or they may just be enjoying one another’s company as they begin their days with a healthy habit. They encourage one another and have formed the kind of friendships that are the cornerstone of our community.

SPORTS

THE HOUSE THAT BROOKS BUILT When J. Polk Brooks built Brooks Stadium in the late 1940s, he was not aware what it would mean to the city 70 years later. What he did know was that he loved baseball and he loved his community. In 2008, we reflected on the stadium’s 60-year history and the legends that once played there.

In 2016, we celebrated once again when the Paducah Chiefs returned; the first time a team under that name had taken the field since 1955.

ON TRACK FOR GREATNESS

Breaking Barriers When we went to one of the first Tilghman football games of the 2019 season, we were surprised when the kicker came off the field after a successful field goal. As the helmet was removed, a flash of braided blond hair tumbled down and came to rest in stark contrast on the Tilghman blue jersey. It was our first introduction to Shelby Nickal, the squad’s only female player.

That season, Shelby elevated her team with some big plays.

She also taught us that you don’t have to be one of the boys to be successful in the sport.

Martin Rains, now a cardiologist in Paducah, completed an assignment for us in 1998. He interviewed Paducah Tilghman track star Jason Ward, who was the nation’s highest ranked triple jumper that year. Jason credited his father, PTHS girls’ track coach, Cecil Ward, for getting him to this heralded finish line. “He could be the best at this event we’ve ever had,” said Tilghman boys’ track coach, Augie Schiller. And that was saying something since only two years prior, Josh Ellis was the nation’s fifth-ranked 100-meter sprinter as a senior and that in 1988, Kirk Johnson was an All-American triple jumper.

MR. FOOTBALL Lone Oak High School was not accustomed to great, post-season runs in football. By the late 2000s, however, that was changing.

In 2007, Lone Oak Flash Corey Robinson led his squad to the state championship game. He was named Kentucky's Mr. Football, the highest honor in the Commonwealth for football.

70 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

THE LONGEST RUN The story of the Tilghman/ Mayfield football rivalry is larger than any media entity.

We have merely been stewards of the tale. And in 2013, we reflected on a century’s worth of hard hits, big plays, tough tackles, one-sided wins, tremendous touchdowns, fabulous field goals, gridiron greats, and trash talk.

BIG HOUSE And so the story goes that Ida Bolen gathered her family around her. Lifting up the newborn baby boy for all to see, she called out in prayer, “Lord make him a great man.” And the Lord heard her supplication and Clarence Gains went on to be a man of great stature and even greater character.

Our feature on the inimitable Clarence Big House Gaines appeared in 2005.

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BIG PLAYS FROM BIG LEAGUERS In 2008, we made a list of the pro baseball players who got their start in Paducah. As we went along and worked with Berry Craig on this article, the list grew longer than we first imagined. Through Paducah Tilghman High School and the American Legion Post 31 teams, Paducah had produced a roster of big leaguers.

HO L I DAY 2020 • 71

72 • 30 YE ARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

T R AV E L

“

Lifeon theMove ★ ot all those who wander are lost,” wrote J.R.R. Tolkien.

On the contrary, those who look to the horizons to seek new shores and new ways of thinking have long been a part of the pages of PADUCAH LIFE Magazine.

It might have been just down the road or across the pond, but on whatever path they may have trod, many have shared their sense of discovery with us as they journeyed forth out into the world.

SEEING WITH NEW EYES “As I packed my duffle bag the night before I embarked on my trip to India, I came to realize that this was going to be no ordinary vacation,” wrote Chris Wallace in our 2007 edition. “I was going to be traveling for a month in a thirdworld country about which I knew virtually nothing, and I was only taking three changes of clothes. I was going to be hotter, further away from home, more out of place, smellier, dirtier, and overall more uncomfortable than I had ever been before and I COULD NOT WAIT.”

In an English Country Garden Over a period of 10 years or more, Dick Holland took all of our readers around the world, but most often amongst the hedgerows and follies of his beloved English country gardens.

HOLIDAY 2020 • 73

T R AV E L

Bringing the World

Home

Over the years so many people have brought the world home to us.

Photographer David Ginn is just one of those talented people who let us travel alongside him as he documented places around the globe in 35 millimeters.

OF A LIFETIME In her essay on her around the world travel in 2007, Andrea Dewey wrote these words. “There is a phrase that people use when they have accomplished a task of such a caliber they may never reach it again. That phrase is of a lifetime.” And that’s how Andrea expressed the ultimate conclusion of her six-month ‘round the world journey with companion Rachel LeNeave.

74 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

A MATCH MADE IN ENGLAND

IT’S ALL ABOUT UNDERSTANDING

This 1996 story took us along on a journey with the Waldrop family as the good reverend swapped places with a British minister in Northumberland, England. Greg’s essay brought into focus the personal and professional development that ensued when he took on the challenge of leading a parish in an unfamiliar land.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrowmindedness, wrote Mark Twain. And that’s precisely what Nancy Duff learned on her journey to Iran in 2014. “One of the highlights of my visit was my interaction with the Iranian people.

One day I noticed a woman glancing at me and before long she came over and kissed me on both cheeks. She didn’t speak English, but I think she was simply saying ‘Welcome to Iran.’”

A Journey Turned Into Action Nathan Brown brought both his observant writing and his exemplary photography to life in this 2005 piece on a journey to Kenya.

WANDERINGS No city is an island. That’s why we continue to bring you our wanderings series—a deeper look at the communities in our region. We took you on a trip to southern Illinois to explore some of the offbeat yet fun attractions found there. We spent a day in Arlington, a country town with a heart for history. We met new friends in the Kentucky/Tennessee border town of Hazel, an antique mecca and home for some creative people. Over in Smithland, we found out what made that city on a hill so attractive for the producers of the 1962 epic film How the West Was Won. And we spent some time in Princeton, exploring the legacy of black patch tobacco and Col. Newsom’s ham.

HOLIDAY 2020 • 75

PORTRAITS

Portraits

of Paducah H

he “place” we inhabit would be a land mass on a map, marked by converging rivers, bordered by roadways and rails, warmed by the sun and cooled by river breezes—without people—people like George Rogers Clark, who decided that this would be a fortuitous place to settle. Spanning the centuries since the explorer put his stamp of approval on our river city, hundreds of thousands of others have made their mark here. There have been FAR and AWAY too many who’ve been profiled on our pages to recount. So here’s a mere glance back.

Spiderman We frequently delved into Paducah’s “claims to fame” in articles about people within our confines and those who have woven their career webs in far-flung locales. Ann Finley Rogers, who graduated from Paducah Tilghman in 1986, was one such “celebrity.” Ann’s husband, Scott, was a stuntman that summer working on the new release of Spiderman II. So Ann and her three children were all part of the movie’s cast!

MOST APPEARANCES

This is not a scientific study, but based on our cursory review of 30 years of magazines, we think that Todd Duff has maybe made more appearances on the pages of PADUCAH LIFE than perhaps any other person. It all began with his world class running efforts in our INAUGURAL edition in 1990 as a “one man cross country” team for Heath High School. As Todd’s life in Paducah has progressed, so have his corporate concerns as well as his unconventional personal pursuits.

We interviewed him when he opened his first business in Paducah. Todd appeared on one of our covers with corporate professionals. We explored his obsession with pinball games.

We took in his penchant for magic trickery. We enjoyed a cigar and a wood-fired pizza on his patio a few summers ago. And most recently we spent some time with Todd and his team at Innovations Branding. Todd is truly a bit of a marvel in our midst.

And PADUCAH LIFE Magazine has loved documenting the many marks of this Paducah man.

PORTRAITS

Foreign affairs The headline read, “It took the bold and brave constitution of a loving Paducah couple as well as a debate over a national constitution to bring a Guatemalan girl to a place she now calls home.” The story was about the long and arduous journey of Donna Dixon and Tom Osborne to bring their beautiful daughter into their loving arms.

BILL HACK, WWII VETERAN Fifty-seven years to the day after the enemy shot Bill Hack down in the English Channel, he watched a B-17 land at Barkley Regional Airport in 2001. Berry Craig brought back to life the memories of the man and the machine.

CIVIL RIGHTS IN PADUCAH As we researched the civil rights movement in Paducah over the years, one name kept coming to the surface: Rev. W.G. Harvey.

He’d grown up in a largely desegregated society. But when he moved south, he discovered life was much different. Rev. Harvey met Dr. King in 1956 and later visited him in his home in 1959. Inspired, he went to work in Paducah and in Frankfort, fighting for full rights for African Americans. He preached respect and love for all men and women and changed Paducah forever. Later, he became the first black American to be elected to any public office in all of West Kentucky.

78 • 30 YEARS of PAD U CAH LIFE

PADUCAH’S RENAISSANCE MAN Of all the people who have supplied us with fodder for features in our 30 years, few have been as prolific as Charles Manchester. Most notably, as curator of the Market House Museum, Mr. Manchester enthusiastically dug through his boxes and bins for historic photos or information on historic subjects.

“Once when I was there to research something for a story,” says Editor Darlene Mazzone, “he opened a file drawer and there was every issue of the magazine. I was stunned.” Mr. Manchester replied,“But of course! This is a chronicle of LIFE in Paducah.”

A VERY SPECIAL QUILT DESIGN It was 1991. Paul Gresham was a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky School of Architecture. And he was about to undertake one of the most significant projects of perhaps his entire career. It came as a result of a long-standing relationship with Bill and Meredith Schroeder, owners of Collector Books in Paducah. “My father had done architectural work for the Schroeders for several years,” Paul explained. “And when they decided to undertake the construction of a national museum for quilts, they turned to our firm for assistance.” The rest, as they say, is history.

A MAN OF MANY WORDS Berry Craig has long been a mainstay of good writing from the early days of this publication.

He has brought his unparalleled brand of word-smithing to our pages on scores of occasions and on topics from vintage vacations, to Civil War history, to family outings, to sports adventures, to the poignant piece he penned when he shut down his office at WKCTC for the final time—which actually gave him time to do MORE writing!

BRAD MUTCHLER, M.D. “I’ve never felt as good about myself as when I was a physician and a soldier,” said Brad Mutchler, when Editor Darlene Mazzone talked with him in 2001 about his military career.

Dr. Mutchler served in Vietnam and later in Operation Desert Storm as part of the 807th M.A.S.H. unit in Paducah.

A HISTORY IN BRICKS Paducah’s beloved Bill Black has been featured on several occasions on the pages of PADUCAH LIFE for his MANY and lasting contributions to this community. In 2000 we shared with readers Bill’s fascination and accumulation of historic bricks. As the story said, Bill saw bricks as minor monuments to the ordinary laborer, the pioneer, the slave, the forgotten founders of the city who left their mark not in marble busts, but in the fired clay they made from their own hand.

Coming Full Circle In 1998 PADUCAH LIFE featured new interim Chamber president, George Bray.

Now the magazine welcomes George as our new mayor.

Carson Smith Carson Smith found herself in a different kind of race in 2004 when she was diagnosed with Pulmonary Veno Occlusive Disease, a rare form of pulmonary hypertension. Carson was a runner for the Paducah Tilghman track team. After the devastating news of her illness, Carson wrote a stunning and personal essay about her race against this frightening foe. Thankfully Carson is doing well now with medication and works in Public Health as a Clinical Trials Project manager at the Battelle Memorial Institute.

HO LI DAY 2020 • 79

PORTRAITS

OSCAR CROSS In 2003 the Oscar Cross Boys and Girls Club marked its 50th year of operation. It was our privilege to tell the story of Oscar Cross, who in the summer of 1950 witnessed some spirited boys being chastised in front of Judge Roy Stewart at the county courthouse. Fortunately for these boys, and hundreds that came after them, Oscar Cross, a janitor at the courthouse at the time, heard their plight and asked the judge if he could take on the job of redirecting the boys and supervising their rehabilitation. And that was the moment that led to a lifetime of youth support and the ultimate establishment of the Oscar Cross Boys and Girls Club.

force in the arts. That’s why in 2013 our own Meredith was inducted into the Quilt Hall of Fame. Yeah, she’s a rock star in textile arts.

WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT HALL OF FAMER MEREDITH SCHROEDER Would it be a stretch to liken Paducah’s Meredith Schroeder to the Beatles? We don’t think so.

There was music before the fab four, yet they took it to realms never imagined.

Likewise quilts have been around for thousands of years. Yet it was Meredith Schroeder who helped raise the art of quilting from functionality to a major

80 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

In our 2010 issue, we featured some of Paducah’s women of achievement. Susan Guess is the only woman in the history of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce to serve twice as its president. The Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, led by president Sandra Wilson, was awarded the distinction of Chamber of the Year in 2017. Helen Sims served as the driving force behind the award-winning Superior Care Home for nearly a half century.

Take a relaxing journey across the state to explore its exquisite natural beauty throughout every season. Kentucky Seasons premieres during KET’s annual WinterPledge.

PREMIERES SATURDAY, NOV. 28 AT 8/7 PM YOUR SUPPORT DURING WINTERPLEDGE 2020 — NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 6 — HELPS KET PROVIDE PROGRAMS THAT INSPIRE, EDUCATE AND ARE SAFE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.

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H The Neon Lights are

Bright on Broadway

W

hen poured, both soda and beer are crowned with suds.They also bookend the history of one of Paducah’s crown jewels. Over the years, PADUCAH LIFE Magazine has shared multiple stories related to the Coke plant.Together, they are a tale of reflection and renewal.

Paducah is a city of landmarks. From Whitehaven to the Market House, buildings teeming with history dot our landscape. One of the most noticeable and iconic of them is the Coca-Cola plant in Paducah’s Midtown. In 2010, the future of the building was unclear. Coca-Cola distribution moved closer to the interstate, and the building, having already changed hands a couple of times, sat empty. The period marked the first time in decades that it had not been under the watchful eye of Coca-Cola. But over the next decade, PADUCAH LIFE Magazine documented a transformation that brought new LIFE to both the landmark and the landscape.

The Coke plant was born of necessity following the 1937 flood. By that time, Luther Carson was already a successful Paducah Coca-Cola bottler. But at a convention in New Jersey, he received word of the rapidly rising floodwaters in his hometown. His employees at the bottling plant at Sixth and Jackson tried to salvage all they could. They eventually lost the battle with the Ohio River and rode Coca-Cola syrup barrels out of the second-story window to safety.

An astute businessman, Mr. Carson wasn’t going to let the river interrupt his bottling business ever again. In June 1939, the dedication was held for the new Coca-Cola building just west of the flood water’s reach at the intersection of LaBelle Avenue and Broadway. And for most Paducahans, it was a building like no other.

The architect was Lester Daly of Metropolis, Illinois. He described the design as modernistic with nine facades and only four right angles in the whole building due to the odd shape of the lot. The exterior boasted red brick and Bedford Indiana limestone. And the building was built to last and withstand the rigors of heavy trucks and machinery.

The most recognized part of the building was the rounded vestibule that led up to the dome that capped off the beautiful building. The furniture for the vestibule, such as the leather couches, was specially built for the plant to fit the curvature of the walls. The stairway leading up along the wall to the second floor was also uniquely designed for the plant out of nickel bronze. To the rear of the room is a set of double doors leading to an observation platform where visitors could watch the bottling process.

But the real attention-getter is the dome that rises 45 feet above the floor and contains glass bricks with neon tube lighting that could display up to seven different colors. In later years, the front of the building was graced with a neon and bulb sign representing the famous Coca-Cola logo. With many light movements and changing colors, anyone driving toward Broadway after dark was in for a showstopper.

Hanging inside the dome was a six-foot-tall glass chandelier. It was in the exact proportion of a hobble skirt Coke bottle and lit by tubes that gave the bottle complete illumination. The main entrance doors are stainless steel and protected by a stainless steel marquee. Both have handles with the Coca-Cola trademark.

W

82 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

In 2010, PADUCAH LIFE presented the building’s history in an article entitled “Can the Coke Plant be Saved?” Our mission: continue to highlight the significance of the landmark and, hopefully attract the interest of someone with a vision to take it into the future.

Four years later, we presented, “The History of Coke Meets the Future of Craft Beer.” Ed Musselman stepped up to the plate as the Coke plant’s new owner, and his first order of business was the opening of Dry Ground Brewery.

In 2015, Associate Editor, J.T. Crawford wrote about the Coke Plant for Bill Ford’s book From Paducah With Love.

“Paducahans saw activity through its copious windows. Craftsmen steadily revived the building’s spirit, and, just like in 1939, the city was eager about the possibilities of the Coke plant.Then, on the last day of summer in 2013, crowds gathered as the neon dome once again buzzed to life, illuminating smiling faces in an awakened radiance.

We watched as it did something magical—it bonded us together in a spirit of community and kinship.We gathered around glasses of beer, mugs of coffee, and cups of tea.We met our neighbors for the first time. Local artists gathered to showcase their work; and we conversed, face-to-face, establishing relationships where before there existed only vague name recognition.We broke away from the isolation of modern life, talking, dancing, and playing games in the hallowed rooms of the Coke plant.

Through the re-imagining of the Coke plant, we have found joy in old-fashioned, community connection.”

Raven & Moth L O C A L .

I N

S U S T A I N A B L E .

H A N D C R A F T E D .

3 1 3 B R O A D W A Y D O W N T O W N P A D U C A H

T U E S D A Y - S A T U R D A Y

1 0 - 5 P M

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HISTORY

Turning the Pages of

TIME H oing back to World War II, Paducah has been the topic of some big-time publications whose curiosity about the river city resulted in both picks and pans, depending on the author. Here are a few we have featured on our own pages in PADUCAH LIFE Magazine.

dancing at Teen Town, “a Coke-juke spot set up in a move to provide wholesome entertainment for the city’s adolescents in the old Phillip Rogers grocery store at Twelfth and Broadway. After school hours and on Friday and Saturday nights, the place is full of coke-drinking, jitterbugging high- and junior-high-schoolers.” The two dancing youngsters photographed were Phyllis Albritton and Hal Hester.

Phyllis went on to become one of the best auctioneers in our area, retiring in 2017 when she was in her 90s.

Hal joined the Air Force and later studied music. He wrote “The Sand and the Sea” for Nat King Cole and is often credited for writing the first rock musical.

Also featured in the Yank article is a photo of Paducah Police Chief W.E. Bryant, the “nation’s heaviest.” He tipped the scale at over 300 pounds.

Perhaps that was attributable to the “one old Paducah institution that hasn’t changed in the least—its barbecue.

Juicy hunks of pork and mutton still drip over the hickory embers, and the flavor is the same as it was five

Yank, 1944

(Featured in PADUCAH LIFE, March/April 2013) As World War II raged on, Yank,The Army Weekly kept soldiers around the world connected through news on the war effort. The issues also gave men and women overseas a taste of home by featuring all-American cities. In 1944,Yank showcased Paducah as part of their “Home Towns in Wartime” series. Staff Writer Sgt. Burgess H. Scott said that the “city operates what it declares to be the best USO service club in western Kentucky. It’s in the old Montgomery Ward building at 219 Broadway, and it offers meals and 75 beds for overnighters in addition to the usual reading, writing, and rug-cutting.”

The article featured a photo of a couple of teens

84 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

or even 25 years ago.

The counters of Price’s, Slim’s, the White Owl, and other old-time stands are lined with visiting soldiers who agree that Paducah is the U.S. barbecue capital.”

Fortune, 1947

(Featured in PADUCAH LIFE, April/May 2007) Following World War II, America experienced a second great radio boom. The Paxton family opened WKYB (later to become WKYX), and Fortune magazine took notice that they also owned our region’s main newspaper. The word ‘monopoly’ had been swirling about the country like an angry mob on the hunt, so Fortune sought to investigate what influenced the people of Paducah.

Researcher Patricia Hough traveled from New York with Associate Editor Katharine Hamill and the duo pulled no punches, describing the town as they saw it.

From the Fortune article “One-Newspaper Town.

“Twentieth-century Paducah is a commercial and manufacturing city of the distinctly non-whittling sort. Its capitol is a tall, dour Citizens Savings Bank Building. Its larger factories, on the edges of town, are exactly like the factories of Keokuk and Tallahassee and Texarkana. So are their conglomerate products: towboats, shoes, cooperage … Paducah is a working town—no more, no less.

There is nothing “regional” about the chain store and movie-palace Main Street of Paducah, Kentucky. But thirty feet from the town’s Broadway you are deep in semi-southern Mississippi Valley town atmosphere, complete with wisteria, drawled speech, and habit-forming homage to women.The deceptive, leonine Ohio River snores at the foot of town. Small, naïve, brick buildings house the riverbank factories and shops.

Mark Twain slept here.

A square or so uptown you can buy hand-whittled hickory hatchet handles and walking sticks.The public market, Saturday mornings, is tended by churchly women who have brought their homegrown flowers, preserves, and garden trucks to the scrubbed stalls. Saturday too you can sense the old, sweated land of McCracken County, the odor and color of which come into the town on the boots of taciturn men.These are the soft tones.They are as deceptive as the magnificent river.”

While her article on Paducah was less than flattering, she may have picked up on something. Paducah grew rapidly from its founding to the outbreak of World War II. Following the war, however, the city entered a period of stagnation. Miss Hough sensed it. It is worthy to note that Walker Evans turned in 408 photographs for the article. Only a handful made it to print.The entire collection is now part of New York’s The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection.

LIFE, 1952

(Featured in PADUCAH LIFE, July/August 2012) Perhaps the most celebrated article about Paducah came in LIFE magazine in 1952. Since the Fortune article in 1947, A LOT had changed. Construction was nearing completion on a $500 million atomic energy complex. Paducah was rocketing into a new age, earning the moniker The Atomic City. Everyone prospered. According to the article, one Paducahan sold $10,000 worth of minnows for bait in 1951, a result of the influx of workers who fished during their time off. A housing shortage brought a fleet of trailers (10,000 of them) for people to live in as more houses could be built.

Ralph Crane, LIFE photographer, took a photo of a group of Lone Oak students in formal attire standing in front of the Irvin Cobb Hotel. It instantly became an iconic image. In the foreground are three young ladies whom we reunited in 2015. Betty Wallace, Sue Chappell, Jean Peyton, and Joyce Champion were attending the Lone Oak Junior/ Senior banquet. They were close then and remain friends today.

“The worst thing you could do back then was drink a beer or smoke a cigarette,” said Sue Chappell, as she looked across the LIFE magazine spread.“The ballroom was a gorgeous place. And we

could dance. Dancing wasn’t allowed anywhere in Lone Oak at the time.

The Baptist minister wouldn’t allow it. This photo really takes you back to the good old days.”

HO L I DAY 2020 • 85

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86 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

Social Scene The

PADUCAH LIFE learned, along with the rest of the print world, how to turn the PAGE on publishing

The Social Scene

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HEN PADUCAH LIFE

Magazine debuted in 1990, ink on paper was the solitary focus. Eight months after the first edition, the World Wide Web went public. Even so, it was a few more years before surfing the net became a household thing.

With the advent of Windows ’95, we were all in, designing a rudimentary, online presence.

In 2004, we all went social with Facebook. (Yes, we realize we jumped past MySpace.) On July 29, 2009, we created the official PADUCAH LIFE page and went to our wall with the first post: “Stay tuned for some great info on PL Magazine! Here, we can post images and story snippets that didn’t make it into the mag. We can also preview upcoming articles and events!”

Profound, huh?

The idea at the time was to post about once or twice per week and see what would come of it. Little did we know! Three years later, on October 24, 2012, we posted our first image on Instagram—multi-colored corn at The Pumpkin Barn in Melber, KY. Ya gotta dig those image filters.

While the aesthetic of the printed page has remained our focus, our website and social media accounts have become invaluable to staying connected to our fans. We love the interaction! Some of our biggest posts have been in 2020. Measured in terms of reach (the number of people who saw a post), our online article about the renovation of the Belle Louise Guest House garnered 26.8K views.

Our post on Graves County folk artist Helen LaFrance reached 50.1K. And the post about Billy Ray Cyrus and how he launched his career from Paducah earned 68.1K

88 • 3 0 Y EARS of PAD U CA H LIFE

views. No Achy Breaky Hearts here.

Our most popular posts throughout the history of our social media accounts, however, have one thing in common—food. More specifically, they feature donuts and hamburgers.

When we posted our story on Red’s Donuts in 2017, we were shocked at the response. Really, we shouldn’t have been. Red’s is a cornerstone of Paducah culture, an enduring piece of who we are. Two years later, when we posted about the reopening of Munal’s Donuts, we received the same response. Jerry Perry, owner of Munal’s, confirmed our suspicion. “If you want something popular,” he said, “post about donuts.”

Rivaling donuts in popularity are posts about hamburgers. When we highlighted some of Paducah’s best burger joints and asked you to weigh in, you answered! Who knew hamburgers had such culinary cachet.

So what happens when donuts and hamburgers collide? Just Hamburgers found out in 2017 when they concocted a burger utilizing Red’s donuts for buns.

When we posted about it, the Internet nearly crashed.

Well, maybe not—but the public reacted. The next day, our collective jaws dropped as traffic jams formed on Jackson Street.

If you don’t already follow us on Facebook and Instagram, please do! There you’ll find us dishing about donuts, touting triumphant moments, applauding artists, encouraging entrepreneurs, heralding our history and just all around getting an in-depth LOOK at LIFE!

Let US do the COOKING! The holidays are your busiest time of the year. But we can relieve some of that stress, all the while delivering you some freshly prepared foods at a really convenient location! Or stop in for take-away items. Make your holidays happier with the help of Fresh Foodies!

270.349.8416 532 N. 32nd Street Paducah, KY

HO L I DAY 2020 • 89

Standing in the

SHAD W THROUGHOUT OUR 30-YEAR history, one story eclipsed them all—quite literally. In 2017, Paducah found itself in totality alley, a spot halfway between the greatest duration and greatest eclipse points of a total, solar eclipse. The moment was to be so big that we dedicated an entire edition to serve as your guide.

For weeks before, you worked, creating special events, scheduling watch parties, and Dry Ground Brewing even crafted a special beer named Umbra. We researched, talked to experts, and paved the way to the afternoon of August 21.

That week, visitors from around the world flooded our area to catch a glimpse of one of the most fantastic of all displays. It was a picture-perfect August day. And, at 1:22 PM, LIFE came to a standstill as we all stood in awe, blanketed in the shadow of the moon.

It was nearly indescribable.

And even though we often heard the term “once in a lifetime,” for Paducah, another total eclipse is on the schedule. We will once again find ourselves in totality alley for 1 minute and 52 seconds on April 8, 2024. Get ready for the next movement in the cosmic ballet!

90 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

Our Partners for Life

LIKE us on And get MORE out of LIFE!

★ There are really no words that can express our gratitude to these Paducah institutions who have partnered with us on the pages of PADUCAH LIFE Magazine for 30 years! But we can try. To each of you, our heartfelt THANK YOU. There truly would be no LIFE in Paducah without you!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Oh Christmas Tree!

How lovely are thy branches.

Find your lovely Christmas tree and many other holiday accents at Sanders Nursery.

All of us wish you and yours a most wonderful holiday season!

4123 Schneidman Road • Paducah • 270.443.8851

www.sandersnursery.com

HO L I DAY 2020 • 91

LastWord the

“

★

Though I know I’ll never lose affection For people and things that went before I know I’ll often stop and think about them In my life, I’ll love you more.”

—the beatles, IN my lIfE

In his ie, the ate GARY MORSE NEVER orgot this once-in-ietie oent captured b a riend who was quick on the shutter reease beore a riend securit guard ushered the 19-ear-od DJ to his seat! We taked to Gar about this eorabe experience in our suer 2004 edition. And WE never orgot our an wonderu encounters through the ears with one o Paducah’s ost respected edia eaders.

92 • 30 YEARS of PADUCAH LIFE

Live Holiday Ever After This has truly been a difficult year for all of us. But the one place that’s been so important to all of us is HOME—that place where memorable moments are made with our family. From baking cookies, to decorating the Christmas tree, to game night in front of the fire, every moment at home becomes a cherished part of our holiday celebrations. So to all of the wonderful people I have had the privilege of working with this year and in the future, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY 2021!

SUZY GILLAND REALTOR

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

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teen YOUR 2020-2021

Ambassadors!

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