Book

A PLACE APART

T H E M O U N T A I N W O R K S H O P S • 2 0 0 9 • T H E 3 4TH Y E A RT H E M O U N T A I N W O R K S H O P S • 2 0 0 9 • T H E 3 4TH Y E A R

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MURRAY, CALLOWAY COUNTY, KENTUCKY

“It’s a community you take away with you whenever you leave.”Mary Ann Medlock

Murray resident

t h e 2 0 0 9 m o u n t a i n w o r k s h o p s 1

The 2009 Mountain Workshopscalloway county, kentucky

Erin CarriCoCalloway CountyCity of MurrayJiM frankMayor Danny HuDspEtHkysEr lougHtErry littlElanCE allison anD tHE Murray-Calloway County CHaMbEr of CoMMErCEMary annE MEDloCkJoannE Erwin, Murray-Calloway EConoMiC DEvElopMEnt Corp.Murray ConvEntion anD visitors burEaukatE rEEvEsMurray ElECtriC systEM

spECial tHanks:to tHE pEoplE of Murray, Calloway County anD wEstErn kEntuCky wHo gavE us tHEir tiME anD lEt us into tHEir livEs.

photos by nina GreipelandJohn woods

sponsors applE inC.

Canon usa inC.

MEDiaspan group inC.

Murray ElECtriC systEM

nikon profEssional sErviCEs

softwarE ConstruCtion Co.

sEnnHEisEr usa

sounDsliDEs llC

wEstErn kEntuCky univErsity

tHanks to

c a l l o w a y c o u n t y , k e n t u c k y

Coming home to Murray “We’ve been a little sheltered from a lot of things.”

Murray can seem like a world unto itself.Paducah is an hour’s drive away.

Nashville is 2.5. Memphis and St. Louis are 3.5. Louisville is four. It’s just far enough to keep the hordes of city folk away — but if you want some excitement, you can easily

get there on a day trip, although you’ll have to drive 30 miles before you reach an Interstate.

Most of the folks here think that’s just fine.You won’t find much in Murray that someone would call

“fast-paced.” This town of 16,500 doesn’t even have a shopping mall, and nobody seems to want one.

But that doesn’t mean nothing is happening here. Murray State University is well-regarded in national polls, and the city’s vibrant manufacturing economy has one of the state’s lowest unemployment rates.

“We’ve been a little sheltered from a lot of things,” said Mayor Danny O. Hudspeth, noting that the economic downturn that began in 2008 hasn’t hit Murray as hard.

Murray is the seat of Calloway County, which was founded in 1822, four years after President Andrew Jackson bought land west of the Tennessee River from the Chickasaw Indians.

It was called the Jackson Purchase, and the people here still see themselves living in a place apart — Kentucky, but not quite Kentucky. Murray is a conservative but tolerant town with little crime. It often makes national lists of great places to retire. Calloway County’s 36,200 residents worship in more than 70 different churches.

Boating, fishing and hunting remain popular pastimes. Kentucky Lake and the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area form Calloway County’s collective backyard.

Here there are three distinct cultures: The people of Murray who form the economic and manufacturing base of the region; the university complex with its diverse mix of educators and 10,000 students; and finally, the farmers, whose dark-fired tobacco, corn and cattle are the historic backbone of Calloway County.

In the center of all this is Murray, “a very friendly town,” said Hudspeth, the first African-American mayor in a city where fewer than 10 percent of the residents are black.

Being friendly doesn’t mean people here don’t fight about things. They just do it politely.

During the week that the Mountain Workshops’ photojournalists were visiting, Murray was in the midst of a battle of yard signs over liquor laws. The “Keep It Local” crowd wanted to permit package stores. The “Keep It Out” faction wanted to reverse the decision voted on a few years ago that allowed liquor-by-the-drink sales in restaurants.

In the end, it was a very Murray sort of resolution: Both sides called a truce and decided to keep the status quo.

While much of the Jackson Purchase region of far Western Kentucky has seen a population decline, Murray has enjoyed steady growth, especially on the booming south side of town. The big question now for many residents is “How will that growth change our lives?” In Murray, that is a critical question.

“It’s a wonderful place to live,” said longtime resident Mary Ann Medlock. “What we fight about is how we are going to keep it that way. We’re really at a crossroads in deciding where we want to go and who we want to be.”

• Tom Eblen, columnist Lexington Herald-Leader

Photo, this page • Nick Ryan, owner of Poppanina’s Catering and More in Murray, cleans his shop before closing for the day.

photo by travis Garner

Cover photo • Pat Miller, left, and Donna Herndon enjoy some of Pat’s home-grown orchids in her dining room.

photo bybritney mcintosh

Back cover photo • Trey Buie, 2, of Paris, Tenn., bowls with his grandparents at Corvette Lanes in Murray.

photo by John adkisson

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PHOTOGRAPHS BY: 1 DELANA EARLY 2 TRAVIS GARNER 3 COLIN KELLY 4 ALLIE GARZA 5 JESSICA EBELHAR 6 JESSICA EBELHAR 7 NEIL BLAKE 8 TODD POWELL 9 DELANA EARLY 10 BROOKE GRACE 11 LANCE BOOTH 12 BRITNEY McINTOSH 13 JOHN ADKISSON 14 REBECCA BARNETT

Faces

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c a l l o w a y c o u n t y , k e n t u c k y4

Braxton Stewart, 6, is serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by a group of rodeo cowboys at the William Cherry Agriculture Exposition Center. Braxton was part of a group of special-needs children treated to a show put on by the Murray State University rodeo team.

Photo by Sara Naomi Lewkowicz

Portfolio

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Tobacco and row-crop farmer Danny Cunningham enjoys a little soggy attention from Tuff while relaxing in the barn with his tobacco-business partner Elvin Parrish, left, and fellow local farmer Don Overbey. Tuff, a bulldog and chow mix, spends most of his time on the

Cunningham farm and took refuge from the rain in the barn as tobacco was being stripped. Photo by traviS GarNer

Portfolio


Abbie Short, 21, swings her nephew, Siler Hussman, at the home of her sister, Meagan Short. Abby, a Murray State University student, babysits the 1-year-old before class several days a week for her other sister, Kara Hussman. The three sisters, all from Illinois, live in Murray.

Photo by JeSSica ebeLhar

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Sabrina Dial consoles Frank Barrett at Bethel Fellowship Pentecostal Church. It was the one-year anniversary of his wife’s death. Sabrina and Frank have a bond, and he jokingly refers to her as his “girlfriend.”

Photo by brooke Grace

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Lyssie Wright, a freshman at Murray High School, waits for a ride after school. Photo by rebecca barNett

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The front door provides light for Bob Wheeler during a midday power outage. Bob and his wife, Mildred, own Horse’s Mouth Antique Mall in downtown Hazel.


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Murray High School football players Luis Calderon, left, and Anthony Banderas celebrate after making a play during the Murray Tigers’ 24-7 win over Crittenden County. The win capped a perfect season.

Photo by rebecca barNett

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Parker Timmons shares a laugh with his girlfriend, Mindy Hopson, after the Halloween party at Sigma Pi fraternity house at Murray State University. Parker, a senior from Centralia, Ill., is a member of Sigma Pi and had been dating Mindy of Henderson for 10 months.

Photo by Sara Naomi Lewkowicz

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Samantha Shields, 20, of Russellville, center, practices with the Murray State University Racer Marching Band color guard during an early-evening rehearsal. Photo by JeSSica ebeLhar

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Murray High School’s Dance Team gave a “Thriller” performance during halftime of Murray’s regular-season finale against Crittenden County. Photo by chriStoPher Southard

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Penny Underhill, the pastor’s wife, worships at the Bethel Fellowship Church, a Pentecostal congregation in Murray.


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Jennifer Roberts sweeps Asian Lady Beetles out of the second-story room of the Double Pen House at the Homeplace, a working replica of an 1860s farm. Roberts sweeps the house several times a day to prevent an infestation. The Homeplace is located in the Tennessee section of

the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, just a few miles from Calloway County.Photo by JoShua Lee keLSey

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Gary Brame, 62, of Mayfield, fills feed troughs for his cattle while working on his 4,000-acre farm. Gary grows soybeans, corn and tobacco in addition to raising cattle. Gary said that although his cattle operation doesn’t bring in substantial profits, it is one of his favorite aspects of the farm.

Photo by JohN adkiSSoN

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Nature slowly overtakes an old Dodge left to rust along Kentucky 121. Photo by JeSSica ebeLhar

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Cows gather around the feed trough at Stahler’s Dairy and Poultry Farm, the last dairy farm in Calloway County. Jim and Judy Stahler have more than 70 cows. Jim, a 44-year farmer, says the cows have never missed a milking.

Photo by JeSSica ebeLhar

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A pack of mousers enjoy the fruits of the labors of cows at Stahler’s Dairy and Poultry Farm in Calloway County. Photo by JeSSica ebeLhar

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A neighborhood dog watches over pumps at a local filling station on Kentucky 299 in Kirksey. Photo by brooke Grace

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Gov. Steve Beshear came to Murray for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new four-mile section of Kentucky 80 that connects Murray and Mayfield. Photo by aLLie Garza

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Lori Sanderson puts the finishing touches on a haircut for Mark Stockton at the Southside Barber Shop on South 12th Street in Murray.

Photo by aNdre kehN

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A skylight brings a little brightness to Bob Wheeler’s store, Horse’s Mouth Antique Mall, during a midday power outage on Main Street in Hazel. Photo by brooke Grace


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Michael Phelps, 10, left, plays a Wii boxing game against Adonis Lawrence, 9, right, while Tre Jones, 8, watches. They were participating in a lock-in at Freedom House Church. “Are you ready for a painful lesson in defeat?” said Michael.

Photo by keLLy Lafferty

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Brandon Smith, 10, of Murray laces up his roller skates before rushing to join his friends on the floor of Circus Skate. Brandon is one of many regulars who visit the rink weekly.

Photo by JoShua Lee keLSey

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For Will Stites, a sophomore rodeo rider at Murray State University, injuries are commonplace. So far, he has broken his collarbone, hand and ankle.

Photo by NeiL bLake

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Dotty Renfroe and her husband, Ricky, run Renfro’s Hih Burger Inn near downtown Murray. The 52-year-old diner serves home-style cooking and has many regular patrons. Dotty works six days a week at the restaurant, beginning at 2 a.m. each day. She and her husband took over the business in 2007.

Photo by katie SimPSoN

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John Little, second from left, of Chattanooga, Tenn., dressed like a zombie, and B.J. Sizemore, dressed as “Circus Envy,” stop for some late-night dinner at Mary’s Restaurant in Murray after a masquerade party. The group participates in a live action game called “Vampire: The Masquerade.”


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Gary “Yankee” Harris, 59, makes a face at a co-worker from Murray State University while taking a lunch break at Sammons’ Bakery. Gary and his friends eat lunch there every weekday. “We sit in the back of the room, eat our lunch and talk about stuff that other people might not like,” Gary said.

Photo by deLayNa earLey

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William Walker works on a renovation of the historic restaurant called The Bull Pen. The restaurant and bar, long abandoned, was rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of a doctor and a nurse who burned to death on the top floor.

Photo by ShaNe Noem

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Claude Miller, 77, sands cutting boards he makes with the help of his son, Jeff. They work in a shed at Jeff Miller’s home off Old Newburg Road. The Millers sell the wooden cutting boards at farmers’ markets and craft fairs.


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Mary and Joseph Fuhrmann watch “Jeopardy” together on weeknights after Joseph gets home from work. “We like mind stuff,” Mary said. “We’re interested in information.”

Photo by rebecca barNett

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After a failed attempt by another clinic to reset a broken bone, Dr. Noel Thomas amputated Sadie’s leg to save her life. Otherwise she might have died from internal bleeding, the doctor said.

Photo by ShaNe Noem

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Nina Natividad, 5, jumps off a ledge on Halloween at Murray State University. Photo by JeSSica ebeLhar

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John Vance carves a pumpkin with his two daughters, Megan, 3, and Molly, 1, in their home on Main Street. John said that carving pumpkins is a Halloween tradition for the family.

Photo by NeiL bLake

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Late-night fog rolls in over the Pella Corp. factory after a day of rain. The 84-year-old window and door manufacturing company makes fiberglass and vinyl products at its Murray factory.


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Autumn hues enliven the woodlands along this two-lane road coursing through Calloway County. Photo by daNieL houGhtoN


Calloway County From our family to yours, “Thank you!”

The Mountain WorkshopsWe had not even completed the 2008 Mountain Workshops in

Mayfield when planning began for Mountain Workshops 2009.New York Times multimedia journalist David Frank and I made

the short trip from Mayfield to Murray, hoping that this city in the heart of Calloway County would become the 34th community documented by the Workshops in as many years. It was a great help that David was a native of Murray and that his father, Jim, is a longtime resident. Jim introduced us to many of the leaders of

the community who listened to our proposal and enthusiastically welcomed us in.

So the year-long journey began with months of planning, feverishly heading toward the five-day frenzy of activity each fall that we call the Mountain Workshops.

Our goal is simple: to provide a hands-on learning experience for photojournalism students and other participants whose mission

is to document life in a Kentucky community. To successfully pull off this mission is a bit more complicated. First, it takes a community that is willing to open its doors to us and people who will take a little time to share their lives with us. Without this cooperation, we would end up with only a shallow perspective of Murray and Calloway County. Then it takes volunteers — a lot of them — to plan the workshop, secure sponsors, set up a network of more than 60 computers, create a database management system that can handle 40,000-plus images and hours of audio and video, bring in top-notch professionals who take time away from their jobs to coach the participants, put together a book, website and gallery exhibition from the stories produced by the Workshops. Finally, we must make arrangements to provide food, lodging and

transportation for all the volunteers, and attend to the multitude of other small details that are critical to the success of the Mountain Workshops.

We begin each year with a checklist, a few concerns and numerous questions, the most common question beginning with “How are we going to . . . ?” Throughout the year, little by little, the checklist boxes are filled, concerns are addressed and questions answered. It is what makes the journey exciting, if not a bit harrowing at times, but ultimately satisfying. We progress from mission impossible to mission accomplished.

This year, after checking out a few possible locations in Murray, we set up our headquarters in a vacated industrial building north of town. Perhaps this building could be thought of as a symbol of a shaky economy and an uncertain future. Perhaps then it is all the more appropriate that a group of journalists, struggling with their profession’s own tumultuous times, would occupy this building to revitalize their careers and pursue that sometimes elusive antidote for uncertainty — hope.

My hope for Murray and all of Calloway County is that the Mountain Workshops made a difference in some unique way that will stay with you far beyond the few days we were privileged to visit. Your invitation to spend time here was a great gift to us. This book is our gift to you, a lasting tribute to your vibrant community.

Though the location changes each year, the mission of the Mountain Workshops remains unchanged: to provide a journalistic oasis where all who come are reminded of the power of documentary photography, not only in its ability to document lives, but also to change them.

Thank you Murray!James H. Kenney, Director

The Mountain Workshops at Western Kentucky University

photo by travis Garner

ABOVE LEFT • Caroline Collins, 12, a first-year cheerleader and second-year band member at Murray Middle School, plays with her dog, Simba, in the driveway of the family home. “That dog is Caroline's best friend,” said Caroline’s father Gary.

far from homeJohn Adkisson/PhotographerMick Cochran/Editor pages 48-49

man about townAllie Garza/PhotographerJan Diehm/Editor pages 74-77

hiGh rollerJoshua Lee Kelsey/PhotographerKelly Lafferty/Editor pages 82-83

boilinG-over inspirationEarl Christie/PhotographerLeslye Davis/Editor

pages 40-43

deeply rootedTanner Curtis/PhotographerLeslye Davis/Editor

pages 56-59

early risersDelayna Earley/PhotographerLeslye Davis & Greg A. Cooper/Editors

pages 54-55

milk madeJessica Ebelhar/PhotographerJan Diehm/Editor pages 66-69

iron willTyler Jones/PhotographerKelly Lafferty/Editor pages 84-85

mr. ed meets dr. adamsBrooke Grace/PhotographerSamantha Rainey/Editor

pages 88-89

livinG on the jobSarah Rice/PhotographerJan Diehm/Editor pages 78-81

eclectic chairAndree Kehn/PhotographerKelly Lafferty/Editor

pages 60-61

rodeo driveNeil Blake/PhotographerSamantha Rainey/Editor pages 70-73

law and orderChris Southard/PhotographerKelly Lafferty &Greg A. Cooper/Editors pages 92-93

a mother to manyRebecca Barnett/PhotographerJan Diehm/Editor

pages 50-53

twins with a differenceSara Lewkowicz/PhotographerLeslye Davis/Editor pages 62-65

pets and their peopleShane Noem/PhotographerSamantha Rainey/Editor pages 90-91


everybody’s anGelBritney McIntosh/PhotographerLeslye Davis/Editor pages 44-47

photo by John adkisson

reelinG in the douGhCassie Brooks/PhotographerKelly Lafferty/Editor pages 86-87

The stories we tell A table of contents


Boiling-over inspiration Photography by EARL CHRISTIEEditing by LESLYE DAVIS

T he number 212 is ubiquitous at Calloway County High School. You find it on doors, posters and hall passes, and adorning the jacket of Scott Sivills, girls’ basketball team coach.

“You can have water and heat it all the way up to 211 degrees, and it’s just hot water,” Scott tells anyone who asks. “But if you heat it one more degree to 212, it creates steam, and now it’s powerful enough to run a locomotive.”

Scott preaches the gospel of transforming a situation by applying just a tiny bit more energy. You’ll hear his voice echoing across the basketball court, urging his team to master an intricate play: “This group is capable of big things if we do the little things,” he said.

His enthusiasm becomes infectious while explaining to his science class how Benjamin Franklin’s nocturnal kite-flying led directly to the invention of the lightning rod. “Just by this little experiment, he changed history,” Scott said.

Scott reinforces the “1 degree” metaphor by celebrating

the successes of his students and players. When a missed shot elicits groans from the team, Scott stops the action and says, “That’s all right, she got the ball and took the shot, and she wouldn’t have done that last year.”

Faced with a student who is not performing at her best, Scott responds with a gentle authority. An incomplete take-home assignment results in a teaching opportunity on balancing choices and consequences. Sloppy play on the court is greeted not just with a coach’s frustration, but with a demonstration of how to perfect the technique.

Ask Scott what fuels his drive to make a difference in his students’ lives, and he’ll tell you, “I have a passion about what I do. I love teaching. I love the kids. I love our community.”

That love is expressed in the ways Scott finds to motivate his students to be a little bit better. Their reward for going the extra mile might be an easy extra credit question on a pop quiz, treats from the best bakery in town or ending basketball practice a few minutes early.

And that love is returned.

RIGHT • Scott shares the reward of a positive practice at season’s end.

LEFT • A basketball play board draws the attention of Scott Sivills, coach of the Calloway County High School girls’ team. He’s been teaching for 15 years, 12 at Calloway County.


Boiling over inspiration continued …

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LEFT • Scott squeezes into the ranks of the students during a quiz to tend to paperwork. He takes advantage of every opportunity like this.

FAR LEFT • Dustin Alexander enjoys a hair-raising encounter with a Van de Graaff generator in Scott’s science class.

BELOW • Caroline Sivills accompanies her father as he makes the transition from his science classroom to the court with the girls’ basketball team.


Everybody’s angel Photography by BRITNEY MCINTOSHEditing by LESLYE DAVIS

ABOVE • Donna Herndon talks to a work crew from Calloway County Jail, which she recruited to help her load a trailer of Marshel Johnson’s belongings. Donna has been working to get Marshel moved back home to Maryland.


ABOVE • Donna helps her mother-in-law, Cami Herndon, put on her house shoes in Cami’s living room. She began taking care of Cami after her mother developed Alzheimer’s disease.

FAR LEFT • Donna organizes her life with what she calls “the original palm pilot.”

Some people have planners and others have iPhones. Donna Herndon has what she calls “the original palm pilot.”

Her daily to-do list is neatly printed in blue ink on her weathered palms first thing in the morning and scrubbed off at the end of the day

when she “washes her hands of her responsibilities.” The hands that organize her days are the same ones that fold daily in prayer

for the sick, care for the poor, dry the tears of the hopeless and leave people feeling like they’ve truly been touched by an angel.

“Some people collect cats, some people collect dogs,” said Donna’s husband, C.W. “Woody” Herndon. “My wife, she collects people.”

Donna, 67, has a soft heart and can’t turn away anyone in need, she said. She is a longtime volunteer and community leader in a variety of positions

with one common denominator — she’s always in a position to help others.

Donna helped lower the juvenile arrest rate in Murray by 75 percent in the 1970s, she said. Now she helps felons get back on their feet after serving sentences. She is responsible for Kentucky Homeplace Program money that helps people gain access to medical services.

Angels are a theme in Herndon’s life. She founded Angel’s Attic, a thrift store that supports Angel’s Clinic, a community health-care center for people without insurance. Recently she helped a woman abandoned and abused by her husband

straighten up her life and find her way back home to her family in Maryland. “Donna has truly been an angel to this community,” said friend Le Ann

Boone, who goes for walks with Herndon in the mornings. “They just don’t make people like her anymore.”

As she walked down the dimly lit streets of her neighborhood, Donna made use of the one hour of her day she spends on just herself chatting with Le Ann before dawn’s light flickered through the trees, highlighting the world that she would soon rush to rescue.

As she bid her friend farewell and turned to make her way home, a streetlight illuminated her. A halo of light fell on the tightly wound bun on top of her head, and she smiled.

She is constantly amazed at the power of God and the seemingly unmanageable things he has made possible through her life, she said.

“I don’t see things as impossible,” Donna said, laughing. “I just see things as challenges.”

LEFT • Friends in the women’s Bible study at University Christian Church evoke a broad smile from Donna.


Everybody’s angel continued …

RIGHT • Marshel, left, hears the news that Donna found a way to get her back to Maryland. Marshel was stranded in Murray without transportation and a cell phone for months. “You are a godsend and my angel,” Marshel said.

RIGHT • Donna oversees prisoners from Calloway County Jail who are part of a work crew. Serving on a work crew is a privilege based on behavior and sentencing. The workers earn 69 cents a day.

BELOW • Donna, left, talks with Marshel about finding a way home to Maryland so she can reconnect with her family. In addition to helping Marshel get home, Donna wants to get her out of legal trouble.


ABOVE • Pat Miller, left, and Donna laugh and gossip in Pat’s new bed. The two have been close friends since before they can remember.


Far from home Photography by JOHN ADKISSONEditing by MICK COCHRAN

ABOVE • Ricky Hernandez, left, and Gary Brame emerge from a tobacco-curing barn. Ricky left his family in Mexico for six months to work on Gary’s farm as part of a federal migrant worker program.


In seven years of marriage, Ricky Hernandez has celebrated Christmas with his family only once. This year will be the second time.

“Very happy, very happy,” Ricky said. “I give gifts to my children. Toys, presents, many presents.”

This is the 11th year that Ricky, 33, has traveled from his home in Santiago in the Mexican state of Nayarit to the United States to work tobacco and row crops through a federal migrant worker program. Each trip means he must be away from his wife and two sons for six months.

“My body is here, but my mind is in Mexico,” he said. “All of the time I think of my family.”

Ricky calls home three times a week. On a recent call, he listened as his 1-year-old son sang “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” Ricky prompted him to “oink” with the pigs and “moo” with the cows.

He said his time in Kentucky feels much longer compared with his time in Mexico. In a typical week in Kentucky, Ricky

works 10 to 11 hours a day, seven days a week. In Mexico, he spends a lot of time with his family. “I like my family to go fishing,” he said.

Although Ricky speaks broken English, he serves as a translator between Gary Brame, for whom he works, and other, less-fluent Mexican workers.

“I speak little English. Sometimes it’s Spanglish,” he said.Ricky hopes to continue working at the farm for two more

years to earn enough money to live comfortably in Mexico without having to spend all of his time working.

“I do not tell God I have a big problem,” He said. “I tell to my problem that I have a good God.”

ABOVE • Ricky inspects a fire in one of the tobacco-curing barns on the farm.

LEFT • Ricky calls home three days a week to reconnect with his wife and two young sons.

ABOVE • Ricky and fellow migrant worker Leonzo Romero, left, take a break while watching over fires in a curing barn on Gary’s farm near Mayfield.


A mother to many Photography by REBECCA BARNETTEditing by JAN DIEHM

As Teresa Speed walks down the halls of Murray High School each morning, she greets students by name. She gives them hugs and

high-fives and asks them about their lives.Teresa, 52, said she loves making a

difference in people’s lives.Students and faculty say Teresa, who

has been principal for eight years, is like a mother and a friend. They can talk to her about anything. She really cares.

“Basically, she’s a mother to all,” said Rechelle Turner, the girls’ basketball coach. “A lot of our students don’t have good home lives, and she’s gone above and beyond to make their lives better.”

Teresa thinks that’s an important part of her job. “I feel like that’s my mission, my

life, not to let them down,” she said. “I treat them like my own kids.”

Teresa and Joseph, her husband of 17 years, have 12 children, ages 9 to 33. Seven were adopted. She always wanted to be a mother and has always been a nurturer, she said.

“I tell my mother it’s because of the relationship that she had (with me),” she said.

Teresa’s father was a pastor. She and her family attend the church he started 32 years ago in the Graves County town of Pryorsburg. She leads the youth group in Bible study on Wednesday nights.

“When you realize what God has given you, I think that allows you to love,” she said.

ABOVE • Teresa Speed, principal of Murray High School for eight years, pulls senior LaTasha Martin aside between classes to look at her report card. “She’s like an aunt to me,” LaTasha said.


LEFT • Members of the football team are told by Teresa that they must write letters of apology and pick up trash on Saturdays as a punishment for sneaking into a corn maze the previous night without paying.

BELOW • Bus duty is part of the job in the afternoons to make sure students get on safely.

FAR LEFT • Teresa, speaks to her son, Jayden, 9, about an incident at his school. Jayden took a cell phone to school, and after having it taken away, took it out of his teacher’s desk without permission. She asked Jayden to write his teacher an apology letter as punishment.


A mother to many continued …

BELOW • Teresa and her son, Jayden, visit with family friend Bonnie Roe of Water Valley at church.

FAR RIGHT • Grace is said before each meal in the Speed household.

RIGHT • Teresa greets her son, Michael Joe, 13, after his school bus dropped him off at Murray High School.



Early risers Photography by DELAYNA EARLEYEditing by LESLYE DAVIS AND GREG A. COOPER

RIGHT • Famous among locals for its homemade doughnuts and biscuits, Sammons’ Bakery features dough that is treated lovingly.

FAR RIGHT • Alyssa Belle Shaunesey, 2, eats the filling out of a Sammons’ Bakery doughnut. “I’ve been coming here since I was a little girl,” said Amy Shaunesey, 25. “I love that I can bring my daughter here and get the same doughnuts that I’ve loved since I was her age.”

ABOVE • Owner Teresa Bast shares a good laugh with a regular patron of Sammons’ Bakery. Her sister, Patty Dedmon, is the co-owner. The sisters arrive at midnight to bake goodies for the day, open at 5 a.m. and close at 1:30 p.m.

If you are from Murray, there’s a good chance that you have eaten at Sammons’ Bakery.

Located on Chestnut Street, the bakery has been in business since the early 1960s.

Everything from the secret recipes for locally famous homemade baked goods to the ovens they are baked in has remained the same during the past 50 years.

The bakery, originally owned by Gene Sammons, and its traditions were passed down to two sisters employed by him for 13 years.

Teresa Bast, 50, and her sister, Patty Dedmon, 48, make doughnuts and biscuits with recipes inherited from Gene.

Their bakery is still heralded for tasty and inexpensive food, but it also has become a popular hangout for the locals.

“The people are the best thing about coming to work,” Teresa said.

Daily a group of longtime patrons can be found enjoying coffee, doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches. Customers show up when the bakery opens at 5 a.m. and usually hang out until it closes at 1:30 p.m.

“We come here just about every day . . . Gotta have some place to loaf,” said Gene Johnson, 76, about his group of older regulars.

“We’ve got little pet names that we call them, like when I tell Patty that ‘Liar Joe’ is here she knows who I’m talking about,” Teresa said.

The bakery attracts all types of people, from teenage youth group members discussing the gospel to older men talking about politics. Despite their differences, they all have one thing in common — they have Sammons’ as a common ground where they can relax and enjoy a good, homemade doughnut.



Deeply rooted Photography by TANNER CURTISEditing by LESLYE DAVIS


ABOVE RIGHT • Michael Bobo, adjusts a bridle on one of his 14 Clydesdales as he prepares the horse to pull a wagon around his farm.

To many, Clydesdales are the big horses that pull wagons in the Budweiser ads. However, Dr. Michael Bobo sees them as strong and gentle animals that he likes to

have around.Michael, 40, discovered the beauty of

Clydesdales when Budweiser brought the famous horses to a Murray Christmas parade. He saw more than the horses from television commercials. He saw an animal completely unique from the rest of Calloway County.

The only horses Michael had owned were miniatures for his sons, Christian, 9, Clayton, 8, and Carson, 7, to ride. Part of the appeal of the Clydesdales was the ability to both ride them or drive them with a wagon.

Michael grew up on a farm and knew he wanted to return to rural life sometime after school. Michael attended the University of Tennessee at Martin and Vanderbilt University, and received doctorates in medicine and dentistry. He now is an oral surgeon with offices in Murray and Union City, Tenn.

Thirteen years of school, a medical practice, a wife, Sharon, and three kids later, Michael is back to the farm. He owns 415 acres in Kirksey on which 14 Clydesdales roam and where he is building a new house.

RIGHT • Michael “grooms” his oldest son, Christian, before leaving for work. He has three sons: Christian, 9, Clayton, 8, and Carson, 7.

LEFT • Clayton Bobo, 8, whispers to his father about his new knife.


Deeply rooted continued …

ABOVE RIGHT • Wisdom teeth sit on the instrument tray after oral surgery by Michael. He performs the tooth extractions at his office at Murray-Calloway Hospital.

RIGHT • Sheri Ross jokes with Michael before having her tooth extracted.

FAR RIGHT • Michael performs oral surgery in Union City, Tenn. He does oral surgery there on Tuesday and Thursday and in Murray the other three weekdays. Michael performs tooth extractions mostly but sometimes operates on more serious issues such as dislocated noses or shattered jaws.

ABOVE • Christian, 9, sits on the floor of his father’s oral surgery office while Michael answers an emergency call. Christian put on this set of scrubs while waiting for his father.



Eclectic chair Photography by ANDREE KEHNEditing by KELLY LAFFERTY

People call Murray a small town, but it seems big: several banks, a “Mickey D’s,” a Wal-Mart Super Center and loads of fast-food joints.

But despite that, everybody seems to know everybody, no more so than at the Southside Barber Shop on South 12th Street.

The barber shop spans nearly 70 years. It changed hands a number of times, and in three days three different owners appeared: the current owner, Linda Hayden, 59; the previous owner, Donnie Kell, 68, who now cuts hair as his “retirement job;” and Walter Clay Wyatt, 74. He arrived in an electric wheelchair.

Getting to know people comes easily to Linda. “It’s not the haircut.” Linda said. “It’s just a visit. Some

people just need someone to talk to. They can’t talk at home. They can’t talk to their spouses or whatever, but they can talk to their barber.”

She doesn’t remember every name, but with few exceptions, she “knows them.” She knows which barber cuts their hair. She knows if they have kids or recently went to the hospital. She knows if they have interesting jobs. She knows if when they rise from the barber chair they might do something silly.

She plays social director.She initiated a conversation between a blind man,

Howard Bazzell, 92, and another patron, Charles Homra, 78, waiting for his haircut. It turned out that the men coached baseball together back when they were kids. The conversation might never have happened between someone with no sight and someone soft-spoken.

Linda ensured the connection.But sharing in all that life can be bittersweet. Linda grows

to care about regulars, and when they die, she might never know.

“You never know what’s happened to them if their pictures are not in the paper and maybe you don’t know their names,” she said. “But they haven’t been coming in and you wonder ‘What happened to these people? Why haven’t I seen them?’”

LEFT • Scissors carry a silver sheen, but a visit to Linda Hayden’s shop for a haircut is gold.

ABOVE • After a recent stint in the hospital, Alex Paluch, 88, a regular at Hayden’s shop, stops by to see Linda with his wife, Mary, 89.

RIGHT • Jake Bynum, 9, gets his ears lowered at the Southside Barber Shop on South 12th Street.



Twins with a difference Photography by SARA NAOMI LEWKOWICZEditing by LESLYE DAVIS


William Winchester, 14, could be a politician. As he moves through the crowd at Westside Baptist Church in Calloway County, he high-fives

teenagers, kisses babies and causes adults to erupt into laughter.

He is charming and likable. However, something sets William apart, other than his affability. He was born with Down syndrome.

Randall Winchester, William’s father, said that people with Down syndrome often face prejudice.

“I once had a health insurance rep tell me that they ‘were in the business of making money, not insuring kids who should have been aborted in the first place,’” said Randall. “He’s lucky he was talking to me over the phone.”

Randall said most people don’t hold such beliefs.“We’re very lucky to live in a community that is so

supportive,” he said. Faith is important to the Winchesters. They attend

the Westside Baptist Church in Calloway County three times a week. William is active in the church and loves singing and dancing to Christian music.

William is in the eighth grade at Murray Middle School, where he is in a mainstream special education program. The program includes regular classes and special education in resource rooms.

He has been mainstreamed since he entered elementary school, and most of the other students know him.

“People with special needs can be scary to children who aren’t exposed to them,” said his

mother, Carolyn. “But most of these kids have known William since they were all little.”

Down syndrome is often associated with sociability, and William exhibits a great deal of social ease.

“Everyone in town knows William,” said Carolyn. William’s fraternal twin brother, Joseph, was

not born with Down’s. The Murray High School freshman is a talented musician who plays in the marching band.

William participates in Special Olympics bowling, and much of Carolyn and Randall’s time is spent shuttling the boys to activities.

“It’s hectic, but we wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Randall.

FAR LEFT • William takes a moment to himself in Murray Middle School where he’s an eighth grader.

LEFT • William Winchester, 14, enjoys supper with his paternal grandmother, Hilda, 73, at her home in Murray.


Twins with a difference continued …

RIGHT • Katie Stewart, 9, receives a kiss from William, during Fall Fest at the Westside Baptist Church

in Calloway County.

ABOVE • William laughs at his father’s playful teasing.

RIGHT • Teacher Chuck Williams tries to re-

attach the rubber bands to William’s braces after lunch, an uncomfortable

routine repeated three times a day.

“We’re very lucky to live in a community that is so supportive.”- Randall Winchester


ABOVE • William drifts to sleep on a couch at Westside Baptist Church during a Christian youth Bible study. His twin brother, Joseph, right, participates in the class.


Milk made Photography by JESSICA EBELHAREditing by JAN DIEHM

With just a dream and a cardboard suitcase, Jim Stahler boarded a bus in Pennsylvania nearly 50 years ago for a 36-hour trip to Murray State University to study agriculture.

He also landed a job at a dairy farm in southeastern Calloway County and met a girl, a home economics major from Tennessee.

Jim wanted to become a farm manager. Now he has surpassed his goal, owning his own dairy with the Tennessee girl he married.

Waking at 4:30 a.m. Jim has been running Stahler's Dairy and Poultry Farm, the last dairy farm in Calloway County, for more than four decades. Dairying is a 365-day-a-year job. He even milks on Christmas Day.

Work is a lifetime endeavor, Jim, 64, said. His wife, Judy, also 64, handles bookkeeping and odd jobs around the farm, such as bringing the calves milk

every morning.“Judy has been the perfect wife,” he said. “I truly believe that God brings

two people together.”Even after 44 years of marriage, the two share lunch together every day. He

insists that he'd rather skip lunch than eat without his wife.Like his love for his wife, Jim’s faith in God is a constant in his life. “There's no way to be closer to God than agriculture,” he said. He finds fulfillment in knowing that he's producing a product that will help

people. “We all have to care for each other to survive,” he said.Jim hoped one or both of his sons would take over the farm, but Jimmy,

38, works at Owensboro Grain, and Jayson, 34, has a welding business. He understands, though, that his boys need to follow their own dreams.

LEFT • During 44 years of farming, Jim Stahler, 64, says his cows have never missed a milking .


ABOVE • Wet weather doesn’t make a dairy farmer’s job any easier, and no one knows better than Jim heading to a morning milking with one of his “employees.” Stahler’s Dairy and Poultry Farm has operated for 44 years and is the last dairy farm in Calloway County.


Milk made continued …

RIGHT • Judy prays before lunch with her husband of 44 years. “Judy has been the perfect wife,” Jim said. The couple shares lunch every day. He said he’d rather skip lunch than eat without Judy.

BELOW RIGHT • Jim walks among stalls of his dairy barn in Calloway County.

BELOW • Judy feeds a calf at the couple’s farm.


BELOW • It’s lunchtime at Stahler’s farm. More than 70 cows come to the table.

LEFT • Jim’s wife, Judy, pours milk into bottles to feed calves on the couple’s farm.


ABOVE • Murray State University sophomore Ian Mathes listens to the national anthem at the start of a benefit rodeo for special-needs students from local elementary schools.

Rodeo drive Photography by NEIL BLAKE Editing by SAMANTHA RAINEY


Each move matters for Ian Mathes. He knows he’s only a few inches from danger every time he steps into the rodeo arena. But that’s his

new job. In 2008, after six years of bull riding, Ian

traded his boots for cleats and became the man who ensures rodeo riders make clean getaways — a rodeo clown.

“You get to face the bull rather than taking off running away,” Ian said. “You are in control of the situation. They tell you that you are when you ride, but you’re not.”

Ian’s calling came from his experience riding the bulls he now baits.

He used to ride for the rodeo team at Murray State University, but after a stint at a bull riding school in Oklahoma, Ian realized he was not at the level of some other collegiate riders.

“There were some boys there who were better than I was, and I knew they were going to make it longer than I was, so I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to help these guys out,’” he said.

Ian soon worked his way up to his first big event as a rodeo clown — the Murray State University college rodeo.

Some of the bulls at the rodeo were used at the professional level, and Ian knew the risks.

A few days before the rodeo, he was “hooked” — hit by the horns of a bull. Fortunately, his protective vest, the main protective gear he wears, absorbed most of the blow.

After the first night of the rodeo, Ian was disappointed. He moved too quickly to adequately lure the bull from the rider.

“You have to be in by the time the rider hits the ground,” he said. “Everything happens in a split second.”

Over the next few years, Ian will continue practicing for that split second.

LEFT • Ian Mathes applies powder to prevent his face paint from running during MSU’s college rodeo. The rodeo was Ian’s first big event as a clown, but he’s been practicing since 2007 when he switched to protecting riders.

BELOW • Paul Skaggs, left, and Ian hang out behind the chutes, waiting for the bull-riding competition. Paul is a professional rodeo clown. Ian is a rookie.


Rodeo drive continued …


LEFT • Ian helps Jacob Cox, 11, a special-needs student, off a mechanical bull during the Special Rodeo put on by the Murray State University rodeo team.

FAR LEFT • Ian, a Murray sophomore, follows a bull after the rider is thrown off. As a rodeo clown, it’s his job to distract the bull, giving the fallen rider time to escape. “I was a little nervous,” Ian said about his performance the first night of the rodeo. “I wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been.”

BELOW LEFT • Ian talks to Dana Kielar, his girlfriend, before returning to the chutes to watch more rodeo events.

BELOW • Still wearing his bullfighting jersey, Ian recharges his battery (and his laptop’s) at his apartment after hosting a rodeo.


Man about town Photography by ALLIE GARZAEditing by JAN DIEHM

RIGHT • Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey Jr. reads email at his desk in the county courthouse. Ray has been a quadriplegic since a diving accident when he was 13.

The accident happened quickly.

The accelerator stuck, and Ray Coursey Jr. knew

he had to stop the van. Quickly, he turned the wheel, and the van flipped, crashing into a cement culvert.

“I woke up 11 days later wondering when I could get back to work,” said Ray, the Calloway County clerk. “I thought it was the week before the accident, elections week. I wanted to get home before the elections.”

A diving accident when he was 13 left Ray a quadripalegic. However, he still had partial use of his arms, which later enabled him to drive using a joystick. Ray’s van accident in 2007 damaged his lungs and caused constant pain below his shoulder blade.

Despite his disability and hardships, Ray comes to work at the county courthouse each weekday ready to serve others.

“I’ve had so many people help me in life,” he said. “The idea that there’s something I can do, and do well, to help people out . . . It’s a good feeling.”

Employees in his office help Ray with tasks most people take for granted: gripping a pen or drinking from a cup.

“It’s really a family situation in

there,” he said of his office. “It’s more of a family unit than a work unit.

For about 10 hours a day, Ray is in the public eye, but at home he is Ray Boy to his parents, Cheryl and Ray Coursey Sr., and Uncle Ray to Ally and Bobby DeShields, his niece and nephew.

“I love them with everything I’ve got,” he said of his niece and nephew. “I’m trying to make the world a degree better (for them) than when I was here.”

Ray, appointed county clerk in April 1995, ran in a special election the following November. He has been re-elected without opposition ever since.

“I get up every day and do what I’m supposed to do,” he said. “If they elect you to do the job, and you respect their needs, they’ll re-elect you.”

After a long day of work, the women of the county clerk’s office began to close up. They turned off the lights, counted the money and helped Ray prepare to leave. One removed his wristband. Another took his phone and set it to charge.

Ray left with a smile on his face. His niece and nephew had come to greet and ride home with him in his mother’s van.

Ray said he feels blessed by his family, coworkers and friends in the community. “God has been better to me than I deserve,” he said.


LEFT • A precinct map aids a discussion in the Calloway County clerk’s office during a meeting.

BELOW • Missy Crawford, a clerk’s office employee, presses down on Ray’s stomach to help break up a cough. He has developed the persistent cough with bronchitis.


Man about town continued …

ABOVE • While leaving the Calloway County courthouse, Ray and clerk’s office employee Lynn Paschall share a joke while his mother, Cheryl, helps him into her van.

77

ABOVE • Medications are stacked on the chest in Ray’s bedroom. He takes four or five pills a day, but tries to avoid the pain pills. “I only take half at a time,” he said. “I don’t like to take anything that will slow me down mentally.”

ABOVE LEFT • Ray listens to his niece, Ally DeShields, 10, talk about her day at school while the two relax.

LEFT • Heading into Wal-Mart for an evening of Halloween costume shopping, Ray, leads his nephew, Bobby DeShields, 6, and niece, Ally.

Living on the job Photography by SARAH RICEEditing by JAN DIEHM…

At 5 years old, Gloria Shull had a vision of herself giving food to people from all over the world.

“Jesus, I’m just a little girl,” she remembered praying. “How can I feed all these people?”

But 12 years ago, Gloria and her husband, Stu, came up with the answer — Gloria’s World Village, an international grocery store and restaurant on North 15th Street.

Restaurant customers can count on Gloria stopping by their table to visit. If things are slow, she and Stu might both pull up a chair and chat.

“This is like just having friends drop by, ”Gloria said.And the Shulls are always diligent hosts. Stu runs the kitchen while

Gloria takes care of the guests. Running the restaurant all by themselves makes for long days, but

the Shulls don’t mind. “We may not have much in some ways, but we have a warm bed,

good friends and good food,” Stu said.

LEFT • Gloria and Stuart Shull take a moment to pray before opening their shop. They work side by side at the restaurant for 10 hours a day, six days a week. “We just have a really, really, really good relationship,” Gloria said, “I admire him, and he admires me.”

BELOW • Gloria and Stu live above the restaurant, which was created from a 1928 colonial home. A small sign marked “Private” provides the only evidence that one of the rooms near the upstairs dining area is a bedroom.


ABOVE • Gloria chats with customers at the restaurant she and her husband, Stu, opened 12 years ago. “I like everyone to feel like they got something special,” she said.


Living on the job continued …

ABOVE • Lisa Yates, center, visits with Gloria and Stu in the kitchen. “We don’t hire normal people here, because they don’t fit in,” Stu said jokingly. Aside from their daughter, Julie Sears, Lisa is the only other help.

TOP • Stu gets orders ready at the restaurant. He stays busy cooking in the kitchen every day, while his wife, Gloria, waits on customers.


BELOW • Gloria and Stu relax above their restaurant after a long day. “Sleep will come easy tonight,” Stu said. With only their daughter and one other employee, the couple work long hours to run the store and restaurant.

LEFT • Stu lifts weights at 5:30 a.m. in the grocery section of the couple’s business. He starts his days at 3:45 a.m. so he can go grocery shopping, work out and get the kitchen prep done before the restaurant opens at 10:30 a.m. “I think the Lord gave me a lot of energy,” he said.

FAR LEFT • Gloria gets ready for the day. “We live a very different life than most people,” she said. “This is our life.”


High roller Photography by JOSHUA LEE KELSEYEditing by KELLY LAFFERTY

The “faster, newer, slicker” technology-driven world yields inside the Circus Skate Roller Skating Rink.

Joe Nanny lovingly maintains the time machine. Joe, 70, emcee at the rink and a retired Army officer, left the military

after two tours in the Vietnam War. He wanted to return to his roots, leave some negativity behind and do something positive.

“Positive” transformed into the rink.“You know, my momma actually got mad at me when I was born

’cause I came out with skates on,” he said with a wide grin. On a Friday night, as a digital clock blinked to 7:45 p.m., Joe

skateboarded across the floor toward the doors that would open in 15 minutes. Joe doesn’t rush . . . anything.

And no one skateboards on the rink floor but Joe.He pulled open the blinds that separate peace inside from chaos

outside, and the throng presses to the door. At 8 p.m., the 15 minutes that passed turns to three decades past. The night passes sans arguments or dustups. Joe guarantees that by offering games and playing song requests.

About 15 minutes before closing, Joe settles the crowd for the 10:30 p.m. shutdown: The lights dim, the music slows.

Then the rink becomes silent. Joe chains the doors and shuts off the lights.

The past fades to the present. Today tilts toward tomorrow. And tomorrow Joe turns back the clock . . . again.

ABOVE • Skates available for rent line the shelves at Circus Skate in Murray.

TOP • Joe, always a taker for entertaining conversation, takes time out of a busy Friday night to joke with local children. He greets each patron by name, and everyone greets him that way as they rush to give Joe $5.

LEFT • Joe Nanny speed-sweeps the floor of Circus Skate Roller Skating Rink after closing. The rink is open on Friday and Saturday nights. Joe began roller skating at age 4. He decided to open Circus Skate to offer peace and fun to children. “After years of war, doing something to make people smile just sounded like a good way to live,” he said.


Iron will Photography by TYLER JONESEditing by KELLY LAFFERTY

The red-hot tip of a twisted piece of wrought iron glowed as Gene Knight removed it from the forge in his cluttered “smithy” shop.

In minutes, his calculated, precise hammer blows and accompanying twists gave a shaft of scrap metal a new life as a decorative fireplace poker.

Gene’s expert hammering as a third-generation blacksmith allowed him to change that piece of iron. Much like that process, life would deal Gene a hard blow and change him.

In 1997, a near-fatal heart attack limited Gene, 76, from pursuing the trade that he loved. This strong, burly and supremely confident man, whose display of iron working proficiency has left its footprint throughout the Murray area, had to draw on his iron will and re-forge his life in the years following the heart attack.

He firmly believes God’s will saved him in order to allow him to leave a mark of charity and volunteerism

on Murray — along with his gifts of metalwork.

“I knew that God did not take my life because I had a greater purpose, and that was to help others,” he said.

Gene undertook a number of volunteer causes, including fundraising and directing activities for seniors at the George Weaks Community Center.

His health problems and his aged body can challenge Gene’s relentless spirit, but he accepts his new life and role.

He loves the limited amount of metal work that he can do, and his eyes still burn as bright as his forge – fired with enthusiasm for a newfound life of service.

ABOVE • Gene is a third-generation blacksmith.

ABOVE LEFT • Knight’s Shop owned and operated by Gene is located just outside of Murray.

LEFT • A craftsman’s hands serve as an extension of his heart, and in Gene’s case, his heart turned him in another direction.

RIGHT • Gene perfects a forge fire in his blacksmith shop. A near-fatal heart attack drew him into volunteerism, but metalworking remains in his blood.



Reel money Photography by CASSIE BROOKSEditing by SAMANTHA RAINEY

Kalem Tippett was cast as a fisherman early in life because of his father’s luring advice.

“I have a four-and-a-quarter- pound bass on the wall at home that I caught when I was 5,” he said.

Kalem grew up with a three-acre lake in his backyard, so he and his father spent many afternoons fishing together.

“My dad taught me all the general stuff about bass, about fishing,” he said.

Kalem, a junior in the Murray State University Bass Anglers Club, was competing alongside fellow club member Steven Miller in this year’s Central Regional Championship on Kentucky Lake in late October.

Lots of cash was at stake and the event attracted teams from 18 colleges. If Kalem and Steven won, the Anglers Club and MSU would each receive $25,000, gaining respect for the club and a bonus for the school.

This wasn’t their year, however, and Indiana University took home the prize.

Earlier in the season, Murray State won the Boat U.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, but the prize was considerably smaller at $5,000.

Still, Kalem keeps his eye on the big prize.“I would love to fish professionally, but it’s

a big investment,” he said. “Most guys save up a ton of money, then tour for a while to see if they can make it.”

“When I was 5, I remember going down to the lake with a big bucket of worms by myself and catching two bass,” Kalem said. “I had to wait to show Daddy when he got home from work.”

Fifteen years later, he wants to show his dad a trophy.

ABOVE • Steven Miller, left, and Kalem Tippett net their first catch early in the morning during the Central Regional Championship.

LEFT • Steven keeps his gear at hand.

RIGHT • Steven, left, Ben Helmerich, center, and Kalem spend evenings watching “Dirty Jobs,” ordering pizzas, and preparing for a day of practice fishing on Kentucky Lake.



Mr. Ed meets Dr. Adams Photography by BROOKE GRACEEditing by SAMANTHA RAINEY


White fences weave throughout a 150-acre horse farm off Kentucky 299 in Benton.Horses, cows, bulls, dogs and cats join the farm home where Dr. Michael Adams

and his family live. “This farm is like therapy to me,” Michael said while looking out over his land,

coffee cup in hand. “Being a doctor is having to make 500 quick decisions a day.” Besides managing the farm with help from his wife, Marsha, and daughter, Sarah, 9, Michael is

a full-time family physician. He starts his day at the barn. In October, Dandy was the newest member of his equine family,

so Michael spent the early-morning hours taming her with walking routines. After cleaning up, he joked with Marsha that it was time to go to the day job that supports his cowboy habit.

Michael first met with patients at Primary Care Medical Center on 12th Street. After the of-fice visits, he checked on patients at Murray Calloway County Hospital on Poplar Street. He then headed to Spring Creek Health Care, a nursing home, for routine checkups.

Near the end of an exhausting 13-hour day on call, Michael was ready for home. But he held a list of the last few last patients he needed to meet with that night.

“Dear Lord, please help me get through this list,” he said. Soon after, he returned home to tend to the farm.

LEFT • After Michael Adams’ 9-year-old mare, Dandy, tumbled to the ground, her stirrup was not the only thing that needed scrubbing.

FAR LEFT • Michael offers a swig of his morning coffee to one of his mares.

BELOW • Dandy, one of the Adams’ newest additions, tries to show who’s the boss. Michael moved Dandy onto the side lawn north of the house after the horse broke through a fence.


Pets and their people Photography by SHANE NOEMEditing by SAMANTHA RAINEY


Beyond the lofty, peaked entrance to the Westside Veterinarian Clinic lies a tried-and-true relationship between man and animals.

Dr. Robert Salley and Dr. Noel Thomas started their practice in 1985. When they recently added Dr. Damon Eastwood, it made theirs

the largest veterinarian practice in Calloway County. Noel specializes in large animals and reproductive issues.“He is the nicest guy in the world, but his intelligence intimidates the

hell out of me; he is very smart,” said Linda Thurman, one of Westside’s receptionists.

The atmosphere is always upbeat and positive, even though clients may be distraught about the condition of their pets.

Linda frequently answers the phones by saying, “Good afternoon. How can I make your day better?”

Westside provides many services, including standard services such as blood tests, flea irradiation and prevention, spaying or neutering, grooming, boarding and many others.

Their facilities are open 24 hours a day. Westside’s doctors will travel beyond the office walls to care for patients. They visit local farms to care for animals.

Westside serves as Calloway County’s “go to” on issues of animal wellness. “We pretty much do everything,” Robert said.

BELOW LEFT • Johnny Williams brings Daisey May in for a grooming session.

BELOW • A pet owner checks up on Muffins before leaving the cat at the clinic’s kennel.

FAR LEFT • Hannah Lawson, 8, and Brittany Lawson, 10, watch as their Yorkie, Titus, gets her yearly checkup and vaccinations.

LEFT • Cole Garrett, 3, holds his 12-week-old puppy Oscar, who had his first veterinarian’s appointment with the Westside Veterinarian Clinic.


ABOVE • Attorney Max Parker, right, and Bill “Fanny” Fandrich, a realtor, trade barbs at Rudy’s Restaurant about healthcare reform.

RIGHT • Max arrives before Rudy’s opens.

Law and order Photography by CHRIS SOUTHARDEditing by KELLY LAFFERTY AND GREG A. COOPER

Max Parker, 66, stood outside Rudy’s Restaurant in Murray at 4:17 a.m. Rudy’s, “the” local diner, started serving homemade meals about the time Max was born. It offers a place for regulars to

commiserate or, if they prefer, gossip. Rudy’s usually opens at 5 a.m., but Max got an early start this

day. He headed to his law office — a short walk from Rudy’s — because he couldn’t sleep.

An adage for lawyers is “with structure comes truth.” Nothing reflects Max’s structure more than starting each day with breakfast at Rudy’s, his routine for years.

He started as a boy.His mother would drop him off at a Boy Scouts meeting at

the First United Methodist Church. After the meeting, Max would walk to Rudy’s for a Coke and wait for his mother to pick him up.

These days, five or six pals join Max for breakfast and lively discussion on politics — and, of course, some gossip. Max enjoys a special relationship with one of the regulars, Bill Fandrich. Most know him as “Fanny.”

They verbally spar about Obama’s healthcare plan while Max makes wisecracks about Fanny being a Republican. Max, a Democrat, said Fanny belongs to the “Know-Nothing Party.”

Max displays a level of comfort with Fanny and Rudy’s. He refills his coffee when the waitresses get too busy to mind him.But he sees the changing “ structure” in the world around him.

“Things are less formal now — the way they dress, not that there is anything wrong with that,” said Max, whose hat places him firmly in a past generation.

He said fewer regulars come to Rudy’s now because they have moved farther from town and have more choices of restaurants.

Max talks about how prices have changed at Rudy’s. A Coke used to cost a nickel, a slice of pie cost 15 cents, and patrons buying a hamburger used to get 5 cents change from a quarter.

Yes, changes have come, but Max knows some things remain the same — good food, good people, fine conversation and starting the day at Rudy’s.


Faces and places Who we are; where we’ve been


95

1976 / ONE-ROOM SCHOOLS, EASTERN KY.1977 / MAIN STREET, BOWLING GREEN, KY.1978 / LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES, KY.1979 / CLAIRFIELD, TENN.1980 / BURKESVILLE, KY.1981 / BURKESVILLE, KY.1982 / TOMPKINSVILLE, KY. 1983 / MORGANTOWN, KY.1984 / CELINA, TENN.1985 / EDMONTON, KY.1986 / SCOTTSVILLE, KY. 1987 / LIBERTY, KY.1988 / RUSSELL SPRINGS, KY. 1989 / ALBANY, KY. 1990 / MONTICELLO, KY. 1991 / LAFAYETTE, TENN. 1992 / COLUMBIA, KY. 1993 / JAMESTOWN, TENN. 1994 / GLASGOW, KY. 1995 / SMITHVILLE, TENN. 1996 / CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY. 1997 / RUSSELLVILLE, KY. 1998 / FRANKLIN, KY. 1999 / CENTRAL CITY, KY. 2000 / BOWLING GREEN, KY. 2001 / HOPKINSVILLE, KY. 2002 / CAVE CITY, KY.2003 / BARDSTOWN, KY.2004 / LEBANON, KY.2005 / LAWRENCEBURG, KY.2006 / MADISONVILLE, KY.2007 / DANVILLE, KY.2008 / MAYFIELD, KY.2009 / MURRAY, KY.

34 years

photo by nina Greipel


Jim Bye, Western Kentucky University

Carrie Pratt, St. Petersburg Times

Cheryl Diaz Meyer, Freelance

Cast of characters All the folks who came to Calloway County

Special thanks to:

Partners • Charles Greene, Don Henderson, Tim Matheny Apple Inc.• Chuckie Luzier, Mary Mannix Canon USA Inc. • Greg Salmon Canon Video • Kim Anderson MediaSpan Group Inc.• Carol Fisher, Bill Pekala Nikon Professional Services• Rick Marucci, Lee Funnell The Software Construction Co. • David Missall Sennheiser USA• Joe Weiss Soundslides LLC• Kurt Fattic Western Kentucky University

sPonsors

Apple Inc.cAnon USA Inc.MedIASpAn GroUp Inc.MUrrAy electrIc SySteM

MUrrAy VISItorS BUreAU

nIkon profeSSIonAl SerVIceS

SoftwAre conStrUctIon co.SennheISer USASoUndSlIdeS llcweStern kentUcky UnIVerSIty

This year’s workshop participants:

MultiMedia

Liz Baylen, Los Angeles Times • Eileen Blass, USA TODAY Colin Kelly, Army Times • Bethany Mollenkof, Western Kentucky University Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune • Rhyne Piggott, USA TODAY Ryan Rivet, Tulane University • Serena Wells, Brooks Institute

PhotojournalisM

John Adkisson, University of North Carolina • Rebecca Barnett, Western Kentucky University Neil Blake, Central Michigan University • Cassie Brooks, Western Kentucky University Earl Christie, Professional • Tanner Curtis, Western Kentucky University Delayna Early, Western Kentucky University • Jessica Ebelhar, Western Kentucky University Breanna Gaddie, City Beat/intern & freelance • Travis Garner, Western Kentucky University Allie Garza, University of Kentucky • Brooke Grace, University of Southern Indiana Quenest Harrington, Western Kentucky University • Andree Kehn, Wedding photography & AP Joshua Lee Kelsey, U.S. Navy Combat Photography • Tyler Jones, University of FloridaSara Naomi Lewkowicz, Freelance/saranaomiphotography.com • Britney McIntosh, University of Kentucky Shane Noem, Western Kentucky University • Todd Powell, Calloway County Cooperative Extension Sarah Rice, Freelance/sarahricephotography.com • Katie Simpson, Western Kentucky UniversityChristopher Southard, West Virginia University

Photo editors

Leslye Davis, Western Kentucky University Jan Diehm, Western Kentucky University Kelly Lafferty, Western Kentucky UniversitySamantha Rainey, Western Kentucky University

Tom Eblen, Lexington Herald-Leader

Mick Cochran, USA TODAY

the WorkshoPs leadershiP

• James H. Kenney, Director Western Kentucky University • Jim Bye, Coordinator Western Kentucky University

PhotojournalisM faculty

• Rick Loomis Los Angeles Times • Scott McKiernan Zuma Press • Greg Lovett The Palm Beach Post • Cheryl Diaz Meyer Freelance, Dallas Picture editing faculty

• Mick Cochran USA TODAY • Greg A. Cooper Brooks Institute

Writing faculty

• David Adams-Smith Chicago Tribune (ret.) • Jo-Ann Huff Albers Western Kentucky University (ret.) • Tom Eblen Lexington Herald-Leader • Mac McKerral Western Kentucky University • Derek Poore Louisville Courier-Journal • Mandy Simpson Western Kentucky University

MultiMedia faculty

• Bob Sacha Bob Sacha Photography City University of New York • Chad A. Stevens University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Picture story research

• Josh Meltzer Western Kentucky University

adMinistrative teaM • Jeanie Adams-Smith Western Kentucky University • Jenny Christian Western Kentucky University • Justin Fowler The State Journal-Register (Ill.) • Ali Sumner Western Kentucky University Production teaM

• Tim Broekema Western Kentucky University • Kathleen Flynn St. Petersburg Times • Nina Greipel Freelance, Louisville, Ky. • Ken Harper Syracuse University • Josh Meltzer Western Kentucky University • Carrie Pratt St. Petersburg Times • Joe Weiss Soundslides • Justin Winter McCormick & Winter • Jonathan Woods MSNBC

iMaging

• Jed Conklin Jed Conklin Photography • Randy Piland Elon University

Book Production teaM

• Jim Bye Western Kentucky University • David Adams-Smith Chicago Tribune (ret.) • Mick Cochran USA TODAY • Greg A. Cooper Brooks Institute • Jo-Ann Huff Albers Western Kentucky University (ret.) • Mac McKerral Western Kentucky University

inforMation technology teaM

• Brian Masck Western Kentucky University • Amy Smotherman-Burgess Knoxville News-Sentinel

2009 laB staff (laBBies) • Wesley Bacon • Danielle Bartley • Alejandro Benito • Miranda Barzey • Lance Booth • Zack Conkle • Liz Frantz • Paige Greene • Tim Harris • Daniel Houghton • Kristen Houser • Dave Kasnic • Austin Koester • Ben Severance • Kelsey Sullivan • Julia Thomas • Chris Wilson

We are grateful to these PuBlications and institutions that alloWed their staff MeMBers to contriBute to the future of visual journalisM:

• Brooks Institute• Elon University• Iron Bound Production Studio• Jed Conklin Photography• Knoxville News-Sentinel• Lexington Herald-Leader• Los Angeles Times• Media Cafe Online LLC• MSNBC• Syracuse University• The Courier-Journal• The Palm Beach Post• The State Journal-Register• USA TODAY• Western Kentucky University• Zuma Press


Randy Piland, Elon University

Joe Weiss, Soundslides LLC

Justin Winter, McCormick & Winter

Greg Lovett, Palm Beach Post

Jonathan Woods, MSNBC

WeB site: www.mountainworkshops.org

WorkshoP director eMeritus • Mike Morse

An epilogue “There’s something about the Workshops that just raises everyone’s game.”

There are 33 years of history behind the Mountain Workshops of Western Kentucky University. Thousands of photographs documenting the history of rural Kentucky and Tennessee remain in the hands of a few professors and students who were the pioneers of the Workshops.

For several years, the Mountain Workshops were able to print books, but a lack of funding stopped production. However, in 1997, a grant from the Knight Foundation allowed the publication of a series of annual books documenting Kentucky communities.

Russellville, famous locally as the site of a Jesse James bank robbery and of the annual Tobacco Festival, was the first. Murray, a handsome college town and economic center on the western edge of the Land Between the Lakes, is the latest.

For the first time with these books, the incredible value of the Workshops began to be recognized as a very personal, historical record of rural Kentucky.

Thumb through past books and you’ll find long lists of contributors who volunteer their time to make the Workshops happen. Look closer and you’ll see many names and faces that appear year after year. They keep coming back: professional journalists and multimedia experts who leave their jobs in New York, Los Angeles and all points between to share their expertise with Workshop participants.

Murray 2009, the 34th Workshops, was no different. Founding Director Mike Morse, now retired, came back to kick off the week with a pep talk. Longtime photo coach Rick Loomis, a Pulitzer Prize winner from the Los Angeles Times, donned a purple wig to add some levity to the proceedings. And another familiar face, writing coach David Adams-Smith, herded captions through the computer system like a shepherd minding his flock.

Business as usual. Of course there were new faces, too. New ideas. New technologies. New techniques to teach an eager group of participants.

Not long after multimedia coach Bob Sacha arrived in Murray, he was already planning to come back to Kentucky in 2010.

“Where else can you get that charge and positive flow of energy and those ideas?” said Sacha, a veteran of National Geographic and a producer at MediaStorm in New York. “That’s why I can’t wait to come back.”

Sacha had been on staff at past Mountain Workshops, but this was his first as a coach.

“There’s something about the Workshops that just raises everyone’s game,” he said.

Jonathan Woods was no stranger to the Workshops, having worked three times as a labbie and been a participant once. This time Woods, a multimedia producer at MSNBC, was on staff for website and multimedia production.

“All you can do is stay focused,” he said. “Keep your priorities straight, keep your head down, and at the end of the week – which comes much more quickly than expected – you come out of the storm and realize what happens when 100 or so people pour their hearts and souls into a project that gives an incredible gift to one Kentucky community every year. That’s pretty magical.”

During that one week of the Workshops from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1, 2009, Murray and the surrounding countryside of Calloway County were undoubtedly the most-photographed community in America, per capita.

And it wasn’t easy for the Workshop participants. It rained every day.

Cassie Brooks, a Western Kentucky University senior from Louisville, was covering her story on the Murray State University Bass Anglers team when her boat nearly capsized during a thunderstorm.

“We almost lost our lives – and my Nikon equipment,” she said, revealing the personal values of a true photographer.

And Neil Blake of Central Michigan will never forget the people he met, including the folks in a small card store downtown and the four cowboys at a sandwich shop.

“The truth that everyone has a story was reinforced in my mind again and again throughout the week,” Blake said.

Only on the final day, with complete irony, did the sun finally peep out and offer solace to a drenched, but excited group of photojournalists.

• Derek Poore, columnistThe Courier-Journal, Louisville


photo by nina Greipel

Staff member Josh Meltzer takes creative shelter during a rain-filled week.

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