Basketball, Drugstore Revival, Books, And More
A year deep inside a basketball team
Electric co-op group offers scholarships
Time Capsule: 50 Years Ago in Kentucky Living
A year deep inside a basketball team
Whether or not you’re a fan, living in Kentucky and being unaware of the basketball intensity is simply not possible. Especially come March and April, NCAA and Kentucky Sweet Sixteen tournament time, fans are in a fervor, houses may be divided over favorite teams, and “trash talking” the rival is to be expected.
Former Boston Globe writer Keith O’Brien paints a detailed picture of just how important basketball is to this state in Outside Shot (St. Martin’s Press, $25.99, www.stmartins.com
), the story of Scott County High School’s quest for a state championship. Quitting his job with the Globe, O’Brien spent the 2009-10 basketball season shadowing the SCHS boys’ team and their coach Billy Hicks at games, during practice, in class, and in their homes. His inside look gives fans an all-access pass to the pressure, drive, emotion, and elation involved when a community rallies around its team.
Don’t be fooled into thinking this is only a feel-good, happy-ending sports story, however. During the season featured, controversy plagued the Scott County team as three transfer players were investigated for violations, disrespected by county natives, and criticized because of the high expectations placed on them by the media. O’Brien sheds light on how this affected the boys and the team as a whole while also delving into hot-button political issues that shaped the mood of Georgetown citizens at the time.
Readers will also get to know legendary coach Billy Hicks, who grew up in Evarts before coaching in Corbin and Georgetown. Often acting as a father figure to the boys, it is clearly evident that he cares for his team, seeking the best for each boy and his future. At first he was skeptical about giving O’Brien such access to the boys and the program, but later remarked that O’Brien was like an invisible man, he blended in so well.
After reading O’Brien’s story, Hicks told the local newspaper, “This probably needs to be done about Kentucky basketball. So why not Scott County? For the last 19 years we’ve been the elite program in Kentucky. I think we do it right. I believe in how we run the program, and if it’s going to be done about Kentucky, why not us?”—Penny Woods
Keep energy efficiency in mind as you plan spring landscaping. Properly selected and planted trees, shrubs, and bushes can create a windbreak that lowers home heating bills in the winter and insulates your home year-round. Before you start, check on the right plants and techniques for your climate at EnergySavers.gov.
Annie Ruby’s Café in Burkesville in Cumberland County opened in the town square’s historic 200-year-old Smith Pharmacy in 2010. The idea came when Heather and David Hannan moved back to Heather’s hometown.
“I saw the old drugstore sitting empty and remembered all the times spent in childhood slurping Orangeade and milkshakes from their fountain,” she recalls. “At the time, we weren’t sure what we wanted to do. We lived in the Cayman Islands, where David was a realtor, for 13 years, then a short time in Florida. I’m an interior designer but we both grew up cooking and enjoyed it. It all came together and the vacant building seemed ideal for a café. I used many of the antique apothecary items, stored upstairs, to decorate. The café is named after my grandmother, who I cooked with as a child. My mother, Judy Frederick, who taught school here for 30 years and had a catering business for several years, is part of our cooking team. We use local and Kentucky Proud products and grow many of our own vegetables. David smokes meats two days a week and we don’t fry anything. Our Tomato Pie, with Mother’s wonderful pie crust, is a favorite.”
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and its undergraduate school, Boyce College, were left off of February’s 2013 College Guide. Both Southern’s main campus and Boyce College are located at 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is the largest Protestant seminary in the world and, in collaboration with Boyce College, is the only place in the world where students can earn both a bachelor’s and master’s of divinity in five years through their undergraduate Seminary Track.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (www.sbts.edu) has a 3,500 enrollment with hot new programs in Biblical Counseling and Worship Leadership. Boyce College (www.boycecollege.com) serves 711 undergraduate students.
Go to “2013 College Guide” to download an updated guide, which includes tuition, room and board, financial aid, and faculty/student ratio for all colleges, including Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College.
“Using energy more efficiently is akin to developing more fuel.” —Energy 20/20: A Vision for America’s Energy Future, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski from Alaska
Electric co-op group offers scholarships
Women in Rural Electrification (Kentucky W.I.R.E.) is taking applications for $1,000 scholarships. The scholarships are open to any eligible student whose family is served by a Kentucky electric cooperative and has at least 60 hours of credits at a Kentucky college or university by the start of the fall term. W.I.R.E. will award at least three scholarships. The deadline for application is May 10. For an application form, go to www.kaec.org and click on the link at the bottom of the New Info box, or call your local electric cooperative or the Kentucky Living office at (502) 451-2430.
Sourdough starter
Appalachian cookbook author Soc Clay is a man of many accolades. He is considered an icon in the outdoor recreation media industry, having been published numerous times over. He has received dozens of awards for his outdoor photojournalism, including his induction into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator. Perhaps even more than these claims to fame, however, Clay has long been known for his sourdough bread-making skills. Previously making around 200 loaves to give away at Christmas, Clay finally decided to share his bread starter and recipes with his followers. His cookbook, Soc Clay’s Mad Trapper Sourdough Baking Cookbook (The Catchall Press, $17.50, www.catchallpress.com), is a collection of all things sourdough, from breads to cookies, including how to make a starter.
Frontier survival
Widder’s Landing (Acclaim Press, $26.95, www.acclaimpress.com
), by Hancock County author Eddie Price, is a story of life, love, and survival set against the rugged 1811 Kentucky frontier. Craig Ridgeway, a 21-year-old gunsmith from Pennsylvania, rides a flatboat down the Ohio River and settles in Breckinridge County to try his hand at farming. Overcoming inexperience and hardships, Craig builds a promising new life, learning how to raise corn, tobacco, and hemp. Inspired by the “Widder’s” recipe, he and his wife, Mary, manufacture bourbon whiskey, which he markets profitably in New Orleans. However, the looming war with Great Britain forces Craig to make choices that could change everything.
Rx for overwork
As the world becomes ever more connected by technology, society finds itself busier and busier, capturing every productive moment, and leaving less time for relaxation and recharging. For those who have become overwhelmed by this phenomenon, Lexington doctor and author Matthew Sleeth offers a plan for rest. In 24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life (Tyndale House, $12.99, www.tyndale.com), Sleeth describes symptoms, clarifies the signs, diagnoses the illness, and lays out a simple plan for living a more God-centered life in a digitally dazed, always-on world and encourages his readers in the importance of keeping the Sabbath.
A fading rural culture
Kenneth Tunnell, a sociologist for more than two decades, used his training to study the disappearance of rural communities in Kentucky. His findings are documented in Once Upon a Place (Xlibris, $47.49, www.xlibris.com), a description of his observations punctuated by numerous photographs of rural culture, mostly in ruin. Tunnell states, “The decline in family farming and the so-called ‘development’ of the countryside race along unimpeded and, in fact, are aided by public officials and their policies….People are leaving their homes where their families have lived for generations….The result: once-quaint hamlets are becoming vastly different places than of only a generation ago. Some of those places simply no longer exist.” Tunnell believes this shift leads to social disorganization and lays out to the reader the problems that have ensued. —Penny Woods
Time Capsule: 50 Years Ago in Kentucky Living
Progress Report: Devil’s Jump Dam
Sen. John Sherman Cooper has predicted that Congress this year will authorize the $151 million Devil’s Jump Reservoir project on the South Fork of the Cumberland River in McCreary County…
The Federal Power Commission is in the process of conducting a detailed long-range study of the nation’s power requirements as far ahead as 1980…Proponents of adequate power know from past experience that demand will increase at a more rapid pace than in the past and they are pushing for the authorization…
The lake formed by the dam would be largely within the Cumberland National Forest and would extend some 67 miles in length, well into northern Tennessee…Power facilities would consist of four turbine-powered generating units of 120,000 kilowatts capacity each…Annual operating cost has been set at $10 million annually with an income of $12 million annually.
Editor’s note: The U.S. Senate approved the Devil’s Jump Reservoir project several times, but it was never passed by the House.
