Maysville's floodwall includes an image of the legendary singer and actress Rosemary Clooney.(Cheri Lawson)

The bells of St Patrick’s Catholic Church ring at noon as passengers board the Maysville Trolley at 3rd Street in front of the historic Cox building for an hour-long tour. Tour guide Danny Weddle welcomes the group.

“Welcome, everyone, to the Maysville Trolley Tour. I’m Danny Weddle, and our driver is Kenny Mulliken, and we’re going to make a couple of laps in the downtown business district and then go out to Old Washington. I’m going to give you a lot of names and talk a little about architecture. Our kind of a timeline of the city and some of our interesting characters,” announced Weddle.

Tour guide Danny Weddle has been hosting Maysville tours since 2019. He welcomes a small group of riders onto the green and yellow vehicle.

Maysville tour guide Danny Weddle prepares to lead a Trolley Tour.(Cheri Lawson)

It’s a warm sunny day and the temperature is mild. As the trolley heads down Third Street, Weddle mentions out six different churches, including the First Christian Church, the Tudor-style Episcopal Church, and St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church.

“The Roman Catholic Church, St Patrick Church, is there on the driver's side. It’s their second church. Their first church building was on Limestone Street, facing Limestone Street. It opened in 1847. This church opened in 1909, had its first mass before the church was actually finished being built. The first church was right here, where the parking lot is. Bob Newhart, the comedian, his maternal grandparents were from Maysville. They were married in that church,” reported Weddle.

The town that one could describe as quaint sits on the Ohio River in Mason County. Weddle said it was established in 1787. It was originally called Limestone and eventually named Maysville. Weddle said Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone are among the city’s founders. The trolley tour moves toward the Ohio River near the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge.

“Now Simon Kenton was one of our early settlers. He is a contemporary of Daniel Boone, and in my opinion, is just as important as Daniel Boone. But Daniel Boone had a biographer, so Simon Kenton is not as well-known. Simon Kenton actually saved the life of Daniel Boone at Fort Boonesborough. The Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge opened in 1931, named for him. Opened as a toll road. Later, the tolls were taken off,” said Weddle.

The Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge connects Maysville, Kentucky, to Aberdeen, Ohio.(Cheri Lawson)

This bridge connects Maysville with Aberdeen, Ohio, and is visible from Maysville’s floodwall. Weddle said the floodwall is 14 thousand feet long. The Trolley slows down as Weddle talks about the murals along the wall, a project that began in the late 1990s and was created by artist Robert Dafford. The artwork depicts historical scenes of the region, including a Native American bison hunt, and Maysville’s Rosemary Clooney, the legendary singer.

“Next is a mural to Lafayette. He stopped here in 1825, and we just recreated his visit back in May. Next is a tribute to the Underground Railroad. The slaves were trying to get to Ohio and eventually to Canada, that’s for the Underground Railroad,” said Weddle.

Floodwall murals depict historical scenes of the Mason County region.(Cheri Lawson)

As the trolley travels through downtown Maysville and then 4 miles out to the historic neighborhood known as Old Washington, Weddle shares stories about everything from the area’s arts to its architecture. He recalls information about entertainers, politicians, and pioneers, including Mary Draper Ingles.

“This is also the Mary Ingles Highway. Mary Ingles was captured by the Indians in Virginia, taken all the way south of Cincinnati what is Big Bone Lick State Park. She escapes with another woman. She makes it all the way back to her family in Virginia. She’s believed to be the first white woman in this part of what became Kentucky,” said Weddle.

Weddle reports on numerous legendary characters connected to this region. He said three names in his mind synonymous with Maysville are pioneer Simon Kenton, singer Rosemary Clooney, and Stanley Reed, a Supreme Court Justice who was appointed by FDR.

”He’s the last Supreme Court Justice to not have a law degree. You could actually be a Supreme Court Justice without a law degree. But he was on the Brown v Education Ruling. Stanley Reed Court by the Old Courthouse is named in his honor,” said Weddle.

As the Trolley returns from Old Washington and reaches the edge of Maysville’s downtown, Weddle points out a large white house.

“This white house here is the Bierbower House. It’s also the National Underground Railroad Museum,” said Weddle.

The Bierbower House is also known as The National Underground Railroad Museum.(Cheri Lawson)

Maysville Tourism Director, Katelyn Bailey, explains the house and its relationship to the Underground Railroad.

“Yes, this was a very famous stop on the Underground Railroad. And again, this is the National Underground Railroad Museum, not to be confused with the Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.”

“So, the National Underground Railroad Museum is actually called the Bierbower House. And the Bierbower House was home to a family of abolitionists. They’re descendants of German immigrants who left Pennsylvania in 1837 and came to Maysville. So, the family of the Bierbower descendants came back to town this late spring, early summer of 2025, and they brought with them one of the original candelabras that they used inside of the home that they would light to let the slaves know that their home was safe to come in. And there’s a place inside of the museum that you can see where the slaves would have hidden when people would have come to check the home,” reported Bailey.

The Trolley returns to Maysville’s downtown business district close to the iconic Russell Theatre.

The premiere of Rosemary Clooney's film The Stars Are Singing was held at the Russell Theatre.(Cheri Lawson)

The Russell Theatre, here on the driver’s side, built in 1930," said tour guide Weddle.

The premiere of Rosemary Clooney’s 1953 film, The Stars are Singing, was held at the theater. Maysville Main Street Director, Caroline Reece, says Maysville, Kentucky, is Rosemary Clooney’s hometown.

“Rosemary was born here and raised here, along with her brother Nick, who would be George’s father. And she used to sing, she said on the street for free right up there on Third and Market Street, I sing for free here. And that’s what she did, she and her sister Betty, people threw them coins, and then they went down to WLW on the radio in Cincinnati, and that’s kind of how their careers got going. Well, fast-forward to the late 90s, early 2000s, and there was a Rosemary Clooney Music Festival here in town, the proceeds going to Russell Theatre. Closed down the streets. She would come and sing, and she did it until she died. She did it about three or four years. After she died, the Clooneys wanted that to continue. So, big artists came. We had Michael Bolton here, Neil Sedaka, Roberta Flack, The Pointer Sisters. All those people have been here performing in Maysville, kind of in honor of Rosemary Clooney,” said Reece.

Passengers on the Trolley Tour learned a lot about Maysville.(Cheri Lawson)

The Trolley Tour ends where it began, and tour guide Danny Weddle said there are so many layers to Maysville, and information on the Trolley Tour is just the tip of the iceberg. Weddle encouraged everyone to take a Trolley Tour as he thanked the passengers.

Neighbors Barbara Stokley and Barbara Hamilton search for a mom-and-pop restaurant to try.(Cheri Lawson)

Two Kentucky women have a unique way of exploring the Commonwealth. They say it’s a great way to feed their bodies and their souls.

Hovering over a laptop computer at the kitchen counter, close friends and next-door neighbors Barbara Hamilton and Barbara Stokley are searching the internet for a Kentucky mom-and-pop type restaurant they’d like to try.

The widows who’ve lived next door to each other in Georgetown for eight years have made a game out of eating at different restaurants in every Kentucky county.

Seventy-six-year-old Barbara Hamilton said the fun all started during COVID, when they had to eat in their car.

“We just started having lunch out once a week. And then Barbara mentioned a place that she would like me to go to that was in Carrollton. And then I mentioned a place, let’s go to Paris. And then we just got to talking, well, let’s start going to different counties. And then we decided we were going to travel Kentucky and have lunch at all 120 counties,” explained Hamilton.

Barbara Hamilton and Barbara Stokley have different tastes when it comes to selecting from the menu.(Cheri Lawson)

The women call their culinary excursions B&B Adventures of Kentucky. It took them two years to complete visiting all 120 counties. But they missed the adventures so much, Hamilton said, they’re at it again.

“After, I don’t know, two or three weeks, we missed the excitement, the fun. We giggle. We laugh. Barbara one morning, she said I’ll be ready with bells on in the morning and she jumps in the car and she starts ringing bells," said Hamilton.

Both neighbors were raised in Kentucky, but Barbara Stokley said they’re enjoying places in the state they’ve never seen before.

“I had never been to eastern Kentucky. And you know, usually when my husband, well, my family went on vacation, we went to Florida. We didn’t go to places in Kentucky. And I’m finding out now there’s a lot better places in Kentucky than any place else,” said Stokley.

On this day, the women have traveled to Kenton County and the iconic Greyhound Tavern.

One of Hamilton’s criteria for selecting a restaurant is its history. Munching on an onion ring the size of a butter plate, she reads a little of the Tavern’s history.

Barbara and Barbara enjoyed an afternoon at the Greyhound Tavern in Kenton County.(Cheri Lawson)

Barbara Stokley recalls how the pair would select a destination when they first started this adventure.

“We started doing the research on the internet, and then Barbara came up with the idea of putting them in a Ziplock bag and just picking out where we’re going to go. She would write the name of the restaurant, the town, the county, how long it took to get there, and the phone number,” said Stokley.

Stokley said they are a little more particular now. They visit one county a week, a different city this round, but spend extra time researching. The 74-year-old said a trip to western or eastern Kentucky usually becomes an overnight stay.

“And then we try to eat breakfast in one county, lunch in one county, and supper in one county,” explained Stokley.

After a satisfying lunch at Greyhound Tavern, B&B Adventures get back on the road. Barbara Stokley said she is living with an eye condition and is unable to drive. So, Barbara Hamilton does all the driving.

“I see a lot of things through her eyes because I can’t see it. She’ll tell me what’s going on down the road, and I can’t see it because I have to be able to focus before I can see,” said Stokley.

Barbara Stokley heads into the restaurant for the next adventure.(Cheri Lawson)

Hamilton said one of their newfound favorite places to hang out is Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in western Kentucky.

”And we like to go to the Elk and the Bison farm. And we have spent four hours in there, two little old ladies driving around watching the animals,” said Hamilton.

They’ve even had a few dicey situations while driving, said Hamilton. Once the GPS took them down the wrong road, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She said it felt scary.

“So, I’m scared to death, and it’s a little bitty country road that takes you to a creek bed. But out of the sky blue there was a mail carrier that come down this road. It was a woman. And she stopped and she got out and told me what to do. Anyway, I feel like she was our Guardian Angel. She got in the car and left,” said Hamilton.

Barbara Hamilton does all the driving on the adventures.(Cheri Lawson)

From places like Fat Patty’s in Boyd County to Otto’s in Kenton County, to people they meet along the way and beautiful sights in the Bluegrass, the women said restaurant hopping in Kentucky is a fun way to feed their bodies and their souls.

Students play music together at NKU's summer strings camp.(Cheri Lawson)

At Griffin Hall on Northern Kentucky University’s campus, sisters Lillian and Bella Duhaime sit across from each other while they play music with a chamber quartet. Lillian glides the bow across the strings on the cello that rests between her knees. Bella sits upright with her violin underneath her chin and draws her bow across the strings. She cues the group by softly counting.

Four students learn to play new music with new people in this chamber quartet at NKU's strings camp.(Cheri Lawson)

Sixteen-year-old Lillian and fourteen-year-old Bella said this week-long day camp is a chance for them to play new pieces with new people.

“I think it feels rewarding. It just feels good to play music with other people. Performing’s my favorite part of playing my instrument,” said Lillian.

Lillian Duhaime hopes one day to play with a professional orchestra.(Cheri Lawson)

“My favorite part would also be performing because I just like going through the song and feeling the music,” explained Bella.

Bella Duhaime enjoys strings camp and likes to perform.(Cheri Lawson)

NKU’s strings camp is for kids who have some experience with instruments like violin, viola, or cello.

Camp coordinator, Betsy Mendel, said students range from ages 8-18 and are split into three groups based on how long they’ve played their instruments and how comfortable they are with the music.

So, we have different levels of music. We have different master teachers for each group, and we have teaching assistants helping. So, we have a lot of wonderful faculty," said Mendel.

Mendel said this summer, about 70 kids show up every day from 9:30 until noon and are immersed in the music.

“It’s a short amount of time, but they do a lot during that time. They are playing their instruments almost the entire two and a half hours, and they learn a lot of new music,” reported Mendel.

Violinist Kathy Anderson conducts a group of more than 20 middle schoolers with enthusiasm and a sense of humor.

Anderson is credited with starting the strings program at Fort Thomas Independent Schools, but has since retired. She continues to perform, though. Her style seems to inspire the young musicians and keeps them smiling.

“I’m honest but not brutally. So, I’ll say that didn’t sound very good, but I say it with a funny tone, and they think that’s funny, and they agree that it does not sound good. So, we figure out what is it that’s not sounding good. And then we make some improvements. So, we’re having fun along the way. It’s always hard because you can’t tip the scales toward crazy and chaos and anarchy,” said Anderson.

Kathy Anderson conducts 20 middle schoolers at NKU's strings camp.(Cheri Lawson)

The NKU Strings Camp is one of the programs under the umbrella of the NKU Music Preparatory Department. The University also hosts the String Project that runs during the academic year. The String Project offers the students quality string music instruction that's affordable.

Dr Holly Attar is Director of NKU’s Music Prep Program and the director of the award-winning NKU String Project. For the Strings Camp, Attar said she’s primarily administrative but plugs herself in to teach where needed. She said there aren’t enough school districts in Northern Kentucky with a daily strings program. One of her goals is to provide kids in this region the opportunity to experience string instruments from an early age.

“I mean, Northern Kentucky is home to the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. And all of this gets cultivated from a young age. If you don’t have string players at the beginning of their lifetime learning at 8,9,10 years old, you don’t have string players at 35,45,55,65. They have to be cultivated from the beginning,” said Attar.

Dr. Holly Attar and Betsy Mendel take a few minutes to chat in between classes at NKU's strings camp.(Cheri Lawson)

String music is also being cultivated at Western Kentucky University for young musicians.
Dr. Andrew Braddock is the co-director of WKU’s String Academy. He said its mission is to develop and educate students in string education. Part of the mission, he said, is to keep music engaged throughout the year, so there are two summer programs, one for advanced students and one for beginners, called the Twinkler session.

“And that's where we welcome beginners as young as four years old. And we provide them with violins for the week. And we are able to teach them and get them playing on the violin. And by Friday, they stand up on stage and play a couple of short pieces. And it’s really kind of magical.”

NKU strings camp student Lillian Duhaime said she hopes one day to perform with a professional orchestra. NKU camp coordinator Betsy Mendel said that whether it’s for a career or just for fun, learning to play a string instrument can change a child’s life.

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Falcon Takes Flight shares dramatic readings of poems based on the Exploring Human Origins exhibit.(Cheri Lawson)

Falcon takes Flight, a wing of Falcon Theater, performs to a full house at the Newport Branch of the Campbell County Public Library by presenting poems with the theme of what it means to be human.

The group known for its dramatic readings was asked to perform as a kickoff to the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit, Exploring Human Origins: What Does it Mean to Be Human?

Clint Ibele, director of this evening’s presentation, said he contacted seven poets from this region and asked them to submit poems that would reflect the exhibit’s theme. Ibele said different voices, including teachers, ministers, and the public, will have thoughts about the exhibit.

“ I wanted to hear from the artistic community, their interpretation, which would give a somewhat unique perspective through these different authors’ work,” explained Ibele.

After getting input from the seven authors whose work is featured, Ibele suggested the title of the presentation.

“By using sort of a combination of their suggestions, I proposed calling it (Un) with the parentheses and then Common Ground, which suggests that which makes us unique as well as that which we share in common," said Ibele.

Poets Pauletta Hansel and Richard Hague check out the exhibit. Each had poems based on the exhibit's theme included in the dramatic readings.(Cheri Lawson)

Programming and community engagement manager at the Campbell County Public Library, Amy Carroll, said the library can display Exploring Human Origins due to a partnership with the Smithsonian and the American Library Association.  Carroll said the exhibit includes display panels, interactive kiosks, and a life-sized Neanderthal mother and child statue.

“It explores evolution and it’s coming from the perspective of what does it means to be human. The goal is to have a respectful community conversation around the theory of evolution and just what people think it means to be human. It shows the timelines and the skulls of early humans and what that evidence looks like. There are several programs that are also attached to it that are going to delve deeper into the question,” said Carroll.

Carroll said the library has a long-standing relationship with Falcon Theater. She likes the idea of poetry as an introduction and said the poets submitted their work before seeing the exhibit.

Campbell County Public Library's Amy Carroll is credited with writing the grant that secured the exhibit.(Cheri Lawson)

Standing in the middle of Exploring Human Origins, actor Anna Hazard, who is reading some of the poetry tonight, said the exhibit creates a little bit of a museum-type maze in a very small space.

 “You can kind of go through in whatever order you like, but you go through different topics of human evolution. It just kind of guides you through different areas of thought and different discoveries, different changes that have evolved over time. There’s interactive pieces with QR codes. There’s a couple of screens that have interactive opportunities. It’s really like a mini museum in a library,” said Hazard.

“I really like the timelines and seeing how recent human history is in the grand scheme of things, I think we lose sight of that sometimes that we’re still pretty new in the grand scheme of time, like capital T, Time. Just seeing it’s not even been a million years since we’ve started gathering around a hearth,” explained Hazard.

Several display panels with information make the library feel like a mini-museum.(Cheri Lawson)

After walking through the exhibit, David Derringer and Worley Stidham said there were several takeaways.

“Even though there are lots of differences in terms of shapes of the skull, in terms of how people ate and what kind of food they ate, depending on where they were in the world, there are a lot of similarities as well. Emotions and feelings haven’t changed. People still find joy. People still feel sadness. People still want love. Those things that make us human, the things that make me enjoy the arts, has transcended time and transcended culture,” said Derringer.

"It does make a person feel small, but in a good way. It's good to be reminded that you're not alone, that you're standing on the top of a huge mountain. You're standing at the very end of a long line of people. It's crazy to think that thousands and thousands of generations eventually led to your family and you. You have to imagine what your great, great, great times a hundred, times a thousand grandmother or grandfather would think of domesticated animals and freeways and fast food," said Stidham.

Display panels and interactive kiosks are included in this traveling exhibit.(Cheri Lawson)

The theater group Falcon Takes Flight spent nearly an hour sharing dramatic readings of poems based on the exhibition’s theme. Campbell County poet Nancy Jentsch wrote two of the poems read this evening. The poet said she was a German teacher for 37 years at Northern Kentucky University and felt honored to have her work included in this performance. Both of her poems presented have to do with language. She recalls her first poem read, called Origin’s Song.

“Talking about the very origins of the species and the inability of language to define what it is that makes us human,” said Jentsch.

Timelines and skulls are part of the exhibition Exploring Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?(Cheri Lawson)

Exploring Human Origins opened May 29th at the Newport Branch of the Campbell County Public Library and is expected to be on display until August 1st. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

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Kentucky musicians Mitch Barrett and Carla Gover lead Singing, Songwriting, and Solidarity at the Carnegie.(Cheri Lawson)

It’s a muggy June evening at Lexington’s Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Kentucky musician Mitch Barrett strums his acoustic guitar and wears a red shirt with his hair pulled back in a ponytail. He leads a crowd of more than two dozen people in a sing-along with Carla Gover, a musician and community organizer. Gover said this is the first of three workshops called Kentucky Voices Rising: Songs of Social Change.

“The idea is that we bring people together, learn a little bit about some particular aspect of Kentucky’s history, and how music has been part of social change movements, and we’re bringing in artists that represent different communities. So, songwriters, all the artists that write songs that are social justice-themed, and then we’re just going to sing together,” explained Gover.

Barrett and Gover discuss music as a tool for social justice. This evening’s presentation, Singing, Songwriting, and Solidarity, includes traditional and original songs. All three workshops, said Gover, are funded by a grant from the Kentucky Arts Council and are free to attendees.

The singer-songwriter applied for the grant, which she said is offered as part of the year-long celebration commemorating next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Gover said the funding is being made available to explore the people, places, and events that shaped Kentucky’s history over the last 250 years.

“Communities across Kentucky are going to be celebrating this in different ways. And when I was reading about the details of the grant, I was like, wow, how perfect would it be, and how appropriate to celebrate this, looking at how different communities, especially oppressed and marginalized communities, have used music as a tool for change. Plus, at this moment in our history, with the division that we have and the political chaos on every front, every time we turn on the news. I think there’s something fundamentally healing about coming together to sing," said Gover.

Musicians Carla Gover and Mitch Barrett lead the first of three workshops.(Cheri Lawson)

Audience members like Meriah Kruse are inspired by tonight’s singing. The health and wellness coach said she’s been craving a community sing-along.

“ I need to sing with other people right now. The world is so crazy. And there’s so much negativity. And we need to shore up our strength and inner power right now,” said Kruse.

On July 31st, the theme of the workshop is Roots and Resistance, Songs of Justice and Freedom from Kentucky to Nicaragua. Marlon Obando Solano will lead the music with his songwriting method, as well as what inspires him.

“We just want to live our lives in peace. We want to protect kids, protect family. We need to think about we all immigrants,” said Soldano.

 The final workshop in the series is scheduled for the end of August. La’Shelle Allen, also known as Sistah LaLa, is the founder of Spirituals in Motion, an outreach program and musical project. She’s looking forward to leading the songwriting workshop and discussing the history of the American Negro Spiritual. Allen says music brings people together in a magical way.

“And so I like to tap into that energy to use both music, activism, and group work to create something beautiful and to create a beautiful moment,” said Allen.

Community members attended the free workshop and sing-along in Lexington.(Cheri Lawson)

As this evening comes to a close, musician and activist Carla Gover said her aim with these workshops is to support people in feeling some relief, solidarity, and the strength to keep going.

“As we sing these songs together, it just adds to the momentum of people who are trying to build a world that is more inclusive and more just for all of us with liberty and justice and equality for all,” said Gover.

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Tea tasting facilitator Rohit Wason holds a tea ceremony with guests.(Cheri Lawson)

At his Louisville home in a room done in minimalist Japanese Style, tea-tasting facilitator Rohit Wason sits cross-legged on a round meditation pillow across from guests Jen Hankee and Frank Puc. At this tea ceremony, Wason pours each of them a cup of Oolong tea.

“Since we are drinking several teas, I’ll ask that the first cup of this tea we can enjoy in silence. That way we are present with the touch and the feel and the smell of the tea. Of course, after the first cup is over, we will continue our wonderful conversations. The second thing is slurping. It is a very common thing to do in Chinese and Japanese food cultures. I will be slurping, but I want to give you a heads up. And if you always wanted to practice slurping but were afraid to do so, this will be a good place to practice,” explains Wason.

“What is the effect that has? Why is that encouraged?” asked Frank.

“I will invite you to try and see if you find the difference first, and see what you think. Is that ok?” asked Wason.

Tea ceremony facilitator Rohit Wason shares tea with guests Jen and Frank.(Cheri Lawson)

Tea ceremonies date back thousands of years, and there are numerous variations. Wason has been offering tea-tasting sessions for four years. His sessions last from 90 minutes to three hours and are inspired by a traditional Chinese tea ceremony known as Gong fu.

“Gong fu literally means skillful. So, it is a skillful way of doing something.  It’s the same word as Kung-Fu, the martial art. So, in this case, what I’m doing is I’m channeling the energy of tea skillfully, hopefully skillfully by sitting with other people. I will steep the teas in my way, in a slow, mindful movement. We will have several teas today. We will steep all of them many times, which takes time. Time is one of the biggest ingredients of a tea ceremony, which we don’t have enough of these days,” said Wason.

People come from all walks of life to experience a tea ceremony at Wason’s home, which he refers to as Shelby’s Tea House. Wason teaches high school math during the day and hosts guests for tea ceremonies on weekends and evenings. He enjoys the teaching component of the tea ceremony, where he talks about the different teas and the ritual of preparing the teapot and cups.

 ”So, we’re just giving our utensils a little wash or a bath. That teapot, the clay that is unglazed is a very common thing in the Chinese tea ceremony of Gong fu," said Wason.

The three tea drinkers each hold their small white cups with two hands while they slurp the tea. The tea taster explains that slurping is done intentionally and enhances the tea’s flavor. Wason: “When you ingest it and if you exhale through your mouth, there’s almost a lingering aroma that you can pick up,” said Wason.

Wason hosts up to 6 ceremonies a month. On this day, Jen and Frank are traveling from Chicago to Greenville, South Carolina. The couple said this experience has been peaceful and eye-opening.

  “The knowledge is really wonderful and the teas taste great,” reported Jen.

” The whole experience is, I’m going to use the word, Zen-like,” said Frank.

Tea ceremony guest Jen Hankee smells the tea before it is steeped.(Cheri Lawson)

In Danville, historian and tea expert Bruce Richardson welcomes me to his family tea shop, where more than 150 teas line the walls.  The 72-year-old has been educating people worldwide about tea for more than 3 decades.

“You know, tea sales in the United States are approaching 15 billion dollars. We’re talking about loose-leaf gourmet sourced teas,” explained Richardson.

Tea Master for the Boston Tea Party Ships Museum Bruce Richardson, shares tea and his vast knowledge on the subject.(Cheri Lawson)

Richardson has written numerous books on tea, he’s the contributing editor for Tea Time Magazine and the Tea Master for the Boston Tea Party Ships Museum. With his background in music and his interest in art, Richardson said, he has a real empathy for the creative process of blending teas.

 “So for instance, the Cincinnati Art Museum comes to us when they have an exhibit going on and say produce a tea for us. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum out in Santa Fe, we design all the teas for them. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Peabody Essex Museum there. The British collection at Yale, we designed all the teas for them,” said Richardson.

He travels to places like China, Sri Lanka, Japan, and India to meet with tea farmers.

This photograph is one of many taken by Bruce Richardson. It is the son of a tea worker in Darjeeling. (courtesy Bruce Richardson)

He recalls going to Japan, being about 3000 feet up on a mountain in Japan, having tea with a man who had produced the best green tea in the world 3 years in a row.

“We went into his house, which is a 400-year-old Japanese house, and he made tea for me. We don’t have to talk. He sees how my eyes are reacting, how I nod my head. He sees how I sniff the tea. At that point, we are speaking in a much deeper relationship than anybody who is speaking in a common language. We are actually communing over that tea that he has made, and I know exactly why that tea was chosen as the world’s best,” said Richardson.

This tea master calls tea a cup of humanity.

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Claire Kolkmeyer, park interpreter at Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, stands beside a replica of Harlan's ground sloth in the park's museum. In the small case is a real tibia found at Big Bone by a park guest in 2017.(Cheri Lawson)

More than 100 people, including park officials, gather under a shelter surrounded by lush green grass at the Big Bone Lick Historic Site in Boone County. Park interpreter Claire Kolkmeyer welcomes the crowd.

“Good Morning, everyone, my name is Claire Kolkmeyer. I am the park naturalist and bison caretaker here at Big Bone Lick State Historic Site. It is a privilege to host you all here today for Big Bone’s newest designation as National Historic Landmark,” announced Kolkmeyer.

Park interpreter Claire Kolkmeyer greets visitors to Big Bone Lick for its National Historic Landmark dedication ceremony.(Cheri Lawson)

Kolkmeyer said that a National Historic Landmark designation is the highest federal recognition a property can get.

“And that’s for its archeological significance, which is Big Bone’s reasoning. But also it can be architecture or history of the building itself. So, Big Bone still holds a National Natural Landmark designation. And so, we’re one of only now 16 sites in the entire U.S. that holds both the National Natural Landmark and the National Historic Landmark,” said Kolkmeyer.

A new sign for Big Bone Historic Site was unveiled at the National Historic Landmark ceremony.(Cheri Lawson)

She said the more than 500-acre park is significant, not only nationally but internationally.

“With our understanding of extinction as we know it today, with our understanding of early life, especially in North America. Identifying all these new species, different historical figures who have been here, like Lewis and Clark and George Washington, had bones from Big Bone. And Benjamin Franklin had an interest. And President Jefferson sending Lewis and Clark here to collect bones,” said Kolkmeyer.

The 29-year-old wears forest green pants and a matching cap. Her khaki-colored shirt displays her name tag and a park emblem. She said Big Bone Lick houses artifacts and fossils from thousands of years ago.

“Here at Big Bone, we focus on the end of the Ice Age or the Pleistocene, and that’s when your glaciers were retreating, the earth was warming. So, it can stretch back as far as about 20 thousand years, but we primarily focus on the last 10 to 12 thousand years ago,” said Kolkmeyer.

Kolkmeyer explains why the museum is a good place to start a tour.

“Here in the museum, we cover a little bit of everything about the park’s history, which reaches all the way back to 450 million years ago with our Ordovician fossils. You can see a full-scale Harlan’s ground sloth, a bull mastodon skull, and loads of other artifacts and bones. So, most people are able to connect the big bone to the big bones that were found here, but the second part of our name is what really drew the animals here. So Big Bone Lick. Lick is another name for a salt spring. These animals that visited the park were all herbivores, so they were needing to find salt from somewhere. So, they’d come here to Big Bone to lick the waters of our salt springs or lick the mud to get the salt they needed,” explained Kolkmeyer.

Inside the museum, there are a couple of open-air exhibits and nine display cases. Kolkmeyer stands next to a replica of a Harlan’s ground sloth.

“He’s totally a replica except for the tibia in the case there that was found by a park guest back in 2017. This sloth is a great example of what they would have looked like, but this is not how we would have found them. This would be considered an articulated skeleton where he’s still all together. The way we find our fossils and bones here is they’re typically separated, they’ve been tumbled in the creek. They’ve been buried and reburied several times. So, it’s usually finding bits and pieces rather than the whole skeleton,” said Kolkmeyer.

Bison come to the fence at Big Bone Lick. (Cheri Lawson)

Claire invites me to ride with her in a utility vehicle back a long gravel pathway to see the herd of Bison.

“The Bison serve as our living link to our Ice Age ancestors. So, they connect us directly to what the park is most well-known for. But then, Bison are also our national mammal, so they hold the same status and recognition as the bald eagle,” said Kolkmeyer.

Thousands of people visit the park each year. Gift shop associate Janie Peace said visitors come from around the world.

“We have people here last week was from Ireland. I had some from Switzerland. I had some today from Toronto. They’re very interested in the history here and how it came about,” explained Peace.

On this day Bill Schieman from Wilmington, Ohio, and his family are checking out the salt springs at Big Bone.

“I love all the history. I love the history of the collection of salt," said Schieman.

Wilmington, Ohio, resident Bill Schieman brought his family to see the park. He especially enjoys the salt springs.(Cheri Lawson)

While federal funding cuts could impact some national parks, Commissioner of Kentucky State Parks, Russ Meyer, said he isn’t worried about that for Big Bone Lick.

"We’ve got our share of problems, but that’s not one of them."

Meyer is looking forward to improvements and a new project being developed at Big Bone Lick Historic Site.

Tina Brouwer-Kraska, founder of Reds Oaks Forest School, explains to Kate Andrews how birds have different rates at which they flap their wings. She then times Kate as she flaps her arms at the Zugunruhe: Meet the Birds event at MLK Park in Lexington.(Cheri Lawson)

It’s a warm, windy spring day at Martin Luther King Park in Lexington, where dozens of kids and adults are enjoying the outdoors. The day is hosted by the Red Oaks Forest School, a non-profit organization in central and eastern Kentucky. Tina Brouwer-Kraska is the executive director and founder. She said the school’s mission is to connect people to nature and community through education, exploration, and play.

“So, every now and then, we want to get out into the community and host free events to get people connected to nature. And that’s what Zugunruhe’s all about. It’s all about connecting people to nature and each other. So, we host four in-person events in our different service areas to meet people where they are,” said Brouwer-Kraska.

Children line up near Brouwer-Kraska at a colorful poster that says Migratory Marvels and How Far Do They Go? She explains to the children how birds have different rates at which they flap their wings
.
“The hummingbird is 4200 times per minute, but look down here, the crow is only 120 times per minute,” explained Brouwer-Kraska.

Five-year-old Kate Andrews is excited to be timed and find out how many times she can flap her arms. Kate says she can flap as fast as a crow and tells why she likes birds.

“I like them because they can fly, and I like them because they’re so feathery, and their babies are so cute,” said Kate.

Brouwer Kraska explains Zugunruhe and its relationship to birds.

“Zugunruhe means an inner stirring to move or migratory restlessness. And it’s a term that refers to what birds feel, like this pull to migrate. It’s an instinct, and they know it’s time to go. So that’s what Zugunruhe means, quite simply. And, it’s just the beginning of taking that big journey,” explained Brouwer-Kraska.

Kimmi Sparkman, executive director of Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge, shows the audience an owl.(Cheri Lawson)

The educator said she’s pondered the idea of Zugunruhe and wondered how humans could learn from it. That inspired her to create events that would get people outdoors.

“There are just so many benefits to spending time outdoors, mental and physical. But of course, we also hope that connection extends to compassion, conservation, and stewardship of the natural world. But at minimum, happier, healthier people make stronger and better communities,” said Brouwer-Kraska.

The Meyer family loves the outdoors. They are having a great time at the Zugunruhe:Meet the Birds event.(Cheri Lawson)

Activities like art in the park, storytime, and a dance performance are on today’s agenda to help visitors connect to nature. But the highlight is the Birds of Prey exhibit. That’s where Kimmi Sparkman, Executive Director of Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge, shows the audience several live birds like a red-tailed hawk and an owl, while she talks about each one and answers questions about the birds.

: “What color do you think this is? Red. So she is a red-tailed hawk. This color doesn’t start coming in until about one year old,” said Sparkman.

Ashton, a volunteer with Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge, helps show the birds.(Cheri Lawson)

Red Oaks Forest School teacher Jenn Hazzard, her husband DJ, and her daughters are having fun at the Zugunruhe: Meet the Birds event. Hazzard said even though humans aren’t a migratory species, they can experience a feeling like Zugunruhe. She likes that the school has named its annual campaign Zugunruhe.

“It talks about that inner stirring in spring. So, we try to reach out to folks to embrace that. To teach people that that might be what they’re feeling and then to show them ways they can get used to that out in nature whether it be at a local park or at one of the forest programs,” said Hazzard.

Hazzard and her family are enjoying the Birds of Prey demonstration. She points to a table next to the birds where she says children touch pelts of skins and furs of animals found in Kentucky. Hazzard said the pelts are included in the Birds of Prey exhibit for the purpose of teaching.

“So kids can get to know and see some of the animals they might see when they’re out and about. They can touch them and feel comfortable. And it also kind of gets you to understand where these animals live,” said Hazzard.

Red Oaks Forest School Teacher Jenn Hazzard is with her husband and daughter and the Andrews family as they investigate the animal pelts.(Cheri Lawson)

Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge Executive Director Kimmi Sparkman teaches about the birds and the furry animals as kids touch the pelts.

Adults and kids seem equally engaged in today’s outdoor activities. Parents, Jaimee Cheney, Tiffany Carson-Givan, and Hannah Andrews, share why events like this and a conscious effort to get outdoors are important.

“I think it gives your brain a break and stimulates creativity,” said Cheney.

I just think for my kids, it makes them more curious. It makes them healthier,” said Carson-Givan.

”Anything where she gets to have a hands-on experience with nature and science is really positive for her,” said Andrews.

Children and adults enjoy touching the animal pelts .(Cheri Lawson)

Red Oaks Forest School founder Tina Brouwer-Kraska said the school is being featured in a documentary called In Our Nature. She said it’s expected out this spring.

Red Oaks Forest School is a WEKU Sponsor.

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Actress Johnnie Chavours rehearses for her roles in the new play The Sewing Circle. Chavours plays six different characters who made an impact on society at various times in America's history.(Cheri Lawson)

It’s a Wednesday evening at the Spotlight Theater in Berea.

On stage, four actresses sit around a long white piece of tobacco canvas draped across a quilting frame with sewing baskets at their feet. The play contains six scenes, each representing a certain time period, from the Revolutionary War until the present day.

Production assistant Kat Davis directs scene two, which represents the Civil War. Susan Crumbaugh was a slave in Kentucky during that time and reportedly lived to be 102 years old. She’s highlighted in this scene that Davis directs.

“So you’re going to sing across the stage until you get to them. So, we’re going to start at the top of scene two, go ahead,” directs Davis.

Actress Johnnie Chavours, playwright Hank Gevedon, and production assistant Kat Davis discuss a scene at The Sewing Circle rehearsal.(Cheri Lawson)

Johnnie Chavours portrays Susan Crumbaugh and sings, “I got more trouble than I can share, but the Lord, you never give me more than I can bear. Amen, Amen.”

Production assistant Davis explains the play’s theme.

“The play is called The Sewing Circle, and it is where we are basically mending the fabric of time. And we’re mending it with the people that throughout much of history have always done the sewing and the mending, the women. So, we’re highlighting different characters, eras, and women throughout history and their impact on our society,” explains Davis.

Berea playwright Hank Gevedon wrote The Sewing Circle. He calls it a historical drama. The 61-year-old said the Association for Teaching Black History in Kentucky, based at Berea College, awarded Gevedon a grant to help promote Black history. Gevedon says that in each scene, the production features a Black female character based on a real woman who had an impact on the world. Gevedon said the production highlights these forgotten voices at some of America’s most critical moments. He recalls the woman represented in the first scene.

”In the first scene during Revolutionary War Times, you’re going to meet a woman named Jenny Sidebottom. And as far as we know, nothing was ever written directly about her, but a lot of it was written about her husband, John Sidebottom, and he was a free white man in Kentucky. He saved the life of a guy named James Monroe, who would go on to become the fifth president of the United States. And we tell Jenny Jane Sidebottom’s story through a speech that she gives and shares her position and her situation in the late 1700s in Kentucky. She lived her life out in Clark County and had 17 children. She was a free Black woman in Kentucky,” explained Gevedon.

The full cast of The Sewing Circle rehearses from left, actress and assistant director Joy Sunshine Lady, actresses Johnnie Chavours, June Colmer, and Amy Rose Karr.(Cheri Lawson)

On this night, the cast rehearses only the first three scenes based on the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War I. In scene three, the focus is on World War I and Nurse Mary Merritt. This character, says Gevedon, was the first Black nurse in Kentucky and is played by Johnnie Chavours. The scene opens with Chavours hovering over what she imagines to be a soldier’s uniform that she says smells of mustard gas.

Chavours said she’s honored to play the main character in each scene. But she said it’s the prayer she sings as Susan Crumbaugh during the Civil War that’s stirring. Chavours recites a few lines of that prayer that she said feels relevant in today’s climate.

“We thank you, Lord, for the needle and thread, for the days past and the days ahead. But, oh Lord, we pray for this divided land. The freedom for each to make a stand. And that’s what we want to do, make a stand in what it means for us to continue to be one as a country,” reads Chavours.

As the rehearsal ended, assistant director and actress Joy Sunshine Lady said it was easy to see the production as a tragedy with all of the scenes centering around wars and upheaval. But she says the beauty of the production is that it encompasses the beauty of life.

“At the end we come to a moment where we challenge ourselves and the audience to question how they are going to learn from the past, what they are going to do to repair our strand, to move forward in a lifegiving way,” said Lady.

Playwright Hank Gevedon said The Sewing Circle is scheduled to be presented at the Spotlight Theater in Berea on April 4th,5th, and 6th. He said the play is expected to be recorded and used as a teaching tool.

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Young at Heart Big Band delights the audience at Porter Memorial Baptist Church.(Cheri Lawson)

Central Kentucky’s Young at Heart Big Band opens its show at Porter Memorial Baptist Church with its theme song, Young at Heart.

With white hair, a goatee, and wearing a blue sports coat, ninety-seven-year-old George Ely sits between two other band members and plays his saxophone. Ely is the oldest member and president of the group.

“It has given me something to do. I’ve been in the band now for 31 years and it keeps me busy. I enjoy it and fellowship, obviously the fellowship,” said Ely.

Ely said the band was initially established at the University of Kentucky more than four decades ago as part of the Donovan program. It recognized that senior citizens have a lot to offer. The band is on its own now and George Ely is happy to be part of it.

The slender eastern Kentucky native says playing in the band is good for the band members and good for the audience.

“We get a lot of pleasure out of the audiences. I’ve had remarks. One lady came to me as I was putting my horn away after the performance and she said, this is the happiest day of my life. It brought back so many memories, “ said Ely.

George Ely is president of Young at Heart Big Band.(Cheri Lawson)

There are usually 22 musicians who play each concert. They are all volunteers and most are retired. Several band members are in their 70s 80s and 90s. The lead trumpet player and music director for the group, Reg Richwine, enjoys playing a solo. He says the non-profit organization performs at various places including churches, Veterans halls, and senior centers.

“The music we play is geared to the 40s and the big band era. So, a lot of the residents grew up listening to this music and dancing to this music. So, it’s important to me because we’re bringing back an era that was so predominant in the 40s but you don’t hear these tunes very much anymore,” said Richwine.

Reg Richwine plays the trumpet for Young at Heart Big Band. The rest of the band plays The St. Louis Blues with Richwine.(Cheri Lawson)

The band’s mission is to introduce and preserve big-band-era music. The non-profit also helps young musicians by supporting public school music programs.

Sitting at the piano and playing along with the song Satin Doll, Claire Vance wears a leopard print jacket and has short highlighted hair. The 83-year-old is the only female musician in the group. She says there are also two female vocalists. Vance believes in the band’s mission.

“It keeps my skills going. Plus, I do some good, I think. It keeps me young too,” said Vance.

Claire Vance plays piano for Young at Heart Big Band.(Cheri Lawson)

On this Thursday afternoon audience members Connie Bowen, Jan Meade, and Rosemary Houp are all smiles at the Young at Heart Concert.

“Oh, I loved it. As I was saying, oh they knocked us off our feet. That’s why we could hardly get up. Brings back memories of music I saw when I was growing up," said Bowen.

Connie Bowen enjoys listening to Young at Heart Big Band.(Cheri Lawson)

” I just think it’s wonderful that they’re the age they are and they are as active and involved as they are,” said Meade.

Jan Meade has seen Young at Heart Big Band more than once. She enjoys how active the band members are and loves their music.(Cheri Lawson)

” It was awesome. And the drummer. He’s my favorite," said Houp.

Rosemary Houp said the drummer was her favorite in Young at Heart Big Band.(Cheri Lawson)

The drummer Barry Miller said he’s been playing drums since he was 14- years- old. He gets emotional when he recalls the joy Young at Heart Big Band provides.

“It’s really fun to play really good music. And it’s really fun to play with good musicians and it’s fun to have people respond to us. I mean, people come up to us and say, that’s the best thing that happened to me today. We play at a lot of nursing homes and we get a lot of people who they come in, in a wheelchair and they sit there motionless. We start playing and they respond,” said Miller.

Drummer Barry Miller has been playing drums since he was 14 years old. He thoroughly enjoys playing with Young at Heart Big Band.(Cheri Lawson)

At age 92 John Cantrell said he creates the playlist for each performance. There are over 300 songs to choose from. Cantrell said there are usually 14 songs in the hour-long concert.

“What I try to do is pick up-tempo tunes that will keep the audience interested, a strong opener, and finish with something that’s familiar and hopefully really up-tempo and exciting,” explained Cantrell.

Ninety-two-year-old John Cantrell creates a playlist for the concerts. He played with the band for 16 years.(Cheri Lawson)

President of Young at Heart Big Band, George Ely, said he schedules 36 concerts a year in places around the Commonwealth.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.