|
|
Hopkins Leadership Program Takes History Tour
By
Laura Skillman
 MADISONVILLE,
Ky., (Nov. 1, 2006) – Hopkins County’s junior leadership program
took a side trip through history with a focus on architecture to
celebrate two bicentennials. The day’s activities included a
visit to the local history museum and a historic homes walking
tour.
“2006 is the bicentennial of Hopkins County and 2007 will be the
bicentennial of Madisonville, so to commemorate these special
events in our community this day was added,” said Jeremy Teal,
University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service agent for
4-H youth development in Hopkins County and member of the Junior
Leadership Hopkins County committee.
“We are doing a historical day that focuses on the community,”
he said. “Our committee had several ideas on how to proceed with
this and one of those was the architecture program, because
Nancy Kelley, our Extension agent for family and consumer
sciences, does a program with architecture. There will be some
other aspects included, but architecture is the primary focus.”
Each school in the Hopkins County school system sends a student
to the leadership program, said Kellie Arnold, also a Hopkins
County 4-H agent. The students range from fifth grade to 12th
grade.
Nancy Kelley was the instructor and coordinator for the day’s
events. She is also a member of the Madisonville Bicentennial
Commission.
“The end goal would be the appreciation and ultimate
preservation of these historic buildings. In the 25 years I’ve
lived in Madisonville, I’ve seen entire city blocks razed and
new buildings built. We’ve seen some of our older schools
demolished and some refurbished.
 “I
want the kids to appreciate what we have and when they grow up
and are leaders of the community not to be so fast to replace
some of our history with ‘new and improved.’ I want them to
think about the history and some of the economic aspects. With
the new tourist commission, they are going to start looking at
Madisonville being a Civil War history attraction. If we are
going to promote our community, we need to have these older
landmarks in place and preserved.”
The day began in one of the town’s historical homes, the Morton
House, with a slideshow to give the students an idea of
different architectural styles. They visited the Ruby
Laffoon cabin, birthplace of the Kentucky governor and local
history museum, took a walking tour of some of the historical
downtown homes, and held an architectural scavenger hunt.
Madisonville North senior Whitney Davis said she’s lived in
Madisonville nearly her entire life but had never been to the
Ruby Laffoon cabin or inside the Morton house.
“I wasn’t aware of how rich the architectural history is in
Madisonville, so for me it’s very interesting,” she said. “I
have a large interest in interior design so to see all these old
buildings and how they lived and the history of it is very
interesting to me.
“From this day, I want to be able to tell my friends and my
children some day, about Madisonville, the place where I grew up
and the history of it,” Davis said. “When we go down the street
or go out to eat or go shopping, I can give them an interesting
fact like so-and-so lived here or this happened in that
building. It makes Madisonville a special place to live and
gives it character. One thing being lost in my generation is
people wanting to preserve hometowns. A lot of people want to go
away and get out of their town. But I love this town and I’ve
enjoyed growing up here and so to talk about preserving it and
making sure other people can enjoy it generation after
generation, I think is important.”
Grapevine Elementary fifth-grader Taylor Hampton said the day
was fun as well as educational.
“I’m learning about the different people and the things they did
and where they were living and where they were born,” she said.
“It’s fun. There are a lot of pretty houses with the limestone,
half bricks and whole bricks. It’s really pretty. It’s important
because you learn about the city you live in.”
The junior leadership program is an ongoing venture. The
school-to-work program and local businesses conducted the
program initially and 4-H came on board about four years ago.
“It’s a program for young people to learn about leadership roles
in the county, government, business and to learn how to work
together as a team to make a business work or a community come
together,” she said.
Having only lived in the community for about five years, 4-H
agents Arnold and Teal said the day was a learning experience
for them as well. “We are seeing some things we haven’t seen
before, so it’s good for us, too,” she said. |
Contact: Nancy Kelley, Jeremy Teal and Kellie Arnold,
270-821-3650 |
|
The UK College
of Agriculture, through its land-grant mission, reaches across
the commonwealth with teaching, research and extension
to enhance the lives of Kentuckians. |
Questions/Comments,
e-mail the
webmaster
Copyright © 2001-2006 University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture,
Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service |
News Home
Other Headlines This Week
More
News
RSS Now Available
for those
using news aggregation programs
College News
|
