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Leadership Center Showcases Kentucky
By
Carol L. Spence
 LEXINGTON,
Ky., (July 11, 2007) – Joyce Belcher thrives on fix-up projects,
so when she was faced with purchasing new bedspreads for the
Kentucky Leadership Center, her mind started to race.
“There’re 62 rooms, so I’ve got 62 bedspreads, right? Well,
there’re 200 beds,” she laughed as she remembered her first few
weeks on the job as the center’s new director. “How could I
justify ordering $10,000 worth of bedspreads my first time?”
The center’s name gave her the inspiration she was looking for.
“This is the Kentucky Leadership Center,” she said. “I could
just visualize going down the hall, and seeing different county
names on each door. And I thought, how neat.”
That was the start of what has turned out to be a successful
“adopt-a-room” campaign for the University of Kentucky-run
facility. The idea of promoting individual Kentucky counties
caught on like “grass fire,” in Belcher’s words, and attracted
quite a few takers. To date 47 rooms have been adopted, and not
only by county Cooperative Extension offices. Outside groups
that use the center and individuals have also signed up to
create a variety of rooms that showcase Kentucky.
Room patrons get to choose from three paint colors Belcher
provides for the walls. After that, the sky’s the limit. Every
room takes on the personality of the group that adopts it. Clark
County extension office celebrated their county as the home of
Ale 8 One, a well-known local soft drink, by using the company’s
green and yellow colors splashed across bedspreads, curtains and
throw pillows. Ale 8 One memorabilia adorns the walls in both
the bedroom and the bathroom.
 In
every adopted room, patrons bring in coordinating bedspreads and
curtains, hang prints on the wall that promote their county or
suggest the rich artistic thread that runs through Kentucky
life. Some counties leave brochures to stir up interest in
tourism in their area. Bathrooms are often decorated with
prints, small decorative tables and handmade towel racks. Some
rooms have hand-finished bedside tables. The Dennis Goodman
Room, the only apartment in the center, was adopted by the Jabez
Quilters, who enjoy staying there. According to Belcher, the
quilting group plans to decorate with handmade quilts and
antique furniture.
Belcher thinks her idea is a good way to promote Kentucky to the
center’s visitors.
“We have a lot of people who come from all over the United
States,” she said listing groups such as attorneys who come to
the center for mock trials, Hospice of the Bluegrass, health
departments, arts and crafts workshops and three Elder Hostel
groups. She remembers one of the first reactions she got to the
newly redecorated rooms.
 “This
couple came from Kansas. They have been coming here for
something like 15 years with an Elder Hostel group. The woman
said, ‘When we turned the key to 212 we just expected a normal
room,’ but she said, ‘Wow, we know where Grant County, Kentucky
is, and we know that Skeeter Davis was born there, and we know
that Rodger from Survivor lives in Grant County.’ She said, ‘How
wonderful! It was so interesting.’”
That was the intention, Belcher said -- to promote the counties.
“This didn’t cost her (the Grant County extension agent) a lot,
because she framed brochures. So it didn’t cost her a lot, but
it would have me, for every room,” she said.
Belcher, who took on the job of center director in October 2006,
has other plans for the center. She’s working on getting
wireless Internet access throughout the entire facility.
Currently, it’s available in part of the building.
The next plan on her list centers around a corner by the main
entrance – soon to be called the Kentucky Corner. Her idea is to
give visitors a chance to take a little bit of Kentucky home
with them, by filling it with a small inventory of Kentucky
crafts that would be available to purchase.
“There are a lot of crafts right here in this county. It can be
small. I’m not trying to make a big profit. I just want to
promote Kentucky. I’m hoping to do it by spring of 2008. And
then I’m going to rest,” she said, laughing.
Anyone who knows Joyce Belcher knows she won’t be resting for
long before she moves onto her next “fix-up project.”
For more information about how to adopt one of the remaining
rooms, contact the Kentucky Leadership Center at 270-866-4215. |
Contact: Joyce Belcher, 270-866-4215
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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. |
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