Let’s Make Leaders! 

Addition of Athletic Council Builds Leadership in School and Community

Deidra Bowling-Meade

The Ashland Beacon

   What makes a leader? Jim Kouzes who co-wrote The Leadership Challenge stated, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or work hours. It’s about relationships.”  Relationships are being built through the Ashland Paul Blazer Leadership Council and Gender Equity Committee started by Athletic Director James Conway this 2022-2023 school year. Students who are part of the athletics program at Paul Blazer High School are learning that leadership is important whether you’re playing a sport or not.  Effective leadership builds character and strengthens relationships, which in turn can make a school and community stronger.

   The students who were selected to the Council were identified to Conway by their coaches, peers, teachers, and administrators. The Gender Equity Committee consists of the same students from the Leadership Council, and they serve on many different athletic teams.  The group is required by the KHSAA to meet three times per year to discuss gender equity across the athletic programs. Conway commented, “Although the Gender Equity Committee is a KHSAA requirement, it is still very important to get our student-athlete’s perspectives on our athletic programs and to see where I can assist in trying to make their experiences great while they participate here as student-athletes at Ashland Blazer High School.  The Leadership Council has been a vision of mine to get started to assist our student-athletes in leadership roles.” Members of the Athletic Leadership Council include:  Cole Christian, Grace Delaney, Sawyer Edens, Nate Freize, Alden Johnson, Ella Sellars, Emma Slone, Laney Sorrell, Luke Stahler, and Emma Wiley.

   Conway invited Kelly Wells, who is the current Director of Athletics and Former Head Coach at University of Pikeville,  to speak to the council and committee about the importance of leadership and motivate them to go out and be leaders. Wells’ resume is unmatched when it comes to true leadership and a drive for success.  A native of Rowan County, Wells was a successful athlete at both the high school and collegiate level, beginning with his four year career at Rowan County where he holds the all-time scoring record.  In 1991, Wells began his collegiate career at the University of Tulsa where he scored 169 points as a freshman. At Morehead State, Wells was a three year varsity letter winner scoring 450 career points. In 1992, Wells was named to the All-OVC Newcomer Team and was recognized with OVC All-Academic Awards in the following season.

   After finishing his collegiate career, Wells spent 15 seasons overall as a head coach.  Some of his successes include capturing the 2003 Kentucky State Championship and being runner-up in 2004 while coaching at Mason County. He was named coach of the year after both seasons, coaching Chris Lofton who would go on to be an All-American at the University of Tennessee.  During his time at UPIKE, his accomplishments with the Bears include the all-time wins title in men’s basketball history. He won the NAIA National Championship in 2011, has captured four MSC titles and coached 23 All-Americans. Wells put together a 333-123 record at UPIKE, including winning the 2011 NAIA National Championship. Wells was named the NAIA Coach of the Year following that championship season.

   Conway expressed the impact of Wells, “Wells is ‘A Big Timer, Who Doesn’t Big Time You!’  All of his coaching accolades and accomplishments explain why he is a Big Timer, but the person he is explains why “He doesn’t Big Time you.”  He brings energy and enthusiasm to the room, and you feel better about yourself just being around him.  He is also a very humble person.  I have coached against his high school teams and our relationship has been longstanding.  He is been very successful also, so there is no better person to bring to speak to our student-athletes.”

   Wells enjoys speaking to young people about leadership because it has an impact on their life moving forward.  He discussed the importance of praising your peers and having a servant’s heart.  Wells stated, “There is a difference between leadership and entitlement.  Hard work should be your foundation.”  When Wells’ team won the state championship, their ring had the words “I am because you are.”  It takes everyone working together.  As Wells described it, “It matters who is the leader, but that leader must be the maker of the soup.  You have to have the right ingredients and follow the directions for it to turn out right.” Wells encouraged the student athletes to be change agents.  They have the power to change the culture of their team, school and community with something as simple as a smile or picking up trash. Words and actions matter.  Wells’ visit impacted members of the Athletic Leadership Council. 

   Cole Christian, who is an 11th grade football, wrestling and track athlete commented, “Hearing Mr. Wells speak was an honor and quite eye opening.  Hearing someone who has experienced so much success from around our area encourages others from this region to be successful and meet their goals. There are different kinds of leaders.  I think it is important to find your role and provide change in that role.  Leaders must do what is right, and it is important to spread that to others.” 

   Nate Freize, an 11th grade football and basketball athlete for Blazer, remarked he wanted to “be the outlier and do the things that nobody else wants to do or expects you to do because that makes a huge impact.  When people see someone like an athlete, who people tend to put on a pedestal, lead by example.  It makes a huge impact.” 

   Junior Laney Sorrell, who plays golf, soccer, and basketball for Blazer, stated, “I can help improve leadership by helping someone out whenever I see them struggling and making an effort to be kind and smile to everyone around me.”  11th grade volleyball player Emma Stone agreed, “You can’t be the best player you can be without being a good person first.” 

   Ashland Paul Blazer High School is truly building stronger leaders through the council.  The future looks bright for all these outstanding students.  Cole Christian confirmed, “This group helps to generate change and healthy conversations about sports and life.  Being a part of it is an honor and encourages future leadership.”  Let’s continue to encourage these student athletes making a difference.

Princesses Come Out to Dance With The Kings

Lisa Patrick

The Ashland Beacon

   The days of big, fancy balls may be long gone and the horse-drawn carriages may have given way to automobiles both big and small, but there are some things that will never change. Little girls still want to dress up as princesses and, for most of them, their daddies are still their very first hero. This was evident on Saturday, February 11 as, after being on pause for three years due to COVID restrictions, the area father/daughter dances have finally made a return.

   Friday night, the Boyd County Community Center played host to a father/daughter dance called “Ties & Tiaras.” This was a fundraising event for the Boyd County National Little League. It was attended by more than 150 people who came to have a good time and support the future of the little ones who will be stepping onto the ballfields in just a matter of weeks. D.J. Jeremy Holbrook remarked that there were plenty of “quality dudes” there to invest in “the lives of some little princesses” but admitted that “perhaps taking song requests from a room full of elementary school girls was a bad decision.” The little girls didn’t think that it was a bad decision though as they danced the night away to all of their favorites.

Saturday night saw the return of the popular Tri-State Father/Daughter Dance to Paul Blazer High School. This is a free (donation only) event that has always taken place on the Saturday before Valentine’s Day and benefits Two Hearts Pregnancy Center. The event has traditionally been put together by a group of three seniors who lead a group of volunteers of their peers to make the dance perfect for all the little girls coming to dance with their daddies. Those three then choose the three juniors that will take their place to put the event together the following year. After a three-year hiatus, things had to be done a little differently this year.

   Kourtney Hieneman, Blazer teacher and the owner of Simply Willow Photography, reached out to senior Lexie Fannin to see if she was interested in heading a committee to get the dance going again this year. She was joined by junior Laney Sorrell and senior Gracen Layman as well as some other volunteer committee members to plan out the event.

   Fannin said that “it’s our job as juniors and seniors to get all the work done” but the girls give a lot of credit to Hieneman for directing them in how to go about the planning. Around the end of December/beginning of January, “about ten of us [committee members] started reaching out to local businesses” to ask for donations of money and raffle items for the dance. Fannin pointed out that “we take no profit for ourselves. All money goes to benefit Two Hearts Pregnancy Center.”

   Having only attended one of these dances in the past as a child, Fannin said that she “didn’t know what to expect.” She thought there would be around 100 attendees but “it’s so busy!” They didn’t get an exact count of how many people came in the door but “there’s at least 500 people in here!” Fannin said that “all of the dads lined up against the wall while their little girls run around with their friends was cracking me up!”

   Not all of the dads were lined up on the wall though. Some of the daughters wanted their daddies on the dance floor with them and there were a lot of little princesses twirling around at the end of their daddy’s arms or just happily dancing while holding their daddy’s hands. Regardless of whether they wanted to hang out with their daddies or not, one thing that the girls had in common according to Fannin, Sorrell, and Layman was that they were all “so beautiful!”

   Then it was time for the men to take the floor for the “Daddy Dance-Off.” All of the little princesses circled the dance floor as their daddies willingly did their best to make fools of themselves to the utter joy of their daughters. As the DJ switched the music from one song to another, the men did their best to keep up with the beat with various levels of success.

   The girls really wanted to thank the community for making the return event such a success. They wanted to thank everyone for the donations, which Layman estimated to come in between two and three thousand dollars for Two Hearts Pregnancy Center. As a junior, Sorrell plans to be involved in the planning of the event next year.

A Home for Generations

Gladys Gives a Legacy of Love

Grace Phillips

Ashland Beacon

Have you ever thought about what life was like in 1920…103 years ago?  Warren G Harding was president; WWI had ended a little over a year earlier; television had not been invented; home telephones were 10 years away; women couldn’t vote; it was the time of Prohibition, Kool-Aid and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were invented and the world was recovering from a pandemic of the Spanish Flu.   It was also the year that Gladys Ann Davis was born on February 13^th in a two- story log home that had been in the family for generations. 

It is hard to imagine the changes in the world someone born then had witnessed.  Gladys was the oldest of four children to Mike and Emma Davis. Her father was a farmer and carpenter. He soon began making additions to the original home in order to fit the needs of a growing family. 

As a teen, Gladys met Ollie James McCarty and was married.  Another generation began to raise a family in the old log house.  Gladys and Ollie had four children: Gertrude, Emma Margaret, Michael, and Joann.  Life was not easy for the young family.  The Great Depression had gone on for more than a decade when Gertrude was born in 1939.  That year was also the beginning of an event that would forever change the face of this family….the beginning of WWII.   In 1943, Ollie McCarty answered the call to defend his country and joined the Navy leaving behind his young family.  He was stationed on the USS Hoel, a part of the Taffy Three, tasked to the Philippine Islands.  On October 25, 1944, in what has been called one of the most important naval battles in history, the USS Hoel sank in the battle of Leyte Gulf.   

“I was only 5 years old, but I remember the men coming to the door to tell Mom the news,” recalled Gertrude Tackett.  “It was so hard to try to understand.  I was the oldest of the four.  My youngest sister was just a baby.”  Suddenly, Gladys was trying to raise a family single and alone. 

The house was heated by coal with none of the conveniences of today...no bathrooms or running water.  They didn’t have a lot, but Emma Helms commented that the one thing they had was love. 

If that old house could talk, there would be some stories to tell.   Two large porches had been added to each story of the house.  Gertrude smiled as she remembers some of the antics of the McCarty siblings.  “I look back now and honestly don’t know how one of us didn’t get killed.  We would stand on the banister of the second floor porch and jump off.  It didn’t matter that it would sting our ankles and legs.  We just got up and did it all over again.” 

In the coming years, Gladys met Edward Hicks, and they eventually married.  As the years passed, each of the siblings married one at a time and started their own families.  Another generation began to gather at the log house for holidays or summer picnics. 

Gladys loved flowers, and she had quite the green thumb.  She also loved to embroider and quilt.  Ann Allen, a grandchild, remembered the embroidery paint pins she had. “We would sit and paint her quilt squares.  She would always tell me to be sure and put the lid back on tight, so they wouldn’t dry out.”

Her oldest granddaughter, Ellen Keaton, said her first love for piano came from there.  “Granny had an old upright piano on a side porch.  It was out of tune, and the keys would stick.  She had a beginner piano book, and I would follow the notes and pictures.”  Those early years led to a lifetime of playing the piano and singing. 

Tony Helms has many memories at the old log house.  “A lot of them revolve around Christmas.  Granny always made sure we had a good meal and a gift. It may not have been much, but everyone had something.  There was always prayer before dinner.”  He laughed as he recalled Granny on the porch watching him and his siblings play in the yard.  “She would yell and say, ‘Stay out of the garden.’”  

Tony’s sister, Debbie Riley smiled, “One of my funniest memories was when Granny told us not to go upstairs, but Mark, Chrissy and me had to take a peek.  It was scary up there. It was also scary in the outhouse…I was always afraid a snake would bite me.”

Niki Webb and April Johnson, who are great grandchildren, have memories of markers, crayons and handmade Barbie clothes.  Niki still has some of those today.  Crayons seemed to be a standard because when Niki had children, you could still find Gladys coloring or playing dolls with the great great grandchildren.

Eventually, she moved out of the log house into her father’s home next door to care for him before his death.  The property was sold, and the new owner removed all the additions.  The log house stands today as the original home that was built over 200 years ago.

On her 100^th birthday Gladys was asked what she thought gave her such a long life.  She replied, “A lot of hard work and lots of love.  Love had a whole lot to do with it.”  

It is impossible to explain a life that spans 103 years in a few words.  Her family gathered this past Sunday to celebrate 103 years of life…. a life of hardship, loss of two husbands and two children, but also happiness, love.  In her lifetime, she saw the invention of television, computers, the internet, and phones you can carry in your pocket.  The legacy that began with Gladys and Ollie James McCarty is great.  Today, there are more than 120 direct descendants from their four children.  Each generation has had their own name for her… ‘Carty Granny, Big Granny, Little Granny, Gran Gran. …Six generations all gathered in one room to celebrate the life of one special lady who will never be forgotten.   

Dancing the Night Away at the Highlands Annual Dancing with Our Stars Event

By: Sasha Bush

The Greater Ashland Beacon

WOW! What a night it was Saturday, Feb. 4 as the Tristate gathered at the Boyd County Community Center and danced the night away for a good cause. So, what do museums, dancing, and mirror ball trophies have in common? It can only mean one thing… it’s time for the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center’s annual Dancing with Our Stars (DWOS) fundraising event. DWOS is easily the most anticipated event of the year, and nobody puts on a fundraising event quite like the Highlands Museum. This event is the brainchild of retired Executive Director, Carol Allen and is considered the museum’s most popular and important event year after year. The event features local celebrities pairing up and putting on a dance routine together in a collective effort to raise the most funds for the Highlands Museum. In addition to raising funds for the museum, the contestants look forward to a little friendly competition among friends to see who will walk away with that coveted mirror ball trophy. All funds that are generated by the Dancing with Our Stars event help to support the museum’s yearly operating budget.

This year’s DWOS event was certainly one to remember as eight couples took to the iconic checkerboard dance floor in hopes that they would walk away with that big- beautiful mirror ball trophy in all its glistening glory. This year’s couples certainly put on a show, and it was clear that all eight couples came to compete. Each of the eight couples had dedicated months of hard work, dedication, and practice to perfect their own unique performances. Here is a quick rundown of the eight couples who competed in this year’s DWOS…

Couple #1- Erin Quillen & Hunter Scott

Couple #2- Dustin Howard & Ashton Young

Couple #3- Travis Williams & Sarah Williams

Couple #4- Matthew Pierzala & Karen Pierzala

Couple #5- Josh Blanton & Cesiah Blanton

Couple #6- Andrew Steele & Scott Murphy

Couple #7- Justin Evans & Jason Rooper

Couple #8- Faith Fountain & Lauren Moore

During the 2019 DWOS event the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center announced the Clark Family Discovery Center would be their next project to complete. This state-of-the-art addition to the Highlands Museum will be located on the second floor and will feature 14 interactive exhibits, two interactive classrooms and a small theater. The Clark Family Discovery Center hopes to hold its grand opening ceremony sometime in Sept. of this year. Without fundraising events such as DWOS, the completion of this project would have not been made possible.

Without further ado, I present to you the winners of the 2023 Highlands Museum and Discover Center’s Ninth Annual DWOS.

Best Video went to couple No. 3- Travis Williams, a chain saw artist and employee of Marathon Petroleum with quite an impressive following on social media and his wife Sarah Williams, owner of the Feathered Razor Salon and Barbershop located in Flatwoods Kentucky. The Williams’ video was delightfully humorous and an obvious cut about all the rest. The video featured a complete role reversal between the William’s professions and tied well with their choice of costumes.

The Judges Choice Award went to couple No. 2- Dustin Howard and Ashton Young. Dustin is a business owner, barber, and a former University of Kentucky Cheerleader. His dance partner Ashton is Speech-Language Pathologist at Pathways Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. Together this power couple put on a show that was both energetic and explosive. It was as if I as watching an MTV music video being made before my very eyes.

Couple No. 1 consisted of Erin Quillen, cosmetic injector and business partner at the luxurious Nest Day Spa and Aesthetic Center, located in Russel KY and her dance partner Hunter Scott, who is a legend in his own time. Hunter is the assistant coach of the 16x UCA National Champion Greenup County High School Cheerleaders, instructor at Pride Athletics, and a cheer world champion himself. Together this dynamic duo put on a show that really made everyone flip out and snagged the third-place mirror ball trophy.  Their performance was full of positive energy and an impressive array of gymnastics.

The second-place mirror ball trophy and Best Costume award went couple No. 5. This husband-and-wife couple consisted of the Plant Manager of Vesuvius and Ashland City Commissioner, Josh Blanton, alongside his wife Cesiah Blanton. Cesiah currently works as an intern board certified behavioral analyst, KDMC translator, and is a part of several organizations. She is the only therapist in the tristate region who provides services in Spanish. The second the Blanton’s took to the dance floor, everyone knew that they were in for a show. The Blanton’s performance was full of chemistry and made the audience instantly feel as if they were watching a scene from the popular Netflix TV show, The Bridgerton’s. While their performance was a total success on both Blanton’s parts, it was Cesiah who truly stole the show with her stunning choice of costume that was both whimsical and elegant.

The coveted first place mirror ball trophy and the People’s Choice award went to couple No.7 - Justin Evans and Jason Rooper. Evans currently serves as Chief Information Officer at Members Choice Credit Union and is the owner of Small Batch Bourbon Art. Rooper moved to Ashland after his enlistment in the military and is the owner of Brother’s Keeper Safety. These two put on quite a show that left the audience wanting more. Not only did they dominate the dance floor, but their creative use of storytelling really kept the audience on the edge of their seats. From costume changes to trying to pick up chicks, these two did not disappoint.  It’s no surprise that they walked away with the first-place mirror ball trophy and the People’s Choice Award.