By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist
I’m not sure if any other town besides Cynthiana has such a high percentage of representatives in my Kentucky’s Everyday Heroes book series. There are four, and following are their names and summaries of their stories. Hope their positive, proactive actions will inspire you.
Harold Slade, spurred by his love of local history and creating order from an assortment of materials and written words from the past, was greatly responsible for the success of the now thriving Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum. It started in the early 1990s when his friendship with an “Ol’ Mr. McCauley” gifted Harold a passel of stories of Harrison County people from the past. Harold saw a need to capture them and offered to write them down for the gentleman. He later presented to Mr. McCauley a book of his stories.
Soon, a local historical group commissioned Harold to chronicle the county’s local military veterans, and he produced 70 profiles for posterity. Not only that, but the group also had many meetings about expanding their reach in the community. “Somebody said,” noted Harold, ‘Let’s do something. So, we decided to get a history museum going here.”
Spearheaded by Harold and his cousin, George Slade, the museum officially “opened” on July 22, 1994, though not with great splendor. “We had fifteen or twenty pieces to show, and we had enough nerve to call it a museum,” Harold explained with a grin.
The venue has come a long way from such humble origins. Today, it’s no stretch to call Cynthiana-Harrison County Museum is one of the finer local history museums you’ll find, with much credit to Harold Slade. Hope you’ll visit for a real fun and educational treat. Visit www.harricynmuseum.org for more details.
The Licking Valley Campus of the Maysville Community and Technical College (MCTC) is a vital part of serving Cynthiana/Harrison County’s present and future. Located at 319 Webster Avenue, the school is a testament to the persevering work of a woman named “Bruce” . . . Bruce Florence, that is.
While teaching at Harrison County High in 1996, she and a local lawyer were asked to teach a class for the Maysville Community College in Cynthiana. She accepted, and it was the first step in her dream to see her town having its own place to attend to gain a college education.
The experience showed promise, emboldening her to follow in the footsteps of her father, who long ago made great efforts to establish a community college in his hometown of Harlan, Kentucky.
She asked the Maysville school if she could take on the project of expanding classes at Cynthiana but was soundly refused. Undaunted, she came back with a second proposal, and to work free. The college accepted, and Bruce threw herself into a frenzy of activity to gain a better foothold of education in her town.
That led to many more students, growing pains, and Bruce, along with Lori Gaunce and Sandy Power, presented a building plan for Cynthiana to a couple of Kentucky legislators, Tom McKee and Denny Nunnelley. The two were impressed, and they took the plan to then Kentucky governor, Paul Patton. He accepted the proposal and found 2.5 million in the budget to help fund it.
The rest is history, and today, the Licking Valley Campus of MCTC stands proudly, a beacon of promise hope for the citizens of Harrison County. Much of the credit goes to a woman named Bruce.
Linda Allen, who grew up on farms in Woodford and Scott counties, was taking care of others while a youngster. She came home from school each day and prepared dinner for her father and four brothers. “Mom was a nurse and not at home a lot,” said Linda. I even had to bring my youngest brother along when I went on dates.”
Her caregiving heart never left her. When her mother-in-law developed Alzheimer’s disease, committed the next fifteen years caring for her, having to feed and change her five nights a week. As time passed, she would also take care of her father-in-law as he aged, and later her own mother.
Get the picture about Linda Allen?
Retiring from working 38 years at UK’s Colleges of Health Services, Linda, living in Georgetown, turned her compassionate ways toward helping people in Cynthiana. With her “base” being her Leesburg Christian Church, in rural Harrison County, she carried out, with friends, initiatives to help residents with varying degrees of mental illness at two personal care homes, Shady Lawn and Parkside Manor. Here are some of the ways Linda and her friends helped:
• For newcomers to the homes, they gave “welcome boxes” of practical items, including hygiene products.
• Residents also were provided a monthly “store” allowing residents to select four to six items such as food, hygiene products, clothing, and reading material.
• Linda’s group also provided transportation for residents to attend Saturday night services at Leesburg Christian Church conducted by her group.
• The group also played a big role in the church’s outreach called the Blessing Ball, a special social gathering for those with special needs, patterned after the annual Jesus Prom with Southland Church, in Lexington.
In 2013, Linda was recognized as the 2013 Bluegrass Chapter of the Red Cross at “Hero of the Year” well-deserved. Just ask people who have known her.
Tom White, who proudly served his country as a U.S. Marine, loved history and admired another marine, Franklin Sousley, one of the flag bearers in the iconic WW II photo taken at Iwo Jima. Sousley, who later died in the war, was from Elizaville, Kentucky, some 30 minutes from Tom’s Cynthiana home. Part of Tom’s connection to Sousley, besides the military one, is that they both loved to go fishing in the Licking River while youngsters.
Tom twice visited the graveyard at Elizaville, hoping to find Sousley’s gravestone, but was unsuccessful. On the third try, he found it. But disappointedly for Tom, it was a small, non-descript one, surprising modest for one whose picture has appeared all over the world.
Frustrated, Tom talked to his reservist marine buddies in Lexington, who encouraged him, and others, to raise money to purchase a more grand gravestone for Sousley. That encouraged Tom, and with his buddies’ help, articles were published in military magazines about the project, and soon local newspapers caught wind of it and published articles. Tom spoke at VFWs, American Legions, and other service organizations, sharing the need.
Needing $20,000, they were able to come up with $16,000. Then, local newspapers ran further coverage, and the amount raised skied to $22,000. That brought enough money for the monument, and Tom donated the extra $2000 to the VFW, in Flemingsburg.
There were some logistical issues in getting the monument to the cemetery in the tiny, rural town of Elizaville, but they were overcome with the gracious help of a couple of Lexington companies. The day the Sousley monument was dedicated, June 4, 1984, was memorable. About 500 people showed up, many from around the country. Four F-4 Phantom flyers zoomed over in tribute, and US representatives Carl Perkins and Larry Hopkins procured samples of rocks and sand from Iwo Jima, now enclosed in a small box at the base of the monument. All that, and almost providentially, the man who snapped the famous flag bearers picture, Joe Rosenthal, was also in attendance.
Tom’s dream was realized, and not only people in the Cynthiana and Elizaville area benefited, but also the legacy of Franklin Sousley was made better known by the efforts of a humble Cynthiana man.
Apparently, there’s something in the water around Cynthiana that brings out the best in people.
