Home safely

We arrived back at Birmingham this morning.

Our final day in Kentucky included a visit to Undulata, the finest saddlebred horse farm in Kentucky (if not the world) and a 2 hour lunch cruise on the paddle steamer Belle of Louisville.

Our farewell dinner was at Claudia Saunders' restaurant, where we were so pleased to see some old friends from earlier in the trip and meet up with Kimberly Moore, team member to the UK last year.

THANK YOU District 6710 for giving us such a wonderful GSE experience!

Watch this space for more reports, thoughts & reflections.

Anne

A day of firsts and lasts!

Yesterday we arrived in Shelbyville, to visit our last club on the trip.

And it still just keeps getting better!

The changeover from Danville to Shelbyville took place in Frankfort, the state capital and we were able to take a tour of the Capitol Building. Whilst on the tour we were able to see a set of four murals which have been commissioned to celebrate the building's centenary and have just been put into place on the inside of the building's dome. Workmen were still working and the area was off limits to visitors, but we were able to see the murals and take photos.

The paintings were done in New York and shipped to Frankfort for installation. When painting the artist had to consider the effect of the horizontal and vertical curving of the corner into which they would be placed. He did an impressive job, and we can claim to be amongst the first visitors to see the new murals.

From Frankfort we travelled on to Lexington to visit the Kentucky Horse Park where we saw a parade of different breeds, four retired champion thoroughbred horses, including a Kentucky Derby winner and took a horse drawn carriage ride around the park.

Today our first scheduled stop was Shelbyville City Police Department where we were given a tazer demonstration - another first. If you find yourself facing a policeman with a tazer my advice is do what he says! We also had a tour of the station. No photos of the tazer in action, but here are Tom & I on the tour.

First time I've sat in the driver's seat of an American police car!

Then it was last. At lunch we gave our presentation to the Rotary Club - the last scheduled presentation of the trip. Also a first as it was recorded for us. Shelbyville is District Governor Chuck's club and he presided over the meeting as the Club President was away on business.

We started the afternoon at a local park taking canoes and paddleboats out onto the lake. It was hot, hot, hot! This was followed by a bit of retail therapy before an evening "cook out" with our host families and DG Chuck & wife Geri at GSE co-ordinator & Pam's host Lani Basberg's home. There was also an opportunity for another first for us - clay pigeon shooting under the meticulous instruction of Lani's husband Jens. It must have been beginner's luck, but I hit 2 out of 3 shots - and at that point I quit while I was ahead!

Tomorrow is our last day before leaving for home and there's a full day's activities planned......

Anne

On to the Rotary Club of Danville

Sunday 30th May. We travelled through the time zone with our hosts for the next 3 days, Danville Rotary Club rtns Charles Vahlkamp and Mike Perros.

Bardstown - home to my Old Kentucky Home

Our first stop was 'My Old Kentucky Home', the state park with the house made famous in the song of the same name. The state song of Kentucky. The park was beautiful, you could nearly mistake it for an English country garden.

After a beautiful lunch we spent the afternoon at the Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery with a guided tour & a few samples along the way, of course! We were all ready for a power nap in the van on the way to meet our next hosts.

Monday 31st May - Memorial Day

The highlight of the day for me was visiting the Shaker Town, Pleasant Hill. The 'Shakers' were officially known as the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. they became a religious sect in the mid 1700s. The name 'Shaker' was given to them because of their shaking & trembling in their services of worship. The site was officially closed in 1910 but was restored & reopened to the public in 1968.

What an amazing place, it has been restored to almost complete working order. We listened to a music program to start in the Meeting House. The young male, a music student, who worked part time had the most beautiful voice & captivated the audience. We then had a leisurely walk around the site along with a fabulous lunch, learning about the way of life these fascinating people led. They signed a declaration to become a member & lived as brothers & sisters with no opportunities for personal relationships.

The site was so peaceful, it was certainly good for contemplation & a chance to speak to those workers & volunteers & learn more.

Laura

After leaving Shaker Town we stopped at The Osage Orange Tree. Known to be at least 200 years old, it stands 88 feet tall and a crown of 76 feet - one to rival Major Oak perhaps?

Anne

We haven't stopped since we arrived in Bowling Green

Wednesday 26th May. This has been the longest amount of days that we have stayed anywhere along the trip with 4 nights but it seems to have gone the quickest.
On our first night we were given a good Kentucky welcome or even a Bowling Green one & taken to the Bowling Green Hot Rods baseball game.

Posing after the ceremonial 1st pitch with Rtn Rob Porter

Having never seen a baseball game before I was intrigued & even more so when we were told we were going to be throwing out the first pitch. We all tried our hardest not to embarrass ourselves - some of rose to the occasion & some of us didnt - me being one of them!! However, we did get to keep the baseballs & even got some of the team to sign them at the end of the game.

Up close & personal with the Hot Rods Mascot & Stephanie Helton - GSE team member to D1220

Thursday 27th May. There was a fantastic visit in the morning to the WEstern Kentucky University campus but the highlight for me was my Vocational afternoon at the Bowling Green Police Department. Sgt Barry Pruitt showed me round the station & introduced me to a number of other officers where we were able to compare notes. I was also able to have an hour sat with a dispatcher listening in. It was interesting to know that we have the same things to deal with, we just deal with them in different ways. Out of all the Police Departments I have visited Bowling Green is probably the most similar to the Southern Control Room at Nottinghamshire Police, although still very different.
I had a lovely lunch with Sgt Pruitt & Marian Carter, the 911 Centre Superviser. Due to a mix up with arrangments I even got a ride in a police car to meet the others in the group. Here's a photo of me in the police car including blue flashing lights!!!

Laura