GSE Team to Kentucky 2010

Home safely

2010-06-06T17:52:00.005-04:00

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!

2010-06-03T23:22:00.011-04:00

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

2010-06-01T21:26:00.008-04:00

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

2010-06-01T09:10:00.003-04:00

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

Week 3 Part 1, Madisonville

2010-05-31T23:52:00.012-04:00

Week 3 of the trip began in Madisonville. Bob Burke's programme for our visit incorporated our vocational interests with visits to local businesses.

On Monday morning our first stop was Hopkin County Jail and a guided tour by (elected) Jailor Joe Blue. At the jail they house detainees awaiting trial along with those convicted of crimes varying from drink/drug/driving offenses to murder. Emphasis is put on education, training and rehabilitation. There is a kitchen garden and a welding shop. Low risk prisoners work on community service projects such as highway litter clearance and tree clearing. There is always a prisoner "on duty" to wash police cars when they come into the jail! They are using high-tec tracking on prisoners who qualify for "home incarceration" or "home and work". It was fascinating but at the end of the visit we all agreed we'd not want to do anything that meant we'd end up inside for anything other than a visit!

From the jail we went on to Madison Community College to meet staff, learn about their latest science and technology courses which incorporate modular internet based study and tour some of the laboratories. Coal mining is a local industry and we saw some training simulators in action.

We also heard about an innovative programme called "School Counts" which offers high school students the opportunity to earn financial incentives towards the cost of education at the college by maintaining a 95% attendance record. They had even put a welcome on the college information intranet!

In the afternoon we visited I-Surf, an on-line local newspaper, and People Plus, a recruitment agency before having a group photo taken by a local photographer, Barbara Yont.

Monday evening was a personal highlight of the trip for me. Bob, my host, invited me to go to a live gospel music evening - Pritchett Chapel Songfest. This is a regular monthly gathering of local musicians who get together and play an eclectic mix of bluegrass and southern country gospel music. I had a wonderful evening and came away with dvd copies of 3 previous meetings and a promise that the evening's recording will be in the post to me very soon!

Tuesday began with a visit to an automated plastic bottle cap manufacturing plant, Rexam. High tech fully automated assembly lines have eliminated the need for unskilled labour but has resulted in jobs for highly skilled workers to maintain the equipment. From there we went on to the local hospital for a guided tour of their emergency department and cardiology suite.

The club changed their meeting day and venue so we could do our presentation for them at lunch at the hospital. After the presentation Shane, the club president, gave us all copies of the photo taken the day before.

Our final stop of the day was Ruby Concrete, a company who manufactures concrete blocks. Again it was a new, high-tec facility. We can vouch for the fact that it's hot in the kilns where they bake the concrete blocks!

On Wednesday again we said farewell and thank you to our hosts and we were on our way to our 6th host club, Bowling Green.

Anne

‘My Enemy, My Friend’

2010-05-29T01:54:00.004-04:00

At the Chamber of Commerce meeting this morning (28th May 2010) we had the pleasure of hearing a story of reconciliation from the Vietnam War Brigadier General Dan Cherry, USAF, (Ret.)
In 1972 at 15,000 feet in the skies near Hanoi, North Vietnam, Major Dan Cherry first met Lieutenant Nguyen Hong My. In an intensive five minute aerial battle Dan Cherry shot down the MiG-21 piloted by Hong My. Major Cherry returned safely to his base. Lieutenant Hong My lived but was severely injured during the ejection. Both men returned to the cockpit to fly again. Thirty-six years later Dan Cherry and Hong My met face to face in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam for the first time since that fateful day.
Picture shown: Brigadier General Dan Cherry meeting Tom Martin, Tes Murray and Pam Bowley, where the team were fortunate to receive a signed copy of his book ‘My Enemy, My Friend’.

Tes Murray

Vocational day Wednesday 19th May 2010. Clinton. KY

2010-05-26T09:18:00.003-04:00

Fulton Housing, Fulton, Kentucky

Hosts: Cindy, Lisa & Beth

I arrived at Fulton Housing to be greated by 3 lovely ladies who had generc jobs within their organisation. Fulton Housing is a Welfare Housing Organisation that only has a stock of 207 units. The approximate population of Fulton is 5000, predominantly a lower to middle class area with two pockets of low income households. One mainly for the elderly & the other is for general needs (as we know it).

I was taken on a small tour of the general needs units which were single storey bungalow type dwellings, having 2 or 3 bedrooms. These properties are always supplied with a fridge / freezer & a cooker (stove). The units are quite small and dark on the inside, but have very attractive exteriors. Fulton housing is crrently carrying out a project to improve the area and is having ballastrades fitted to all the porches of the properties.

It appears with regards to rent arrears that they have a much easier process for people who continue to breach their tenancy (lease). Rental is paid monthly and has to be paid within 5 days of the 1st each month. If this is not paid by day 5 then a letter will be sent out or a home visit may take place. Should the tenant not go to the office to set up a repayemnt plan, then proceedings commence immediately. Fulton Housing, like the UK, would serve a notice of seeking possession (Notice of intention to evict) which only has a 14 day epirey date, and after 14 days if the rent is not paid or an agreement is set up, then automatic court action will follow, which is very simple; you just apply to the court for an aviction and this is granted and effected with a further 14 days.

I have to say, the rent arrears in Fulton Housing (although a small organisation) are nominal compared to that of the UK generally.However I havre been advised that in other areas of the USA this is not the case, such places like Detroit. Although, South West Kentucky does have many low income families, a high immigrant issue and over 10% of unemployemnt.

Anti social behaviour is also prevalent in Fulton, but the mains issues seem to be dogs barking, and noisy kids. This area does have its issues with drig use and alcohol problems, but not around the welfare housing that I have seen.

The morning also saw a very in depth discussion of what both we do at Trent & Dove Housing with regards to rents arrears & anti social bahaviour and that of Fulton Housing. Interestingly, Fulton Housing have a pet policy, which is very specific that you are only allowed 1 dog, or 1 cat, or 1 caged animal, such as a bird or hamster. If you exceed this, then they will look at taking necessary action.

There were so many things that were discussed, and I could have spent the whole week there and learnt so many things. But sadly a morning was all I had, and the time wittled away so quickly, but I have the contacts of these 3 ladies, and will be emailing them many more questions as they arise & as internet access permits.

A very informative & interesting morning, which has given me a great insight into SWelfare Housing in the United States.

Pam Bowley

Full Day in Madisonville

2010-05-24T22:14:00.005-04:00

Our first full day in Madisonville was spent as a whistle stop tour of all of our Vocational areas.

It started at 9am at the Hopkins County Detention Center. This for me was probably the best & most informative part of the day. The Jailer & the K-9 officer gave us an extensive tour of the jail & how it works, including coming almost face to face with some of its 600+ inmates. Those serving a year or less tend to work within the community to pay for their keep. They clear roads of rubbish, mow grass at churches, road sides etc, they have a garden on site where they grow most of their own produce, one of them even sits in the garage entrance for the officers to wash down their police vehicles. They gave us an informative power point presentation. One of the best things for me was learning about their tagging system which is run using GPS. This enables them to let people go out to do work within the community & other areas knowing full well exactly where they are at all times. If they cause damage to the tag, it sends an email to the Jailer. This also enables them to ensure that people dont go to areas that they shouldn't, eg ex partners addresses. What ideas to I have for back home? I wonder if they will take any of them on?

In the spotlight!

The tour & the questions we asked meant that we were 30 minutes late for the next part of the morning. We headed over to the Madisonville Community College for an overview of their programs & their new online educational network. They also including a tour of their electronics department & the coal mining training. Kentucky is a huge coal mining area, particularly round the Madisonville area. They also spoke to us over lunch of the 'School Counts' program. This is a sponsored program that tries to give school children incentives to stay in school in order to get grants for when they go to college. A good idea in theory but I'm not sure how it would work in the UK as it requires huge amounts of funding. I was also unsure about speaking to 9 year olds about going to college.

After lunch we visited the I Surf office where rotarian Marion Miller gave us the tour. She was obviously very enthusiastic about her product, an online local newspaper. In fact, our visit to the area was the front page!! We then went along People Plus, a local recruitment agency.

We are becoming celebrities in the making. Today we have been on the electronic billboard at the Madisonville Community College, we have been the front page of the local online newspaper, 'ISurfHopkins.com' and then to top it all off our very own photo shoot. We shall be expecting the star treatment when we get home.

Such a fun packed day could only end one way, ice cream - Dairy Queen to be exact and the biggest ice creams ever. So much for Tom who said he didn't want one but we all know what that normally means!! Guess what it did, he had his own spoon & had spoons of everyone elses!!!

A busy but informative day.

Laura

Back from the internet black hole

2010-05-23T16:11:00.005-04:00

It was 90F, didn't feel like Christmas

I have been unable to post since leaving Murray as the internet has been less than available in rural Kentucky, so I thought I would give a little rundown of what I have been up to since leaving Murray.

We left Murray last Tuesday for Clinton, a very small rural town at the very south-west of the state. I was staying with Keith Aiken at his house in Clinton. He spent the morning with me around Clinton, he was showing the local economy and some of the problems it was having. In the afternoon I met with the rest of the girls and we went to Columbus-Belmont State Park, where I came a close second in the crazy golf, it didn't matter though as I would have paid just to see some of the shots Laura pulled off. Hilarious.

In the evening I went to stay in Paducah at Keith's second home with his partner Liz. They had bought the house a year ago and had spent all that time restoring it. We went to the casino on a boat in Metropolis, Illinois. I doubled up on the Black Jack so it was a good night. State law only allows gambling on water, hence the casino was on a boat, but you would have never known from the entrance.

The next day the rest of the group joined us for breakfast round Keith's and we headed of to Paducah for the day. We visited the National Quilting Museum, which was very impressive. Then of for lunch at Kirchoff's bakery and shopping at the mall.

We left Paducah and returned to Clinton for our presentation. The next day we had a 5hr car journey to the District Conference at Santa Claus, Indiana. We had to give the presentation at around 9.30 the next day then the afternoon was ours. We were a little rushed for our presentation as the conference schedule was way ahead of time, but it went well and people said that they really enjoyed it.

Scary huh?

In the afternoon Pam, Tes and I went to Holiday World. A holiday inspired theme park. They have a water park and theme park in the same complex so we got the best of both worlds. Bearing in mind that it was around 90 degrees F we spent most of the day in the pool or on the slides, but Tes and I along with our friends Cory and Jennifer braved The Voyage, the World's No 1 wooden coaster. It scared the life out of us.

We left Santa Claus this morning and i'm now in Madisonvile with my new host Shane.

Tom

We hit the headlines!

2010-05-22T09:12:00.006-04:00

On Tuesday we gave our presentation to members of the Rotary Club of Murray at their Board (Club Council) meeting.

Below is the (tongue-in-cheek) report from their club newsletter:

NEWS FLASH: BRITS INVADE MURRAY. . . Lancaster smitten!

In what is being described as the most successful British invasion since the Beatles, the Rotary Group Study Exchange Team was shuttled into Murray last weekend and treated to “a day in the strange life” of Wallace Reichmuth and Grommet Lancaster. Consisting of four lovely lassies and one lucky bloke, had this GSE team been dispatched by King George to quell the rebellion, we would still be loyal subjects to the Crown.

The Team was darn neardisabled as Rogier led them on a suicide mission to the Circus Skate and Easter Bonnet Emporium where all came away battered and bruised. Other excursions took the Team to where the buffalo roam in the LBL, the downtown police dispatch center, and out to visit a local pottery and playdough artisan.

Regrettably, the itinerary was void of quintessential west Kentucky experiences such as tractor pulling, calf roping, or bass fishing; and in lieu of bean-n-burrito night at The Big Apple, the Team endured pseudo-burgers and soggy fries in the ghost town of Aurora.

Aside from yet another presentation of “Pete Plays A Round Man With Mustache”, the Team attended a makeshift Meeting of the Rotary Bored Monday at high noon here at Chuckee’s Cheeze where they got to meet and greet some real west Kentucky natives and true southerners, heard Jayne Mansfield Crisp’s treatise on home-made ice cream, experienced the Murray Rotary Musical Interlude, and delivered an excellent presentation on their own Rotary Clubs and insight into their very proper and interesting British lives. Kudos to our host Rotarians – this was their finest hour. God save the Queen!

Thank you Murray - we had fun!

Clinton Tuesday 18th - Thursday 20th May

2010-05-20T17:18:00.007-04:00

We started Tuesday with breakfast at Cracker Barrel, a traditional southern country food style restaurant chain. (Some of us were more moderate than others in our choices).

Warren was our guide for the morning, taking us on a tour of the MSU (Murray State University) campus. Term finished last week and there weren't many students around. The town's population is around 15,000 and the university has around 10,000 students so it's important to the economy and prosperity of the town. They average around 600 overseas students, some for intensive English 2nd Language courses, but over 400 foreign students from over 60 countries are enrolled in degree programmes. We were able to have an hour on the internet too, much appreciated.

A magnolia flower from a tree on the MSU campus

Lunch was hosted by Gary, the university Provost. It was beautifully served and delicious. Karl Buss and Glen Reid (President of RC Clinton) joined us and after the ceremonial handing over of the van keys we were on our way to Clinton.

Roger's farewell speech

Karl and Kris hosted a buffet dinner at which we met our new hosts and then we went our separate ways for an evening at home.

Some of you may be thinking that food seems to be playing a big part in our reports - GSE often includes 3 meals a day - and usually too good to resist!

Tuesday morning was vocational after which we met for lunch and then headed to Columbus Belmont Park to see a civil war battleground with Karl and Keith (Tom's host) as guides. The cultural highlight of the afternoon was a game of crazy golf well and truly won by Pam. The evening was free time with hosts.

At Columbus Belmont Park

Today started wet. Very wet! But GSE is known for carrying on regardless of the weather - we have one day and one chance to do and see things on this trip. So again with Karl as our guide we headed to the historic town of Paducah. It sits at the junction of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers and is an important port. We'd been invited to breakfast by Keith, Tom's host, who is renowned for his culinary skills at cooking breakfast. Today he was ably assisted by Tom who looked very professional in a red apron.

By the time we'd eaten the rain was easing and we headed for our next stop, to visit Rodney and Sydney, the architects who designed Karl's "green" home and see their home in the centre of town.

Next stop was the National Quilt Museum which housed a stunning display of modern and traditional quilts. Some contemporary exhibits were designed and made by guys, including a wall hanging made of wood which looked just like a fabric hanging!

Then on to the waterfront to see the point at which the rivers converge and take photos of a wall barrier painted with scenes depicting the history of the town. From there we walked into part of the historic old town for lunch before heading back to the van and out of town for some retail therapy at a mall. On the way we stopped at Whitehaven, a traditional plantation style house which is now a rest stop and tourist information centre. Sadly we didn't have time to take a tour of the house.

This evening we were hosted by the RC Clinton at a special evening meeting and gave our presentation. Four members of the RC Fullton attended too: Cecil and Patti (Pam & Tess's hosts) and THREE -yes -THREE past District Governors, husband and wife Anne and Bill Robertson from the RC Fulton and Mary Jo Duke of RC Clinton. Anne led a GSE team from 6710 to D1220 back in 1998 and is still in contact with friends made on that trip.

Presenting banners

We are now almost packed and ready to travel to Santa Claus, Indiana for District Conference tomorrow.

Anne

Murray = Fun

2010-05-18T12:23:00.006-04:00

So I've had a fun couple of days. We arrived in Murry on Sunday morning after a 4hr journey and a pancake breakfast that I was pretty much sure was going to kill me. We had a relaxing day and met our host in the evening. I was staying with Charles and Mary, and their son Jeff. They lived on a large farm in Tennessee, just over the boarder from here in Murray.

On Sunday Charles and I went and did our own thing away from the girls, they were keen to give me a little bloke time. Charles has a four seater plane with his own hanger and runway, he took me for a fly. Which was awesome. I never thought I would be able to fly a plane but I took the controls for a couple of minutes, unfortunately my camera ran out of battery when I was at the helm.

On Monday I joined the girls again for a trip round Murray, we went to a potter, Wayne Bates www.waynebates.com. He gave us a choice of a free plate paid for by the Rotary Club, which was unexpected and really generous.

At night we had a bbq and a short extract of Pete Lancaster's one man show on Teddy Roosevelt, it was very entertaining. A night I went back to the farm and got to drive Jeff's Ford Mustang down the runway, this was a lot of fun as I love fast cars but have never had the opportunity to drive one, let alone on a private runway.

I have really enjoyed it here, and probably made a few people a little jealous. Excellent.

Tom

Pam Bowley's Vocational Day 13th May 2010

2010-05-18T12:21:00.005-04:00

Pam and Tes with Matt and Michael at Fort Hills, Fort Knox

Social housing for the elderly

Host: Tom Renfrow of Central Kentucky Realtors

Tom collected me from the central meeting point and we first headed off to a Chamber of Commerce meeting for directors of local businesses in Elizabethtown. They discussed many topics but high on their agenda was work in the community. They are very proud of the close knit community of which they are from and there appeared to be few issues other than the world problem of housing: although this being in the private sector, much like England. House prices slumped; many properties being repossessed by banks and lenders which forces what we know as auctions.

After this meeting, Tom took me for a tour of the district which only had one social housing project: a welfare state block of apartments for the elderly; other than that E'town does not have much provision for state run properties.

State run properties seem to be few and far between in this area of Kentucky, although this may differ as we move around the state.

Tom did take me around the private rental sector, which there is an abundance of properties in comparrison to welfare: although most people are still owner occupiers in this part of the America.

Fort Knox housing

Host: Michael Parker

Both Tes and I were very fortunate to be able to visit Fort Knox and meet with Matt & Jennifer, who are key players in the rental properties that Fort Knox offers to soldiers and their families.

Fort Hills is the public / private residential military housing community located at Fort Knox. This venture is a partnership between Actus Lend Lease and the U.S army and is part of the Military Housing Privatisation Act. The property management side of Knox Hills consists of 30 property management staff and 95 maintainence workers. Operations began in December 2006. KNox Hills has an initial development period of 8 years. During this period KNox Hills will construct 850 new homes, demolish 1321 exisiting, older homes and renovate 1376 homes. KNox Hills will manage and maintain 2527 homes for a minimum of 50 years with the option of extending the term an additional 25 years.

We first sat and held discussions and comparisons about housing within the UK & USA. Jennifer collects rent arrears at Fort Knox, however this seems to be a relatively easy approach, as soldiers are required to set up a payment direct from their bank account to pay rent. Rentals at Fort Knox are anything between $823 to £1370 per calendar month. These payments are collected 2 weekly from a soldiers account, if they have insuffiecient funds in their account, they are "chased up" within 2 weeks by Jennifer, verbally by visit to their property or a call to them. Should this not be settled within the month, then the soldier will have "rank" pulled on them and this will be brought to the attention of the soldiers commanding officer, this immediately recifies the arrears problem. Payment agreements can be set up.

Interseingly, anti social behaviour is a problem with soldiers and thier families, although this does seem to be more problematic in the area of children being noisy and writing graffitti on walls. The way that these issues are dealt with is completely by the Fort Know Law Department, where Actus Lend Lease will bring the issues to the local law enforcers attention. The housing company has no dealings with the ASB.

Pam

2010-05-18T12:15:00.003-04:00

Tes Murrays Vocational Day – 13th May 2010
Host: James Jefferies

White Mills Water Treatment Complex
The first part of the morning was spent at White Mills Water Treatment Complex looking at the processes involved with Water Treatment. The site had to be manned 24 hours a day 7 days a week; we looked into the HR/Personnel aspect of this and discussed the scheduling of their employees that had to be taken into consideration at the plant and employee holidays. It was very interesting to understand the Water Treatments day to day processes involved and the testing involved at each stage of the process. They are also heavily audited on a regular basis ensuring that they are meeting strict rules and regulations.

Elizabethtown Community & Technical College

Tes Murray with The Eco House Project including Jane Masse and the team responsible for the project.

In keeping with the mission and goals of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, an innovative and creative educational training program has been developed to meet the region’s growing needs in green construction.

The program focuses on the identification of multidisciplinary components, competencies and the development of a curriculum to provide effective training in green construction technologies; professional development for faculty, secondary instructors, and industry members to increase their skills, understanding, and expertise in integration of state of the art green construction technologies and retrofitting industries; and enhanced learning opportunities for college and K-12 students, and citizens across the region.

The project incorporated computer aided design, construction using green techniques and eco friendly materials, solar energy and efficient water usage.

The working model addresses environmental responsibility and incorporates environmentally responsibility and energy efficient materials and systems. It has been designed as ‘work in progress’, with the new students contributing to the project each semester, and incorporating emerging technologies into the model house.

Sunday 16th & Monday 17th in Murray

2010-05-17T22:46:00.013-04:00

I'm writing about Sunday, but should first report on Saturday's High Tea. Wow! A delicious soup followed by delicate sandwiches and savouries then fresh baked blueberry scones and finally the richest chocolate cake and strawberries dipped in chocolate. mmm. oh yes, then a refreshing grapefruit sorbet to cleanse our palettes. We were in the Magnolia Tea Room, Hazel KY, hosted by Pat and Scott. It was like being in The Ritz or Fortnum & Masons.

And so you can all see for yourselves, here's a picture too.

On Sunday morning we had free time with our hosts. I had the pleasure of going to church with my hosts in Murray, Greg and Terry DeLancey and then on to lunch with their daughter Heather and twin 11 year old grandchildren Blayne and Braxton.

Roger and Warren were our tour guides for the afternoon, taking us into the "land between the lakes" including a visit to The Homeplace 1850 - a working farm which is run exactly as it would have been in 1850. We were able to walk around in and out of the buildings and talk to volunteers dressed in costume and working. From there we drove into an enclosed elk and bison prairie where we were lucky enough to get up close & personal with some bison - sadly the elk weren't playing!

Bison burger anyone?

Refreshments were provided at Belew's Dairy Bar, a drive in where burgers and shakes are abundant. Not quite high tea, but a real Kentucky experience and very popular!

To complete our day we went roller skating at Circus Skate! Some of us were more proficient than others, but we all enjoyed playing on little scooters and tricycles. The others may be able to give a better description than me.

Teamwork!

Today again with Roger as our trusty guide we toured Murray town centre and learned about the regeneration projects which are preserving the heritage and improving the buildings in town. Pam and Laura were invited to visit the police station while Tes, Tom and I had a tour of the old post office, now home to the tourism bureau. From there we all visited Sportable Scoreboards for a factory tour and meeting with the company founder & MD, Mike.

We were invited to lunch with the Board (Club Council) of the RC Murray and some of our hosts. They rushed through their business meeting to allow us to give our presentation. The club's regular meeting is Thursday lunchtime & they have a membership of 120+ with a regular attendance of 80+.

The afternoon started with a visit to a local potter, Wayne Bates who showed us around his studio and demonstrated the art of Sgraffito - applying glaze then scraping some away to create patterns.

Wayne's work is on exhibition in national collections as well as being sold in New York. Amazing!

A opportunity to swim or work out in a health club (much appreciated after all the meals!) was followed by a picnic at the Playhouse in the Park in Murray followed by a performance in the playhouse of a one-man show recounting the early life of Teddy Roosevelt by Pete Lancaster a member of the RC Murray. It was brill!

On stage with Teddy

Tomorrow we will visit the campus of Murray State University before moving on to our next stop - Clinton and a reunion with the 6710 team leader Karl Buss.

Anne

A few photos from week 1

2010-05-15T22:43:00.014-04:00

Prospect - At the Races

Prospect - The Mohamed Ali Centre

A wall of tiles made by children from all over the world

Prospect - Bernheim Forest

R2D2 but not as you've seen him before!

Elizabethtown - "dreaming of my chevy and my old blue jeans"

Elizabethtown - Vintage Car Museum

A photocopy of a letter written by Clyde Barrow (Bonnie & Clyde fame) to Henry Ford just a few weeks before he died. To read, click on the image to enlarge it.

Elizabethtown - Fort Knox

this was as close as we got to the gold

Elizabethtown Wednesday to Saturday

2010-05-15T16:14:00.008-04:00

Today we've travelled to our third club and are now sitting on a porch at the President of RC Murray (Roger)'s home having a couple of hours of "downtime" before High Tea and meeting our next host families.

Elizabethtown also gave us a great time. As guests of the RC Hodgenville we visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Hodgenville, his birthplace and his boyhood home at Knobb Creek.

On Thursday the team and I all had great vocational days. I visited one of the three High Schools in the town for the morning and was given a tour of the local Wallmart by the manager in the afternooon. It was fascinating.

Yesterday we gave our presentation at a breakfast meeting - a 7am start! Then it was on to the town's history museum which included lots of Civil War history, then visited a Coca-Cola memorabilia collection, a vintage car collection, the Patton Meuseum at Fort Knox and had a tour of the army base.

Elizabethtown has a morning club, who hosted our presentation, a noon club, who co-ordinated our visit and shared some of the events and Ratcliff who organised the Fort Knox vocational visit and base tour.

Then last night we were given a farewell party at a Claudia's Tea Room, a historic house renovated by Claudia and her husband Charlie. Charlie's "shrimp boil" is legendary - shrimps, sausage, corn on the cob, garlic, onion, broccoli, carrots and potatoes all boiled together then turned out onto a paper covered table buffet! Followed by berries and icecream.

It's strawberry season here too - yum and yesterday on our way home Bob, my host, and I called at an Amish farm to buy a gallon pot of strawberries for $7 - sweet, juicy and fresh picked.

So we have new hosts tonight and an exciting programme for the next few days - watch this space!

Anne

Thursday 13th May

2010-05-13T23:03:00.004-04:00

Today has been the first vocational day. I spent an hour this morning in District Court with my host D Dee Shaw & Jenny Pitts (who is running for city attourney in Tuesdays elections). The court was very different, they have a video link between the court & the jail to save having to transport people to & from the county jail.
I then move to the new Police Department in Elizabethtown, this is the County Police. They wear blue uniforms but no stab vests & all carry guns. I spent some time with dispatch, they still use CAD, a very old system that we used in Nottinghamshire Police between 15 & 20 years ago. We also had a tour of the new state of the art police station.
Lunch at the Chamber of Commerce.
After Lunch I went back to EPD & took a 'ride' with a EPD officer over to the 911 centre. Here they take calls for Police, Fire Dept & Amb, very different to back home.
The highlight of the day was the hour & half spent with a Kentucky State Police Officer (KSP). We went out on patrol, went to a couple of incidents & stopped a vehicle on the Blue Grass highway. The most intriguing thing that I learnt today was that they take their police cars home at night, amazing. I learnt loads today. I thought that it would be different & I didn't for one minute imagine how different.
Laura - 13th May

Day 4

2010-05-12T20:21:00.008-04:00

Abe, honest.

So today was Abraham Lincoln day. We said a sad good bye to our fantastic host from Prospect. We were then met by our hosts for the day around Hodgenville, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. We started with a visit to Hodgenville, a very typical small town, everyone knew everyone, even though they get millions of visitors each year. We were shown round The Lincoln Museum by a Rotarian, Mrs La Rue. We then when to dinner next door where we gave a little speech and heard a talk from a Ranger. He showed us some furs and skeletons of some local animals such as Beavers, Foxes and Skunks, Tes wasn't so keen.

After dinner we went to a local fudge shop and had a taster, then it was off to the Lincoln Memorial and the Lincoln family farm, at Knob (smirk) Creek, in the afternoon. We were shown round these by a very knowledgeable park ranger.

It was great to learn so much about such an iconic figure in his home town, which by all recognition hasn't changed much.

After our long day we were dropped off in Elizabethtown where we met our host for this period of our stay. Tomorrow we are off to our first vocational day so I get a bit of a break from the girls. Nice.

Tom

Day 3

2010-05-11T22:48:00.004-04:00

Another packed day, starting back at the Mohamed Ali Centre which was open today. Ali was born and raised in Kentucky and became a professional boxer in Louisville. The centre tells his life story with a focus on the impact he had on his generation back in the turbulent 1960s and the work he has done as a goodwill and peace ambassador especially since giving up boxing. A very moving and thought provoking exhibition. I'm so glad we were able to go.

From there we headed out of town to the Bernheim Forest a beautiful 14000 acre managed park full of native trees, shrubs and flowers. After lunch in the cafe there we stopped briefly at an educational centre and for some photo opportunities.

Then it was on to the Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Centre to learn about the history of bourbon distilling in Kentucky and a tasting of some fine 12 and 18 year old bourbon. The first bourbon was produced by accident when some whiskey was put into firescorched oak barrels to be sent downriver to St Louis for sale. In the 4 months or so it took to ship the whiskey there it had absorbed the flavours from the oak and turned from a clear to a golden colour liquid. The improvement in taste was soon realised as people started asking for that golden bourbon whiskey - bourbon being the name on the barrel of the county where it was produced. The makers were quick to respond by scorching the insides of the oak barrels and today it can stay in those barrels for up to 18 year.

Our evening was spent in downtown Louisville with Louisville Metro Rotoract Club - of which Cory Moran (GSE team member from Kentucky to the UK) is a member. Cory wasn't there, but we'd seen him last night at dinner with members of our host club and will see him again at District Conference in 10 days time.

Tomorrow we say farewell to the Prospect Goshen Club and travel 30 miles or so to Elizabethtown, so watch this space!

Anne

Day 2

2010-05-10T16:35:00.009-04:00

Subtle.

Our "tour giudes" for today were Rtns Bill and John who took us to some sights in Louisville. First stop, the Mohamed Ali Centre, which now closes on Mondays, so we moved straight on to the second stop, the Slugger Baseball Museum where we had a guide tour of the factory, learned all about baseball bats and had our photos taken posing holding a major league player's bat. From there we crossed the street to the Frasier Arms Museum where we saw a fab display on loan from the Royal Armoury, a history of weapons and armour and the importance and significance of it's use by the first settlers and pioneers in the USA. Also a moving special exhibition of photos of American forces at war from the 1880s to the present day.
Lunch was followed by a visit to the Falls of the Ohio River and an interpretive centre showing the geological history which shaped the land and created the Ohio river as it is today.
Tonight we're out at an informal dinner with members of our host club - RC Propect and will introduce ourselves - our first formal event!
Anne

I had my host, John take me to Coach's Fitness Club at 6.30am this morning. Fantastic equipment and enjoyed the workout but must say don't think I'll be doing it every morning!!
Tes Murray

Churchill Downs

2010-05-09T18:14:00.007-04:00

We went to the famous Churchill Downs racecourse today. I didn't win anything. Enough said.

Tom

However I won the first two races & ended the day $6 up :-)

Anne

First day.

2010-05-09T09:22:00.006-04:00

Right, after a long day travelling yesterday we have finally arrived in Louisville, Kentucky, at 7.30 (local time) last night. We were on the road since 5.30am yesterday till 12.30 UK time, taking three separate flights to get here. It was all painless enough , even customs was fine contrary to what I had been told. We even got a glimpse of the volcano that has been causing all the flight trouble out the window of our plane, as well as the New York sky line.

When we arrived, weary and a little bit disorientated we were given a very warm welcome from Prospect rotarians Bill and John. They took us to our hotel for the night where we dropped of our bags, then of for a meal at Mitchell's sea food restaurant, the food was fantastic. There we were joined by Pam's hosts Priscilla and Hugh.

After catching up on sleep and a massive breakfast we are just about to go and meet our host families, then is of the the races for the day at the Churchill Downs. I can't wait.

Tom