By JASON HART

Times Editor

Hollie Sands

Sandsingers is not a hamburger joint.

This is a perception that proprietor Hollie Sands runs into on a weekly basis.

“We get people in pretty regularly who see our slogan, ‘A real humdinger,’ and think we sell hamburgers here,” said Sands, who owns the shop with her husband, Michael Huntsinger. “That’s okay with us, because they usually come on in and find something they like, even if it’s not a hamburger.”

The shop, which is located at 21 Washington Street in Stanton, is pretty easy to miss.

It’s also hard to pinpoint exactly what they sell.

“We have a little bit of everything,” Sands said. “We only have about a thousand square feet, but it usually takes customers at least three laps around the shop to take everything in.”

Sands said the shop, which was named by combining her and her husband’s last names, is particularly well-known for selling pillows, blankets, and towels.

“We sell a lot more than just those three things,” said Sands. “But we don’t sell anything for retail price, and we average forty to sixty percent below retail.”

Sands said she grew up in a small town of about 200 people in northern Ohio. She knows all about having to make a trip to town to pick up goods.

“I always wanted to open a country store, for locals,” Sands said. “We focus on affordable items that fit tight budgets, and emphasize super customer service.”

Sandsingers is open on Monday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“We are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because we need time to get new merchandise priced, processed, and organized,” Sands said. “We never know what we will have in stock week to week, and we need that time to get ready for our customers.”

Sands said there may be expanded hours in the future.

So, why Stanton?

“Why not Stanton?” Sands said. “The people of Stanton and Powell County have opened their arms to Mike and I from day one,” Sands said. “We feel blessed and excited to be a part of this community. Really, we feel like we are part of a family here.”

Fire, SAR crews clear the way

Times photo by Lisa Johnson

Clay City Mayor Kenny  Rice has been taking part in the Red River Cleanup for more than four years, and he never seems to get tired.

By LISA JOHNSON

Staff Writer

This past weekend, members Clay City Fire Department and Powell County Search and Rescue cleared a fallen tree that had been obstructing the Red River.

This was done to aid in the cleanup that will be held this Saturday  by the Friends Of The Red River.

Friends Of The Red River started back in 2015, but Russ Miller has been clearing  and cleaning up the Red River for the last 23 years.

The cleanup starts at 8 a.m. at the take out loop and ends at Meadow Green Park.

If you would like to participate just show up or contact Clay City Hall for details at 606.663.2224.

If You Go

– Meet at the take-out loop at the end of Meadow Green Park

– 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 8

– Call 606.663.2224 for details

PCHS graduates 147 seniors Sunday evening ceremony

Staff Report

PCHS sent another crop of bright young faces into the world on Sunday night, as 147 seniors said goodbye to high school.

At graduation ceremonies on the evening of May 26, seniors were congratulated on their academic efforts by Superintendent Dr. Anthony Orr, and encouraged students in their future efforts by valedictorian DaShaun Williams.

Combs offered encouraging words to the grads, and spoke of his experiences as a professional chef.

Matthew Charles sang “A Million Dreams” at the beginning of the ceremony, and Hannah Wiliams offered her rendition of “All of my Heart.”

PCHS Principal Doug Brewer made the pronouncment of hraduation, to much jubilation.

Officers of the Class of 2019 are Kelby Rose, President; Molly Cornett, Vice President; Nathan Skidmore, Secretary; Ashley King, Reporter, and Kelsey Turner, Treasurer.

Senior class sponsors are Laura Davis, Tim Jones, Cretia Mainous, Jessica Neal, Andrea Rhodes, Martin Christenson, and Ken Jones.

Photo by Jason Hart

Speedy Denny, of Richmond, examines part of the Red River Historical Society’s extensive collection of mill stones at the annual Old Engine and Grist Mill Festival on Saturday.

By JASON HART

Times Editor

If you were in Clay City on Friday or Saturday, you probably heard some pretty loud noises.

What you heard were the reports of a reproduction of a Civil War cannon, in Clay City as part of the Red River Historical Society’s annual Old Engine and Grist Mill Festival.

According to Society member Larry G. Meadows, this year’s festival was quite a success.

“This one went smoother than any in the eighteen-year history of the festival,” Meadows said. “The Society members worked hard, and they really put on a quality event. The work our people put in was tremendous, and it really paid off.”

Meadows said that attendance was low on Friday, but that’s expected.

“People have to work, it’s hard to get here,” Meadows said. “We’re really pleased with Saturday’s turnout and the way everything went so smoothly.”

In addition to Civil War re-enactors, those attending the festival were greeted by men and women dressed as Long Hunters, as well as displays of working engines and machinery set up by the Hillbilly Flywheelers.

Meadows said the Flywheelers have been an integral part of the Festival since the beginning.

The cannon that residents heard belonged to Gayle Clark, of Lawrenceburg.

“This is a replica of a three-inch ordnance rifle that is located at Gettysburg,” Clark said. “It was made by Steen Artillery in Ashland.”

Meadows said the Historical Society met on Sunday, and they are already discussing next year’s festival.

“We’re thinking about fundraising possibilities, ways to get more people involved in the Society,” Meadows said. “We’re thinking about the next generation, and the generation after that, because that’s who all of this belongs to.”

Photo by Jason Hart

PUTTING IN THE WORK – Red River Historical Society President Ovie Hollon, (facing the camera) manhandles an antique broom-making machine down the stairs of the Red River Museum in Clay City. John Holder, left, and Roger Glenn Turner, both of Clay City, lend a hand moving the machine outside in preparation for this weekend’s festival.

By JASON HART

Times Editor

Springtime in Kentucky brings many things: storms, morel mushrooms, turkey hunting and best of all, festivals.

The Red River Historical Society will be hosting their annual Grist Mill & Old Engine Weekend this Friday and Saturday, and members of the Society have been working hard in preparation.

According to Society President Ovie Hollon, children are generally more interested in history than adults.

“When children come to the Museum, their faces just light up,” Hollon said. “They are just amazed at all the gadgets and tools that they have never seen before.”

This weekend’s event is open to the public, and students from area schools will be in attendance on Friday.

This will be the eighteenth year for the event, according to Society member Barbra Watson Cole.

“This all started when the Hillbilly Flywheelers were invited to do an event here in November 2001,” Cole said. “We learned from that event that bad weather would be a problem that time of year, so we invited the Flywheelers back in May of the following year, and that’s when it’s been held ever since.”

On the schedule for the event are the Hillbilly Flywheelers and their antique engines, a Civil War encampment, cannon demonstration, assorted antique mills, tractors and engines, flint knapping demonstrations, and textile demonstrations inside the museum.

“We will have a variety of vendors, craftspeople, and artisans selling their wares,” Hollon said. “We don’t charge setup fees or anything like that, so we don’t really know who all will be there.”

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

Democratic candidate for Governor Rocky Adkins held a meet and greet with potential voters at the Powell County High School Cafeteria on April 27.

Adkins told the Times the event was a way for him to introduce himself to prospective voters ahead of the primary election scheduled to be held on May 21.

“I want them to know who I am and what I’m about because like them I’m from rural Kentucky in Elliott County. I think it’s time for Kentuckians to have another rural Kentuckian in the Governor’s Office who understands the challenges and obstacles that people have to be able to overcome in order to find a decent job or to be able to feed their family,” Adkins said.

Adkins is the current House Minority Floor Leader in Frankfort and he says he feels that he’s the candidate with the most experience. He told the Times he would be ready to hit-the-ground running on Day 1 if he were elected Governor of Kentucky

“I bring strong leadership and the experience that it takes to be a good Governor from the years I served in the Kentucky General Assembly. I’ve also served on the Budget Committee. There’s really no better training ground than the experience of serving in the House of Representatives debating the issues,” Adkins said.  “I understand how to make state government work for communities all across Kentucky. More importantly, I understand how to work to cross party aisles to bring Democrats and Republicans together so we can have those relationships to get the bipartisan results for the people to build a better Kentucky. That’s the why I’m in the race.”

Adkins is a cancer survivor and he says that healthcare will continue to be a major issue for him if he’s elected.

“We ought to be trying more ways to get more people with healthcare in this state instead of attempting to take 100,000 people off of healthcare because not only does that hurt working people insured for the first time but it also hurts the healthcare industry,” Adkins said.  “If we ever lose our hospitals throughout rural Kentucky we will never get them back and the healthcare industry is one of the greatest economic drivers we have in the state because every community employs hundreds of people in the industry.”

“I think that we have to have a world class public education system, healthcare industry and broadband system to be able to build strong economies all across Kentucky so we can keep the jobs we got to today while still being able to recruit the businesses and industry we want to come to Kentucky tomorrow,” Adkins said. “If we want to be competitive we got to continue to invest in the infrastructure of our roads and bridges, water and sewer, a world class broadband system to bring high speed internet throughout rural and urban Kentucky.”

Other Democratic candidates includes Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, and Former State Auditor Adam Edelen. On the Republican side of the ticket is current Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin who is being challenged in the primary by State Representative Robert Goforth.

FFA Director Cole Wills, Dillion Arvin, Logan Arvin, Lashana Goodwin, Sierra McKinney and Powell County Schools Superintendent Anthony Orr. The students were recognized by the Powell County Board of Education for being named FFA State Degree Recipients. Not pictured are Brooklyn Helton, Avery Lowe and Dan Creech who are also FFA State Degree recipients.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

The Powell County Future Farmers of America Chapter had its members recognized at the recent Board of Education meeting held on April 18.

Powell County FFA Instructor Cole Wills recognized members Sierra McKinney, Lashana Goodwin, Logan Arvin, Dillion Arvin, Brooklyn Helton, Avery Lowe and Dan Creech who will be recieving the FFA State Degree on June 16.

“The degree is the highest level the state association can give out before the student reaches the national level,” Wills said. “They all have worked very hard not only in the classroom but also on their own at home.”

Requirements for the State FFA Degree:

• Hold the Chapter Degree

• Have been an active FFA member for at least two years

• Have completed at least two years of instruction in agricultural education and be regularly enrolled in an agricultural education class OR if out of school have completed at least three years of instruction in agricultural education or all of the agricultural education offered in the school last attended.

• Demonstrate leadership ability by:

• Performing ten parliamentary procedure abilities

• Give a six minute speech on a topic related to agriculture or the FFA

• Serving as an officer or committee member of a standing committee

• Earned and productively invested at least $1500 through SAE or have worked at least 300 hours in excess of scheduled class time

• Have a satisfactory record of community activities

• Have a satisfactory record of scholarship as certified by the agricultural instructor and administrator

• Have participated in a minimum of three regional and two state and/or national activities

• Have participated in at least 25 hours of community service within at least two different community activities- these hours cannot be counted as part of the student’s SAE.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

When traveling down 12th Street in Clay City you wont be able to miss the pride and joy of Jim Benchic. His garden features over 2,000 tulips in a rainbow of colors.

“You have to plant the tulips in the fall. They have to go through the winter cycle. If you don’t have them in the ground to go through that cycle they won’t bloom,” Benchic said.

“I love flowers I don’t have enough of them yet. The way I look at it, its a man’s garden because I’m the guy who planted them all. I can tell you almost exactly how many are out there. Sometimes I wonder why I order so many of the things,” Benchic said.

Benchic says the flowers are in full bloom but they won’t stay that way for long.

“They are really beautiful but they don’t last that long a week or ten days and thats all you get, theres nothing for the rest of the year,” Benchic said.  “A tulip will close up at night the open during the day I guess it’s the sun that opens them right up but if you comeback in the evening you can see them all closed up.”

It’s something to do and occupy yourself I just come out here sit down with a digger until I run out,” When I finally run out of room I’ll have to find me something else to do and if I ever have to leave I’m digging them up and taking with me I can’t let anybody buy my pride and joyw.”

Benchic says that he’s already beginning to makes plans for planting more bulbs in the coming fall.

I’ll have to get at-least another 1,000 more bulbs for the upcoming fall I’ll just come out here a plant them until I get tired or run out I know that you can’t plant them all in a single day,” He said.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

Dean and Laura Rogers are the owners of Mr. Ed’s Hot Dogs which recently opened on April 2 in Stanton.

Dean Rogers says that he and his wife are both  Powell County natives and recently moved back  after a stint in Lexington.

“We were just looking for something to  keep us busy and allow us to keep the kids,” Rogers said. “We got a couch and television to keep them entertained if needed  we just thought it was really convenient.”

“We had thought about the possibility of opening a bigger restaurant but we just wanted to do something while also keeping it simple,” Rogers said. “We decided to go with the hot dogs and see how it went and so far it’s been good.”

Rogers says that he was blown away by the response of the community since opening on April 2.

“We’ve sold over 1,000 hot dogs everyday that we’ve been open. We sold over 1,200 the first day,” Rogers said. “I was shocked. I had to close the second day because I never thought that we would sell that many hot dogs. We had a line out to the parking lot all day long. It was kind of overwhelming and amazing all at the same time.”

“It’s really been a family effort. My sisters are teachers and we had opening day during Spring Break and they’ve been helping out. My wife’s parents has been a big help and my mother is working in the back right now,” Rogers said. “It’s just kind of been a community effort and ever since Tuesday we’ve had numerous return customers. That really means a lot to see the people that keep coming back. We’ve been blessed to have the response that we have.”

“This location right on the main strip and is probably one of the better locations that we could have picked.” I didn’t know when I was looking at it but when this building was built this was my dad’s office so it’s kind of neat.”

Mr. Ed’s Hotdogs is located at 209 N. Main Street in Stanton and is open from 10:00 a.m.-to-7:30- p.m. Monday-Saturday. If you would like more information you can contact them at 663-7532.