The Clay City Times is pleased to announce that Gwen Reffitt has joined the staff as an advertising sales representative. Reffitt, the 29 year old mother of four children, including a set of triplets is looking forward to being a part of the Clay City Times family.

“I love how family oriented the Times is,” Reffitt said as she prepares to take on her duties as a sales representative. “From what I have seen so far, it is like a family here.”

Reffitt was originally born in Lexington and moved to Knoxville when she was a child with her family. However, after graduating high school she moved to Winchester. It was there that she met her husband, James Reffitt of Powell County. They have lived in Clay City for the past seven years. “We love it here,” Reffitt said.

She has held positions in doctors’ offices but had to take a break when she was pregnant with her triplets. Now she is eager to get back into the workforce. As for advertising, “It just came to me. I mean I was interested and I believed I could do a good job,” she said. “The last time this position came open I wanted to go for it, but someone was hired before I could get my name in. I was a little too late. When I heard the position came open, I jumped at it.”

Reffitt will take over for Mary Faulkner who has taken a sales position in Winchester in another field.

“I believe she will be a good worker for us. She is likable, personable and seems eager to get right to it,” Times owner Teresa Hatfield-Barger said. “I think it will be good for us and for her and we look forward to working together.”

“I am pleased to be here on this team and I feel very welcomed,” Reffitt said about her new position. “I am looking forward to helping our advertisers with their needs and their requests. I want to help them and in turn help the Times.”

If you would like to discuss advertising with Gwen just call (606) 663-5540.

For most of my life I have been a collector and an avid user of wooden walking sticks. My grandfather (Pop) taught me how to make several varieties, and he also instructed me in the proper use of such a useful tool. He never considered entering the woods without either his shotgun or a wooden walking stick. 

During a bit of research regarding Kentucky walking sticks, I found the following debate. “Man’s second invention, which occurred about 5,000 years ago, was the wooden walking stick, which was used to uproot the first invention, which was the rock.” This situation is much like the old question – which came first the chicken or the egg?

Pop really did not care about the history of this very useful tool, he just thought you should have one if you were venturing into the woods, and I am in perfect agreement with him. He used the stick to stabilize his walking, to clear spider webs in his path, to part thick bushes, and to use as a defensive weapon when necessary, especially against stray dogs. Because of his advice, I never venture into the woods without one of my own walking sticks. 

I have made use of this functional and practical tool since I was a small boy. After becoming an adult, I began to collect walking sticks from the interesting places that I have visited. Some of my favorites are from the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Smoky Mountains, and many from state parks in Kentucky. Many others came from my own woods and various places in Powell County. 

My friend Larry understands how much I love walking sticks, so about ten years ago he decided to make me one from a hickory stick from our woods as a Christmas present. He hand carved this beauty, and I think it is still one of my favorites.

A few years ago, Kathy and I drove to Colorado to spend some time at Steamboat Springs and to visit the Colorado Rockies. While crossing the Continental Divide, we spotted a bull moose drinking from a small lake. After taking many photographs of the animal, I told my wife that I wanted to purchase a nice walking stick at the gift shop as a remembrance of the day. When we went into the gift shop, I found just exactly what I wanted. I decided to wait until we were ready to leave to make my purchase. Guess what? I forgot the stick. I still complain to my wife for letting that one slip by me. If ever I return to this picturesque area of the US, I will definitely bring home that cool staff to add to my collection.

Another of my much-loved walking sticks is made from sassafras, which came from West Virginia. While camping at Holly River State Park, I discovered a wonderful trout site on the Holly River. I was successful with my trusty rod and reel, catching several plump members of this species. I got that walking stick as a keepsake of the day and the experience. I have it in my collection today. 

Occasionally, Kathy and I give each other hints about Christmas presents that we would like to receive. Last week I was looking through a catalog and noticed one of the finest walking sticks I have ever seen. It is called a Shillelagh or Irish Walking Stick, and it is made from the blackthorn tree. Because this tree is extremely hard and durable, it takes a very skilled craftsman to sculpt and carve them. Traditionally, this stick is carried by Irish men, and it is thought to be very distinctive and unique. I told my wife just how much I would love to add that one to my collection. It costs a mere $49!

There is another walking stick that I especially cherish that is made from a tobacco stick. Although we lived on a small farm in Rockcastle County, we did not raise tobacco. But our neighbors did, and I played in that old barn for many years. We would choose one of those sticks to use as a “stick horse” and ride through the woods behind my house like Lash Larue or Johnny Mac Brown. 

While traveling in Tennessee a few years ago, I found a walking stick made from a tobacco stick that even had a deer’s head carved into the handle. Of course, you know I had to have it for my collection. Owning this walker is like owning a piece of local history. 

I found an unknown quote from a Backpacker magazine that says, “Use me along the paths that you search and seek, rely on my strength as you climb to the peak!” I think that is precisely why I have a love affair with walking sticks – they give me physical (and moral) support when I venture into the woods to observe nature in all of its glory. 

 

(You can reach me at mtnman@mis.net or you can drop me a line at P.O. Box 927 – Stanton, KY 40380. I appreciate your suggestions and comments.)

Powell County Library

Story Time at the Powell County Public Library is every Thursday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. for ages 3 to 5 years. We will read stories, do crafts and sometimes a movie.

 

Sylvania/UAW Retirees Meeting

Winchester GTE/Sylvania/Osram/UAW retirees will meet 11 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Union Hall on Bloomfield Road. Following the meeting, the retirees and guests will travel to Natural Bridge State Park for lunch. 

 

Autism Support Group Meeting

The Powell County Parents and Professionals Autism Support Group will meet Tuesday, Oct. 13 from 4-5:30 pm at the Powell County Middle School. This month’s topic is Autism at Home: Understanding Family Stress. Debra Lorence (LCSW) with the University of Louisville’s Kentucky Autism Training Center will discuss how to appropriately deal with the impact autism has on family stress levels. Our meetings are always open to the public. Childcare is available. Contacts: Mary Davis, PCMS Resource Director, 663-3308. Marilyn Barnett, 663-2854. Professional development available equals one and a half hours.

 

PCHS Class of 1979 Reunion

The reunion will be held Saturday, Oct. 24 from 5-9 p.m. at the Powell County Lions Club Park. Invitations were mailed Sept. 23. 

If you have questions, would like to help in the planning or do not receive an invitation by Oct. 1, contact Jon Skidmore (w) 606-663-2598, (h) 606-663-5452. Cost will be $20.00 per person. We need old school pictures for the slide show.

 

New Little League Baseball Board Meeting

The newly elected board invites all of you to attend its first public meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.  The meeting will be held at the Senior Citizen’s Building located behind the High School and beside the park’s baseball field.  The new board will be more visible and more accessible to approach.

 

Powell County Diabetes Support Group

Kentucky River Foothills Rural Health Network is sponsoring a Diabetes Support Class.  Classes will meet every second Thursday of the month.  Classes meet at the Powell Adult Day Care (behind Foothills Mobile Clinic) in Clay City from 4-5 p.m.  For more info, please call Tena at 663-9011

Spangler-King

The families of Jasper Spangler and Rushie Lee King will be having their annual reunion this Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Lion’s Club Park.  All family and friends are invited to attend.  Please bring a dish and drinks and join us for a day of enjoyment.  This will be from 12 p.m. until 5 p.m.

 

Class of 1979 Reunion

The reunion will be held Saturday, Oct. 24 from 5-9 p.m. at the Powell County Lions Club Park. Invitations will be mailed Sept. 23. 

If you have questions, would like to help in the planning or do not receive an invitation by Oct. 1, contact Jon Skidmore (w) 606-663-2598, (h) 606-663-5452. Cost will be $20.00 per person. We need old school pictures for the slide show.

ALUMINUM FOIL PACKETS

Aluminum foil sheets

Cooking spray

Thin slice of butter

1 very thin slice of sweet onion

Thinly sliced smoked ham (16 oz)

1 lb asparagus, thin stalks

Bacon, regular or pre-cooked, 2 slices per packet

Swiss or Havarti or Asiago cheese slices, any full flavor white cheese

Basil, leaves or dried or your favorite herb

 

Spray one side of the aluminum foil sheet.  Wash the asparagus then cut approx. 4” – 5” in length.  Fry the bacon and add asparagus pieces, do not brown it.  Layer as follows:  butter, onion, 3 slices of smoked ham overlapping each slice.  Then come lots of asparagus, 1-2 slices bacon, 1 or 2 slices of cheese and sprinkle on dried basil or lay on 3 leaves of basil.  Can add some pepper but do not add salt.  Cover with 3 overlapped slices of ham.  Fold the aluminum foil into a packet, place in you toaster oven to heat thoroughly, not more than 10 minutes.  This is easy and goes together fast.  Use ingredients you have on hand to make it your way.

Joyce Walker

Clay City

 

CARROT CASSEROLE

2 pounds carrots

½ cup milk

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup margarine

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp margarine

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped 

2/3 cup coconut, shredded

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook and mash carrots.  Fold in milk, granulated sugar, margarine, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Pour into 8×11 inch pan or casserole dish.  Combine and mix all topping ingredients.  Sprinkle over carrot mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Bill Irvine

 

MICROWAVE STROGANOFF

2 Tbsp butter

1 ½ lb boneless beef sirloin steak cut into thin strips

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 ¼ cups hot water

1 can (4 oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

½ cup sour cream

Hot cooked noodles

 

Melt the butter in a 2 qt. microwave safe dish, arrange the meat evenly in dish.  Microwave, uncovered, on high for 4 ½ minutes, stirring once.  Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and keep warm.  Stir flour and soup mix into drippings until smooth.  Add mushrooms and beef.  Cover and microwave on high for 13-14 minutes or until the meat is tender and the sauce is thickened, stirring several times.  Stir in the sour cream.  Serve with noodles.

Kim Smith

Stanton

 

PIZZA SNACK

Ritz crackers

Pizza sauce

Pepperoni slices

Mozzarella cheese

 

Cover each cracker with pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is bubbly.

Mechelle Crouch

Clay City

 

CUCUMBER SANDWICHES

Loaf French bread, sliced

8 oz cream cheese

½ cup mayo

1 pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix

Sliced cucumbers

Dill, optional

 

Mix cream cheese, mayo, and Ranch dressing mix until smooth.  Use as a spread on French bread slices.  Top with cucumber slice and sprinkle with a pinch of dill or parsley.

Mechelle Crouch

Clay City

Times Photo by James Cook
The 2009 Powell County High School Homecoming Queen Candidates have been chosen and will be vying for the crown this Friday night when the Pirates host the McCreary Central Raiders on the gridiron. The winner will be announced at halftime. The candidates are (l to r) front row-Heather Noble, Sarah Benningfield, Amanda Dollar, Sarah Crabtree, Kayla Sparks and Sabrena Stamper; second row- Meghan Mays, Marie Covey, Aubrey Todd, Jessica Fraley, Kasey Reed and Audrey Anderson; back row- Allison Otis, Micaiah Crabtree, Lora Dotson, Nicole Johnson and Letisha Noe.

By James Cook, Times Editor

The fallout from the surprise shakedown of the Powell County Detention Center and the subsequent failure of 54 percent of state inmates during a drug test continues two weeks after the search. Within days of the failed drug testing, 15 state inmates were removed from the jail. That move may cost the county nearly $185,000 in revenue a year for the jail.
Following the search and prior to the removal of state inmates from the facility, the Kentucky Department of Corrections made several suggestions and recommendations for the county and the new jailer, Melvin Rogers. It appears that the recommendations have not fallen on deaf ears.
“The DOC suggests a better structuring of a command staff and he (Rogers) is doing that,” Powell County Judge Executive Darren Farmer said in an interview last Friday. “I have spoken with Melvin and he knows what has to be done. He is in the process now of doing it.”
Effective last week the jail has a new chief deputy and a new lieutenant. John Tharpe, who was a dispatcher for the county’s 911 Center, has been transferred to the jail as the new chief deputy. He fills the position of Dallas Clark, the former chief deputy who was dismissed weeks prior to the search and failed drug testing. Jail or county officials due to possible litigation in the future have not addressed Clark’s dismissal publicly.
Clay City Fire Chief and deputy jailer Richard Rogers has been promoted to lieutenant. Larry Hall, a deputy sheriff and dispatcher had held that post temporarily for the past month. Hall has since gone back to his other duties. “It was set up for me to do that on a trial basis and now I’m back doing my other jobs,” Hall said. “I just wanted to help where I could and now they have people in place so I can go back to my duties.”
“We are following the recommendations of the DOC and I believe that John will be an asset to the jail,” Farmer said. “His supervisor experience with the businesses he has run will be helpful.
“We are trying to do the right things and work hard on tis situation,” Powell County Jailer Melvin Rogers said. “The state has not taken any more inmates, but they haven’t brought us any either. We’ll know more later this week about how it is going.”
The jail remains under a 60-day lock down status. No inmate is allowed to leave the facility for wrok release, trustee or community service duties. There are two exceptions, according to jail officials. Both have court orders allowing them to leave the jail to attend classes.
“We know the loss of the state inmates hurts our budget for the jail. I will be talking to the state financial officers about our budget and this situation soon,” Farmer said. “We just want to get a handle on the situation and make things work. We can do that and I know Melvin is working hard to reach that goal too.”

By James Cook, Times Editor

The Powell County Schools is once again dealing with an illness. Monday afternoon the Powell Schools Central Office informed the Times that a case of viral meningitis had been confirmed at Clay City Elementary. According to school officials the student was being treated at a local hospital. No names or the student’s condition has been released.
Maintenance staff , who are already using a daily routine that includes extra cleaning and disinfecting measures, will give the school extra attention this week.

By James Cook, Times Editor
The bus driver who was accused of driving under the influence three weeks ago will have his case heard by the Powell Grand Jury. The driver, Jesse C. Patrick Jr., was in Powell District Court last Tuesday and the court found there was enough evidence to bound the case over for consideration by the grand jury.
Police arrested Patrick, Jr., 40 of Stanton, and charged him with driving while under the influence and 15 counts of wanton endangerment after he drove a Powell County school bus with the high school cross country team on board to and from a meet in Owsley County on Sept. 12.
The arrest citation has the word drugs circled in the section that asks if alcohol or drugs were involved. The wanton endangerment counts cover the 14 student-athletes and the coach who were on the bus during the ordeal. According to the police report, Patrick failed the field sobriety tests and admitted to taking a loritab before leaving the school Saturday morning and a xanax the night before.
Patrick allegedly hit a guardrail on the way to the meet, but told the team coach, Michael Coleman that he was tired. On the way back Coleman, his team members and parents who were following the bus reported that Patrick was driving erratically, swerving back and forth across the mostly two lane highway and speeding. Reportedly, at one point while Coleman tried to talk to Patrick about his driving, a parent pulled in front of the bus to try to slow Patrick down. Patrick apparently passed the parent’s car and continued on toward Stanton.
A student on the bus called police on their cell phone and officers were waiting for Patrick at the school. He was arrested at the scene without incident. The student-athletes and their parents were visibly shook up as they left, some still upset over the ordeal.
Patrick had been involved in what school superintendent Evelyn Neely and school transportation director Earnie Smallwood called a “minor accident” on Aug. 6. At the time it was reported that on the second day of school Patrick’s bus struck a vehicle that was sitting on the side of the road on Red Bird Drive, just off Virden Ridge Road in Clay City. Apparently the car had been left there after possibly breaking down. Patrick reportedly tried to avoid an oncoming car and hit the vehicle, breaking a tail light. A police report was filed, but no drug testing was conducted. Patrick was placed on a different route the next day. School officials have said that the move was not due to the accident but had “been discussed days before.”
“I went out there to take a look, the truck was sitting on the side of the road, no one was in it, it was not moving and the rear tire of the bus hit the tail light,” Smallwood said, reflecting back on Patrick’s earlier incident when he was interviewed after Patrick’s arrest. “In hind sight you think maybe if we had done one (drug test) maybe this may not have happened. But given the same circumstances, I don’t think I would have done anything different.”
However, according to the driver of that truck, Zack Barnett, he was in the vehicle and was trying to move over as far as he could so the bus could get by him. The accident report filed by Powell County Deputy and School Resource Officer Doug Neal states that the Mazda truck was attempting to move over so the bus could pass. The bus did hit the truck with a rear tire and broke out a tail light.
Carol Barnett, Zack Barnett’s wife, notified the Times that the earlier story that no one being in the truck and that it was possibly left on the side of the road was not accurate. “Zack was in the truck when the bus hit it,” she said, “and it was more than just a tail light; there are some scratches down the side, but all we want is for our tail light to be fixed.” The Barnett’s provided the Times with an estimate from Doan’s Body Shop in Heidelberg that indicated there was damage to the left tail light assembly and possible damage to the left side of the truck’s bed that may require some repair and painting. The estimate came to just under $410.
Smallwood did say that the school system does have a set policy on what kind of accident would require a drug test. However, both Smallwood and Neely have stated since Patrick’s arrest that some changes in policy could be forthcoming.