Don Estep

As I turned the sharp corner at Gordon and Kentucky Streets in Corbin, sharp because the center line had been moved to the right, I said to my wife, “Oh good it looks like they are getting ready to repave Kentucky Street.” I assumed that because the center line on the street had been moved to the right and I thought it was because the cracks and bumps down the street were going to be repaired. But then a few blocks down the street the line went back to the center of the street. I was confused because the most cracks in the street were further down in the vicinity of...

Have Americans always been so ignorant of their First Amendment rights or is this just a modern day phenomenon? In a recent survey sent to us by the Kentucky Press Association only 14 percent of Americans were able to name Freedom of the Press as one of the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. It gets even more bewildering than that when the survey lists only 10 percent of Americans were able to name Freedom of Peaceable Assembly as one of the guaranteed freedoms. It is even scary to think that only 15 percent of Americans were able to name Freedom of Religion as one of the freedoms guaranteed by the First...

The best basketball games I have ever seen were played in the old Edwards Gym in Corbin. When I was ten years old me and my friends would stand at the rear of the gym and wait until somebody would open the downstairs restroom door and we would sneek in to watch the Redhounds play basketball. When I was in high school me, Eddie Hodge and Phil Taylor, the coaches’ son, were the managers of the team. Phil and I had a photography room with an enlarger, the trays, chemicals and all the equipment nessessary for developing film set up in the basement of the gym. We did photographs for the...

Last weekend I attended my class reunion of 1957, along with the class of 1956 of Corbin High School at the Corbin Center. Having graduated over 60 years ago it is obvious that we have some age on us. Several of those attending came from out of town, as far away as Florida. It made me happy to hear over and over how much most of them like Corbin. That is kinda expected from people who graduated many years ago no matter which school they graduated from. What the out of towners are mostly feeling are memories of the good times they experienced years ago when they were in school. There is reason...

Sunday I went with my wife, two daughters and grandchildren to the places in Tennessee and Virginia where my parents grew up. It had been a while since we had been there and it was an enjoyable day. On the trip one of my daughters started counting the number of Dollar General Stores we passed. There are many, possibly one in your neighborhood. Being funny she said if you throw out a yellow bag it would sprout into a Dollar General Store. We got a good laugh, but the biggest laugh was when we saw a post on Facebook. It pictured a sign at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville that read, “Future home...

Twice in my life I have had the fear of drowning. The first was when I was a teenager and I was learning to water ski on Norris Lake. I was up and moving along at a good rate of speed when all of a sudden I fell face forward and splat, my face hit the water and for a moment I thought I had consumed the entire body of water. The other time was at the Town House Motel in Corbin. Most of you know it as the Economy Inn which is being torn down to make way for a new Splash Pad. When it was new the Town House was...

He always greeted me with a smile. Bill Hoover was one of the nicest and kindest persons I have ever known. Sadly, Bill passed away this past weekend. I didn’t see Bill often but when I did it was uplifting. I would see him from time to time at a public event or at a ball game and the meeting was always the same. As we met I would see that big smile come on his face. The conversations were always pleasant and inspiring. He, more than any other person, complimented me on my work and columns in this newspaper. He made me feel good. Bill told me many times how much...

Here it is Memorial Day, or as we used to call it decoration day. As a child I remember when crowds would gather, bring lunches, having singing and linger at the cemetery. Things have changed with the passing of time. Now fewer people decorate and the stay lasts for only a few short minutes. Because there are no relatives left to attend to the graves many are left without decorations. The upkeep of most cemeteries is a gigantic problem. While they mostly get our attention on Memorial Day, the grass and weeds grow throughout the summer. I don’t have the answers and I don’t know who would because there are so many cemeteries...

The first weekend in May is one of my favorites. The Kentucky Derby is special whether you attend or watch it on television. Preceding the Derby will be the May Day Festival Friday night at the Corbin Arena. Last year I was honored to be the Master of Ceremonies for the 75th annual May Day Festival. I had never attended the event since it was moved to the Arena. What a difference it made. There is plenty of room there and the comfort level is excellent. I remember the days when our daughters were in the Festival at both the Edwards Gym and later at the Gilliams Gym. Because of the...

No matter what time of the day or night, or the day of the week, when you travel on Interstate 75 it is clogged with traffic. Recently I have made trips to Georgia and traffic was extremely heavy. Each time I’ve driven to Lexington latlely it has been the same way. In addition to heavy traffic, the condition of our highways worsens. Bascially one of the reasons behind this is cheap gas. When gas prices floated down from their 2009 highs in the $4 a gallon range back toward a price nearing $2 a gallon more vehicles have been on the road and there has been less money from gasoline taxes to...