People

From a young age, Betty Croley learned firsthand all about the important work that goes on inside the local library. Her mother, Joyce Freeman, was a librarian in Whitley County for 35 years. Now, as Croley herself is about to begin her 24th year as a full-time employee at the Whitley County Public Library, she feels that things have come full circle. “When I was growing up, if I came into the library, it wasn’t to loaf,” Croley explained. “My mom always put me to work.” Croley said she did a lot of book shelving and cataloging in those early days, but after she got married later in life she moved...

2023 marks the 21st year of the Cumberland Valley Cruise-In, and longtime cruisers are thrilled to see the event return to downtown Corbin for another season full of fun, fellowship and celebrating custom vehicles. “I have been a part of it for 15 years, and I took over about the time COVID started,” said event organizer Chris McQueen. “The cruise-in started on Depot Street, but everyone wanted to move it onto Main. It has just grown from there, and is now one of the longest running cruise-ins in the state.” Anyone who has ever attended a Cumberland Valley Cruise-In in has likely seen McQueen’s car, which is a 1968 Dodge Charger...

At some point, we’ve all likely heard at least one unfortunate story about an animal having to be put down because they were too old, needed specialized care due to an injury, or had some sort of a physical deformity. For Ashley Day, making sure that cats dealing with these issues don’t have to suffer that fate has become a personal mission. Day is the director of the non-profit organization called Forgotten Felines of Corbin, KY Inc. Since 2016, and with the support of the local community, she has been on a crusade to combat the overpopulation of stray felines in the area by providing low-cost spay and neuter clinics...

The University of Kentucky’s Whitley County Fine Arts Extension offers a wide variety of programs and activities for the local community. Among those are the classes offered by the Extension’s Community Arts center, located at 428 Main Street in downtown Williamsburg. Extension Assistant Mawnie Belcher recently talked about some of the activities taking place in Williamsburg, saying, “We mainly offer classes in the visual arts. Alice Fae Weiland is a basket artist, and one of our instructors. Duane Baysinger is a jeweler who owned his own business locally for many years, and now he teaches a lot of jewelry classes here. Then there is Sue Dee, who is over our...

To a working professional, the day-to-day grind of punching the clock and paying the bills can oftentimes feel like a burden. The thought of reaching retirement age seems like the solution to many hardships, but entering into that phase of life can also bring with it a totally new, and somewhat unexpected, set of problems. Some of these problems include finding ways to fill a sudden abundance of free time in your schedule, figuring out how to stay actively engaged with the community, and/or having to take on a completely different approach to finances now that a regular paycheck from an employer is no longer part of the routine. Luckily for...

In the eternal discussion of who is the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) you will typically hear the same names being brought up again and again – Tom Brady for football, Michael Jordan for basketball, Elvis Presley for rock-n-roll – but when it comes to social media supremacy, an actual goat living in Whitley County is well on her way to achieving G.O.A.T. status. Hazel the fainting goat, who lives in the Pleasant View community with her owners Johnny and Sharon Moses, has developed a rather large following on social media in recent years, with her playful antics being shared far and wide via posts to both Tiktok and Facebook. “She...

Army National Guardsman Ben Stewart has been stationed in Kosovo since February of this year. He has seen many unique sights during his time overseas, and has gained much valuable experience, but he is very much looking forward to returning home in the near future. Stewart, who is a Chief Warrant Officer with the Kentucky Army National Guard, specializes in automotive and battalion maintenance, meaning he services all types of equipment, including Army vehicles, weapons, and other machinery needed for operations. “I have worked full time for the Kentucky Army National Guard as a dual status technician since January 2011,” Stewart explained. “I started as an entry level mechanic at Unit...

Whitley County High School graduate Leslie Monhollen recently became only the fourth Colonel in history to be chosen for a state-level appointment within the Kentucky FFA (Future Farmers of America) organization. Monhollen, who is also the first female from this area to ever hold such a position, was selected to serve as sentinel. The appointment happened at the state FFA convention, held inside the Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington. “When you put a kid from Whitley County in that position, it really motivates the other students,” said Brian Prewitt, ag teach and WCHS FFA Advisor. “When they see the kinds of things that can be accomplished within FFA, it just...

Numerous people turned out at The Corbin Arena on May 6 for the first live May Day Festival in two years. The theme for this year’s festival was “May Day Is So Sweet.” 2022 May Queen MaryAlice Rose McVey was escorted by Tyler Clifton and her train bearers Levi Aron Bunch and Brandon Rashad Bryson II. Lenox Cole Hacker and Oliver Michael Baker served as trumpeters. Blakely Grae Dixon and Layla Rose Lamkin were flower girls. 2022 Tiny Queen Ella Dawn Smith was escorted by Jax Abbott. The 2020 and 2021 virtual May Day courts were also recognized. The Gail Frederick's School of Dance presented the Maypole Dance. Numerous...

The winners of Corbin’s May Day Festival have been determined. MaryAlice Rose McVey, the 16-year-old daughter of John and Heather McVey, will be crowned the 2022 May Day Queen during the Ossoli Club of Corbin’s 79th May Day Festival, which will take place on Friday, May 6. Ella Dawn Smith, the six-year-old daughter of Christopher Zachary Smith and Dr. Chelsea Dawn Smith, is this year’s Tiny Queen. After the votes were tallied Friday afternoon, the following young ladies make up the Queen’s court: first runner up, Caroline Steely; second runner up, Gracelyn Fox; third runner up, Sydney Dixon; fourth runner up, Claire Price; fifth runner up, Josie Elizabeth Bailey; and sixth runner...