Kentucky Life

A Boone County painter who works in egg tempera and his daughter, who is also taking up art; Graves County pilot Ralph Waldrop, who flew a B-26 bomber in World War II; and a performance by the 2000 Kentucky All-State Chorus.

Native American burial mounds in Western Kentucky that date to 800 A.D., the colorful and creative horse statues from Lexington's 2000 public-art project, and a forest preserve located just 15 miles from downtown Louisville.

The Pollittes of Mason County hold their 67th annual family reunion, a Campbellsville potter sculpts dinosaurs, a former mapmaker in Edmonton puts her drafting skills to work creating cards and silk-screen prints, and a Letcher County singer/songwriter combines her concern for the environment with her music.

A Danville community theater troupe named for a Centre College scholar and writer; Jack Bricking of Richmond, who travels to greyhound tracks to save former racing dogs that would otherwise be destroyed; and the highly sought-after pottery made in the little community of Bybee.

Newport's riverside tourist attraction brings the life of the sea to the land of the bluegrass, while a state park nearby is home to prehistoric animal remains. Host Dave Shuffett canoes down a segment of the Cumberland River that's part of the national Wild and Scenic Rivers program, finding lots of scenic beauty and a little whitewater. 

The artisans of Louisville's Yardbirds, who create fanciful creatures out of scrap metal and old tools; Oldham County's Dick Wright, who carries on the traditions of blacksmithing; Nancy Farmer, who quests for examples of "futuristic" design, circa the 1950s; and a National Wildlife Refuge in western Kentucky.

Bellarmine University professor Bob Lockhart, whose bronze sculptures are found throughout Louisville; Owensboro homemaker Jan Treesh, who started making baskets as a hobby and now runs her own business selling them; and a hunt beneath old outhouses for antique glass.

The Carlisle-based organization ReRun places retired thoroughbreds who might otherwise be destined for slaughter in loving new homes. Host Dave Shuffett visits a Nature Conservancy preserve in Livingston County that features natural arches and an unusual ecosystem.

Host Dave Shuffett takes a nostalgic tour of Kentucky by driving from Ashland to Paducah on U.S. 60. Stops include a drive-in restaurant, Grayson Lake, Calumet Farm, the state capitol, a Frankfort memorial to African-American Civil War veterans, a Louisville blues bar, Brandenburg, an Owensboro pastry shop, Camp Breckinridge, Smithland, and the Swan Lake Wildlife Management Area.

The Northern Kentucky site of a bloody Revolutionary War battle, a Louisville stained-glass artist whose work embodies both Old and New World traditions, and an Edmonson County couple who grow strawberries without soil.

Kentucky's largest carillon, which rings the music of the bells out over the Berea College campus each day; a historic Bardstown landmark restored after a devastating fire; and a visit to Elkhorn City for small-town charm, picture-postcard mountain scenery, and outdoor adventure.

A Hollywood filmmaker (Halloween, Escape from New York) who grew up in Bowling Green, Lexington's harness-racing track, and a Laurel County colony established by Swiss immigrants in the 1800s.

A Leitchfield man who's one of America's most widely published fantasy artists; Munfordville's Creations from the Hart, a crafts store owned and operated by the crafters of Hart County; and a round of golf at the oldest continuously operated course in the country. 

The locks and dam that allow boats to get around the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, a historic distillery near Lawrenceburg, and a farrier's school in Shelby County.

A park overlooking the Mississippi River in Hickman County commemorates an unusual Civil War battle, Frankfort's David Rodgers runs his business as a tribute to his father, and host Dave Shuffett and naturalist Joyce Bender hike through a Powell County nature preserve said to have been visited by Daniel Boone.

Bell County festivities honoring the explorer who named Cumberland Gap and created some of the first maps of the region, a Frankfort monument that honors Kentuckians killed in Vietnam, and a walking tour of a historic town in Jefferson County. 

Former University of Louisville basketball coach Denny Crum reviews his Hall of Fame career, host Dave Shuffett joins Dave Hellard to search for Native American arrowheads, and a Lexington photographer specializes in Kentucky landscapes.

Explores the various theories about the origins of the Melungeons, an Appalachian ethnic group of mixed ancestry whose forebears arrived in the New World at the time of the Spanish explorers. A 2001 KET production hosted by Dave Shuffett.

Carver Bruce Smith of Villa Hills specializes in human caricatures in wood; 11-year-old Kelsey Tamayo of Hardin County composes music, plays more than 20 instruments, and actually loves to practice; and Bowling Green pet store owner Mitch Gibbs' patented revolving aquarium helps coral grow more naturally and keep its color.

The Kentucky Oral History Commission, begun in 1976, has one of the largest and most accessible collections of taped interviews in the country. A band of seniors in Louisville entertains with harmonicas and nostalgic songs. And high-school singers perform in choruses formed through the 2001 Kentucky Music Educators Assoc. all-state audition process.

A tour of Monroe County, including barbecue restaurants, the Turkey Neck Bend Ferry, and the Old Mulkey Meeting House, and a visit with renowned Louisville sculptor Ed Hamilton as he completes his Washington, DC memorial to African-American soldiers of the Civil War. 

In Fayette County, a volunteer organization sponsors an art program for mentally disabled adults. Host Dave Shuffett journeys to Fulton County to visit a historic clock tower, a black history museum, a company that sells nuts, and a broom-making shop.

Host Dave Shuffett goes fly-fishing with 97-year-old Hub Perdew of Frankfort, who shares his secret for longevity. Ohio County ministers run a teen center. And Louisville artist Jay Bolotin works on his mixed-media creation Limbus, a "mechanical opera" that's part music and part sculpture and is based on a real-life tragedy. A 2001 KET production.