Kentucky Life

At the Buffalo Crossing Fun Ranch in Shelby County, the birth of a rare white bison has attracted national attention. In downtown Salyersville, the Magoffin County Historical Society has created a pioneer village out of 15 log cabins originally located throughout this area of Eastern Kentucky. And in Calloway County, Tammy Cothran raises Shetland sheep, then turns their wool into woven goods.

The River Heritage Museum in Paducah features interactive exhibits and special projects. Kentucky Down Under brings a sampling of Australian culture and wildlife to cave country. Lexington folk artist LaVon Williams, a fifth-generation woodcarver, creates figures and panels reflecting urban African-American life. And host Dave Shuffett meets a world-champion canine at a dock-diving competition.

Photographer Brian Maslyar visits the Red River Gorge and offers pointers for taking better nature photos. The Kentucky School of Craft in Hindman teaches crafts and business skills as part of an ambitious community development effort. Joe Cissell meets host Dave Shuffett at a country store near Bardstown for some old-time guitar picking.

Bellevue artist Ray Bridewell creates beautiful crystalline jewelry using material that potters have traditionally taken out with the trash. The family-operated Shannon Lamp Service in Lexington specializes in creating custom lamps and lampshades. And mystery writer Laurien Berenson of Versailles writes novels in which her dogs play a prominent role.

Yatesville Lake State Park in Lawrence County; artist Damon Farmer of Woodford County, who travels the world creating elaborate sand sculptures; an international trade organization headquartered in Fayette County that does research and marketing on asphalt; and a music education program at Bowling Green's Natcher Elementary School founded by WKU music professor William Scott.

Host Dave Shuffett visits the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History and explores the exhibit "A River Runs Through Us." Bob Tucker uses the woodworking techniques of an earlier generation in his Barren County studio, Foxfire, and Tom Beale leads trail rides and team-building exercises at the Sugar Creek Resort in Jessamine County.

Host Dave Shuffett and his dogs visit Rabbit Hash to pass some time at the oldest operating general store in the state and discover how a Labrador retriever came to be elected mayor. Dentist Timothy Donley of Bowling Green displays some ancient tools of his trade, and Castleton Lyons owner Tony Ryan brings a Irish look to his horse farm with the construction of a traditional Irish round tower.

Host Dave Shuffett explores the history and natural wonders of Pine Mountain with visits to Pine Mountain State Resort Park and the Pine Mountain Settlement School, as well as a look at the preservation work of the Pine Mountain Legacy Project.

Ray and Renee Grosser of Pulaski County, who have created a model railroad depicting Minnesota's Soo Line along with a model of their hometown along its tracks; the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven; Camp KYSOC in Carroll County, the first camp in America for children and adults with disabilities; and an elk-watching expedition on the Perry/Knott county line.

Profiles Sgt. Alvin York, the most decorated soldier of World War I, and Cordell Hull, U.S. secretary of state and founder of the United Nations, both of whom grew up in northern Tennessee near the Kentucky border. Also, Kentucky connections to the Tuskegee Airmen, the Aviation Museum of Kentucky in Lexington, and a Boy Scout project to place flags on veterans' graves for Memorial Day.

Executive Director Nancy Adams and former students discuss the mission of the Pine Mountain Settlement School, a one-of-a-kind center for environmental and Appalachian cultural education. Host Dave Shuffett visits Artcroft, a residential artist's retreat in Carlisle, and the Lexington Farmers' Market.

A special expanded edition tours 11 places designated by the late historian Dr. Thomas Clark as sites every Kentuckian should visit: the Abbey of Gethsemani, Augusta, the Cane Ridge Meeting House, Cumberland Gap, the Falls of the Ohio, the Fitchburg Iron Furnace, Land Between the Lakes, Lilley Cornett Woods, Mammoth Cave, Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, and the Speed Art Museum.

Dr. Steve Aaron and his Mammoth Jacks—donkeys whose genetic line can be traced back to a gift from the king of Spain to George Washington; the Glasgow Highland Games; an antique clock appraisal event in Bowling Green; and Tennessee's Pickett State Park and Forest, a 12,000-acre Cumberland Mountains wonderland just south of Wayne County.

Host Dave Shuffett visits Jesse Stuart State Nature Preserve, formerly the writer's own home at W-Hollow in Greenup County, and connects Stuart's poetry about spring in Kentucky with the land he helped protect. A tour of the U.S. Marine Hospital in Louisville uncovers its important role in the history of public health care in America. Also, a design competition for students at WKU.

Host Dave Shuffett rides the Belle of Louisville, the oldest operating river steamboat; meets a woman from Uganda who sells her homemade cookies in downtown Louisville; explores the jewel collection at Lexington's Headley-Whitney Museum; and introduces a profile of Lexington painter Elsie Harris.

Lake Barkley State Resort Park; Linda Henry's painting and pottery studio; Riverview at Hobson Grove, a Civil War-era home operated by the city of Bowling Green as part of its parks system; and Louisville artist Leonard Kik, who makes 3-D models of everything from architectural structures to museum exhibits—all in miniature.

Smith-Berry Vineyard and Winery in Henry County, miniatures carver Karen Scates of Woodburn, and Woodford County's community theater.

The Vent Haven Ventriloquism Museum in Fort Mitchell, which hosts an annual international convention for more than 400 ventriloquists, and Trooper Island, a camp on Dale Hollow Lake developed by the Kentucky State Police for Kentucky young people. 

A Japanese-themed edition commemorating Toyota's 20th anniversary in Kentucky includes tours of the auto plant and Georgetown's Yuko-en (friendship garden) as well as a profile of Episcopal missionary Paul Rusch. The Louisville cleric, who went to Japan in 1925, is credited with introducing the county fair, American football, and the John Deere tractor to the mountainous region where he served.

When well-respected ceramics artist Wayne Ferguson suffered damage to his vision in a car accident, fellow artists raised money to help with the medical bills. Marilyn Pfanstiel, who overcame medical obstacles herself to become a noted author and artist, collects and shares stories of inspiring women. And the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission marks 30 years of protecting wild places.

Midway's Old Friends Racehorse Retirement, which provides a home to former multi-million-dollar racing stallions who were sold to breeding operations overseas; tapestry artist Joanna Sosnicki; and the music of the Heartland Dulcimer Club in Elizabethtown.

The Wildwood Inn in Florence, which caters to families with whimsically themed rooms; calligrapher Mary Breeden; and a research project at the University of Kentucky that has engineering students working with NASA to design and test specialized wings for Mars exploration.