Somerset —
A man whose name is synonymous with educ-ation in Pulaski County has died at age 91. Roy E. Holt, former superintendent of the Pulaski County School District, died Monday at his home. An educator most of his life, Holt was superintendent from 1971 to 1978. He followed in the footsteps of his father, James (Jim) Holt, who was superintendent between 1930 and 1938. Holt’s daughter, Jane Whitis, said her father, following his discharge from the Army in the late 1940s, operated a country store for four or five years at Alcalde. “Daddy let everybody have credit (at the store),” Jane said. “He could make more money teaching.” Holt started as a coach and teacher at the then-Shopville High School. Continuing his education, Holt moved through the ranks as principal and director of pupil personnel while eventually obtaining certification to serve as superintendent. It was during Holt’s tenure as superintendent that he led the way to construct the 6,000-seat gymnasium at Pulaski County High School. The Maroons had no place to play; their home games were at the National Guard Armory. “He was so proud of that (gym),” remembers Jane. Many people, including Joe Richards, director of public personnel services for the Pulaski County School System while Holt was superintendent, felt the gym should bear his name. It never happened, but the facility at the time was the finest in the state and is still one of the better places for high school basketball. Richards, and his wife, Betty, a member of the Pulaski County Board of Education for 20 years, fondly remember Holt. “Mr. Holt was always optimistic. He was a lot of fun, but was very dedicated to his job,” Joe said. “I worked in the Central Office with him for 24 years,” said Joe, who, as one of Holt’s enthusiastic supporters, was present at the school board meeting when Holt was named superintendent. Kenneth Ashley, assistant principal at Pulaski County High School during Holt’s tenure as superintendent, remembers him as a man of his word. “Mr. Holt kept his word. If he told you something he stood by it, even if it cost him politically. He was just a fine man,” said Ashley. The Holt family was musical. Jim led an organization called The Pulaski County Singing Convention, and Roy led the music at his church. Visitation for Holt will be Wednesday, Aug. 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Lake Cumberland Funeral Home. Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the chapel of Lake Cumberland Funeral Home with Bro. Chuck Pollard officiating. Burial will follow in the Somerset Cemetery. The American Legion Post #38 Honor Guard will conduct full military honors. A complete obituary is elsewhere in this edition.Local News
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Roy Holt
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past. -
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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