SHS student a gifted artist

Local News

October 31, 2009

By TRICIA NEAL, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Sat Oct 31, 2009, 05:13 PM EDT

Somerset — His mother calls it a gift from God. He just shrugs his shoulders.

“It’s easy,” he says.

Freddrake Clemons has been drawing since the age of seven. The same can be said for plenty of children, but Freddrake’s pieces of art look remarkably similar to the movie posters and DVD covers printed by companies like Disney and Nickelodeon.

At a glance, an observer might believe Freddrake traced his masterpieces from originals. But his mother and his art teacher at Somerset High School have seen his creative talents firsthand, and can attest to the fact that his work is purely freehand.

In Wanda White’s art room at SHS, the 17-year-old senior spreads his drawings across a table and describes each one in detail — down to the actors’ names. There are posters for the Aristocats, Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Spongebob Squarepants, High School Musical, Dragonball Z, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and countless other popular movies and television shows.

Freddrake says he is a big fan of youth television channels such as Disney, Nickelodeon, and Teen Nick.

Many of his drawings are stored in binders, but many more are displayed in his home and at his school.

He’s made posters for his brother’s room, and his mother proudly displays one of his aluminum foil creations — yet another of his talents, perhaps even more remarkable than his drawings — on her dining room wall.

Freddrake makes detailed figures from aluminum foil — a talent which recently won him recognition by the Somerset Independent Board of Education.

The award-winning masterpiece was a cardboard stage decorated with glitter and Christmas lights, and containing a full band made entirely of aluminum foil.

In Ms. White’s art room, a large aluminum foil skeleton — complete with a ribcage and a jaw that’s separate from the rest of the skull — hangs beside a chalkboard. Ms. White says he created the skeleton within a few hours.

“It doesn’t take him long to create these things,” White says.

“Just leave him alone, let him be to himself, and he’ll be done in no time,” his mother adds.

Freddrake has also decorated Ms. White’s classroom bulletin boards with various posters throughout his years in high school. This month, he’s created four gauze and crayon posters depicting Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

“I want to give credit to Ms. White,” Freddrake’s mother says.

“She’s been behind all this.”

“I make sure that he is scheduled for an art class every year,” Ms. White says.

“And I always have plenty of aluminum foil for him.”

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Local News

Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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