Rogers Scholars clean Lake Cumberland shoreline

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On June 25, the first class of Rogers Scholars picked up trash at Old Waitsboro crossing boat ramp near Bronston.
On July 9, the second class of Rogers Scholars cleaned up the shoreline at Burnside Marina.

July 17, 2008

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Anonymous The Commonwealth Journal Thu Jul 17, 2008, 04:29 AM EDT

Lake Cumberland recently provided a lesson in community service for 60 of the region’s top teens. Students in the elite Rogers Scholars program picked up trash at Burnside Marina and the Old Waitsboro Crossing boat ramp near Bronston. In all they collected 239 bags of trash and 48 tires.

The students, who will be high school juniors this fall, are from 42 counties in southern and eastern Kentucky. They were selected through a highly competitive process to be Rogers Scholars.

The service project is part of the program’s goal of encouraging a long-term commitment to the students’ communities.

“This was a fun bonding experience for the Scholars, and they now know how good it feels to make a difference,” said Jessica Melton, associate director of education and training for The Center for Rural Development, which sponsors the Rogers Scholars program. “They are the future of this region. If they get hooked on community service now, we all will benefit as they pour their time and talents into our communities.”

“It’s always eye opening to pick up trash, especially from a drinking water source like Lake Cumberland,” said Tammie Wilson, vice president and chief financial officer of PRIDE, one of The Center’s partners in hosting the event. “When volunteers see how trash can pile up and become a problem, they usually vow to never litter again. We thank the Rogers Scholars for volunteering and hope they will be PRIDE ambassadors in their hometowns.”

The Rogers Scholars program is an intensive, one-week summer course that emphasizes technological skills development and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and commitment to rural Kentucky.

Sixty Rogers Scholars are divided between two sessions. The first session began on June 22 and ended June 27. The second session was held July 6-11.

The Center and PRIDE were created by Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-5) to encourage and assist communities with creating long-term opportunities for their young people. PRIDE’s role is to promote personal responsibility for the environment. The Center addresses several facets of community development, including encouraging Kentucky’s next generation of community and business leaders.

As part of its youth development mission, The Center created the Rogers Scholars program in 1998.

The Friends of Lake Cumberland is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization which assists the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with cleaning the lake.

For more information about the Rogers Scholars program, please visit www.rogersscholars.com.

The PRIDE Web site is www.kypride.org. To learn more about the Friends of Lake Cumberland, please call Dudley Hosch at 561-4399.

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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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