U.S. corps ranger Looney is love with Lake Cumberland

Local News

Related Photos

July 18, 2008

By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Fri Jul 18, 2008, 05:22 PM EDT

Somerset — Aside from the hum of a pleasure boat, the voice of Benton Looney is probably the most recognizable sound on Lake Cumberland.

The verbose Looney with a chamber of commerce personality — “there’s no place in the world I’d rather live than Pulaski County” — adds an extra touch to his job of promoting Lake Cumberland.

Officially a ranger/technician for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Somerset resource manager’s office, Looney is a self-appointed, unofficial “voice” of Lake Cumberland. During the past 10 years, he has evolved into a “star” on “Dial A Deal,” a popular early morning show on Somerset Radio Station WTLO. Using his cellular phone, he calls in and gives daily on-the-air, direct-from-the-water reports about the lake. His information includes the lake level and temperature, what type of bait fish are biting, or whatever you want to talk about related to the lake.

“JJ (the late Dial A Deal star JJ Johnson) and Jim (former station manager Jim Brown and Dial A Deal host) wanted me to call in every morning and give the lake conditions,” said Looney. “I started doing it as a courtesy ... people with boats and fisherman like to have the information.”

Looney loves to talk, and the lake-condition report can become a wider-ranging conversation with the Dial A Deal announcer. He has been trained in public speaking as a U.S. Army recruiter and is a natural on the radio.

Ownership of WTLO has changed — Brown has retired and JJ was killed in an automobile accident — but the regular lake conversations continue.

Looney says there is much to talk about.

“Fishing on Lake Cumberland is phenomenal!” he declares. “When the lake comes back up, I really believe all these grasses and beds of vegetation will result in a world record smallmouth bass being caught in Lake Cumberland.”

The 101-mile-long lake is currently being held about 40 feet below normal pool stage while repairs are being made at Wolf Creek Dam. The lower water level the past two years has allowed vegetation to grow on expanded banks.

The world’s largest smallmouth bass, probably lurking in Lake Cumberland, may well be hooked in the lake’s upper reaches in Pulaski County, Looney predicts.

“Fishing Creek, Buck Creek and Pitman Creek are prime examples of where some of these grasses have had time to germinate, (produce) seed and come up in multiples,” reasoned Looney. “It will be survival of the fittest,” he added. “There will be some monsters in there when the water comes up.”

Looney admits to be a bit vague with fishing information.

“If I give exact locations where fish are being caught, fishermen won’t talk to me ... they’ll shut me out,” he explained. “I talk in generalities ... I can’t be specific about where to cast a lure.”

Looney is optimistic about Lake Cumberland as a vacation Mecca even at its lower level.

“I see more Kentucky license plates (at camping areas),” he said. “That means (because of high gasoline prices) more people are coming here instead of going long distances,” he suggested. Some camping spots, not normally full, have recently been totally utilized during the weekend, he said.

Looney said Lake Cumberland is a family tradition. “Parents brought their kids here and the kids are bringing their kids here,” said Looney. “I see a lot of the same people using the lake year after year.”

Peace and tranquility are hallmarks of Lake Cumberland, Looney pointed out. He doesn’t make arrests — “If I need a citation, I can get a ranger (with arrest powers)” — but “we don’t have a lot of trouble.”

Looney, a retired Army master sergeant, has been with the Corps since 1991. He applied for the job with the Corps while he was being mustered out of the Army.

His official job description with the Corps is a formal “regulatory enforcement for voluntary compliance.”

“That means we are interested in taking care of our customers (visitors),” Looney explained. “We want them to have a good experience (on the lake) and take good memories home. We want tourists and locals –– everybody who recreates on the lake –– to enjoy themselves.”

Looney, despite his devotion to Lake Cumberland Country, is not a native Kentuckian. He was born in Oregon. His roots, however, extend westward to Kentucky.

“My dad is from Cumberland Gap. My mom is from Northern Kentucky.”

The westward movement of the family was the result of “my Uncle Ed” who got a job in California based on experiences he had in the Army. “Uncle Ed” got my grandfather a job as a groundskeeper at a country club in California and he sold his farm in Kentucky and moved out there.

Later, Looney recalled, his grandfather relocated to a strawberry farm in Oregon and “that’s where dad met my mother.” He said members of his family gradually migrated back to Kentucky and Looney ended up working in Pulaski County after he retired from a 24-year career in the Army.

Looney loves his job and goes out of his way to promote the area. “In Lake Cumberland, we have the greatest asset in the nation,” he declared.

Text Only

Local News

Visitors rave about beauty of Lake Cumberland in May
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Mopar Mania to highlight Cruise
May 25, 2012 1 Photo
‘Dry’ forces concerned about wet signs
May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Pulaski’s Memorial Day weekend to be packed
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Locally-born Rotary leader Pigman dies at 78
May 24, 2012
Technology summit gets underway
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Local Democrats diss Obama
May 23, 2012
Floyd edges incumbent in city council run-off
May 23, 2012
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.”

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
Pine Knot man leads law enforcement on chase
May 22, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

U.S. corps ranger Looney is love with Lake Cumberland

Site Map