November 16, 2024
Growing a bee beard, 1984
David Harvey of Montgomery, Ohio, helped coax honey bees to the face of Paul Kessen grow a bee beard as part of the Kentucky Beekeepers’ Association summer seminar on July 21, 1984 at Eastern Kentucky University. Kessen, of Hamilton, Ohio, who had grown more than 65 bee beards in the previous seven years and had appeared on “That’s Incredible,” said he had been stung only a half-dozen times since he started growing the beards. The small box on Kessen’s chin contained the queen bee, which is how the beard is grown. Photo by David Cooper
Better Business Bureau moves, 1990
Carol Czirr, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Central Kentucky, helped carry boxes and furniture into the BBB’s new offices at 31 West Short Street on June 1, 1990. The move was designed to make the BBB more visible, and it coincided with a membership drive. At the new site, phone lines doubled from six to 12. The BBB also planned to computerize more than 20,000 files to increase efficiency. BBB offices are now on Olivia Lane. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Clay-Gentry Stockyards, 1950
An aerial view of the Clay-Gentry Stockyards on Angliana Avenue in Lexington, July 1950. The stockyards was bounded by Angliana Avenue, running horizontally at the bottom, Versailles Road at left, and the Southern railroad yard near the top of the photo. Just beyond the railroad is Davis Bottom. At the time of the Civil War, a Union fort occupied the site to defend Lexington from the west. After the war, the Cincinnati Southern Railroad built the tracks in the late 1870s. The site became the Gentry Brothers Stock Yards by 1887, and it was later known as the Clay-Gentry Stock Yards. In 1961, the yards became the Clay-Wachs Stock Yards, and in 1980, the owners of Lexington’s other stockyard, Blue Grass Stock Yards, bought the Clay-Wachs yards. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Visiting Man o’ War, 1947
Making a visit to see famous race horse Man o’ War on May 18, 1947, were three members of the Universal Military Training unit from Fort Knox. From left, William Scribner, Arthur Hohnke, groom Bob Groves and James Adams. About 350 members of the unit spent the weekend in Lexington. Man o’ War, considered one of the greatest race horses of all time, was born on this day in 1917 at Nursery Stud near Lexington. He died at age 30 in November 1947. The Kentucky Horse Park kicks off a 100th-anniversary celebration of Man o’ War on Wednesday, including a preview of the exhibit “The Mostest Horse That Ever Was” at the International Museum of the Horse. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
Twenty-fifth anniversary of ‘The Shot,’ 1992
The infamous Christian Laettner shot that defeated Kentucky in overtime in the NCAA East Regional Finals in Philadelphia March 28, 1992, fell through the net as UK’s Deron Feldhaus and John Pelphrey turned to watch. Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the shot. Photo by Janet Worne | Staff
Duke players and coaches celebrated their win over Kentucky in the NCAA East Regional Finals in Philadelphia on March 28, 1992. UK took the defending national champs into overtime before losing on a last-second shot, 104-103. Tuesday is the 25th anniversary of the shot. Photo by Jennifer Podis | Staff
Calumet Farm auction, 1992
Steve Dance of Swinebroad-Denton Inc. relayed a bid to the auctioneer on March 26, 1992, inside an appropriately colored red and white tent on Calumet Farm, during bidding for the sale of the historic horse farm. The auction was prompted by the farm’s bankruptcy in July. Calumet — which raced eight Kentucky Derby winners, among them two Triple Crown winners — reported debts of $127 million. A crowd of more than 3,000 was on hand to witness Polish native and millionaire Henryk deKwiatowski buy the property for $17 million. DeKwiatkowski also paid $175,000 for a 44-acre tract of land behind Calumet that was sold separately, and he bought the name “Calumet Farm” for $210,000. He received a standing ovation from the crowd when he announced that he would change “not a whisker” of Calumet. After DeKwiatkowski ‘s death in 2003, operation of the farm was passed to his family as a group of trustees. Click here to see an image from our archives of a Calumet Farm horse van in 1944. Photo by Tom Marks | Staff
UMass coach John Calipari, 1992
University of Massachusetts coach John Calipari reacted during his team’s 87-77 loss to Kentucky during the East Regional semifinal on March 26, 1992, in Philadelphia. Kentucky had built a 21-point lead over UMass, but the Minutemen cut it to two before referee Lenny Wirtz called a technical foul on Calipari with 5:47 left. Calipari received the technical for coming out of the coaching box. The technical sparked a 6-0 UK run and seemed to prompt the game’s last great momentum shift, but both Calipari and UK coach Rick Pitino downplayed its significance. In the crowded interview room after the game, Calipari reminded everyone that despite the momentous sway of the call, the final margin was 10 points. He said that if he was out of the coach’s box, then Wirtz had every right to make the call. Calipari said he was “very embarrassed” that it happened. The win gave Kentucky (29-6) a shot against Christian Laettner and Duke, with a trip to the Final Four on the line. UMass’s season ended at 30-5. Calipari would coach four more seasons at UMass before coaching in the NBA. From 2000-09, he coached at Memphis. Since 2009, he has been at Kentucky. Photo by Jennifer Podis | Staff
McConnell Springs, 1992
Former longtime Herald-Leader reporter Andy Mead inspected the site that would become McConnell Springs Park in March 1992. It is the birthplace of Lexington, the site where it was named in 1775. McConnell Springs, behind an industrial park off Manchester Street, was an overgrown dumping ground for old tires, appliances and other debris in 1992. Then-Lexington mayor Scotty Baesler and the city council weighed the possibility of buying the site around the spring. In 1993, JP Morgan Chase Bank donated the property to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government for the park, and Friends of McConnell Springs raised money to restore the site. The park and the education center is now owned by the city and is managed by the city’s division of parks and recreation. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
William Shatner with colt, 1985
Actor William Shatner held one of the colts out of Sultan’s Great Day on Dec. 28, 1985, at Donna Moore Stables in Woodford County. Shatner’s champion American Saddlebred stallion had about two dozen mares in foal that season. The actor, famous for his television and movie work as Captain James T. Kirk in “Star Trek” and the title role in TV’s “T.J. Hooker,” and his wife, Marcy, had just bought a farm in Woodford County. Both Shatners were competitive show horse riders and had started breeding show horses on their 360-acre Belle Reve Farm. Shatner turned 86 this week. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
Taking a break from roofing, 1981
Charles Parson balanced on the peak of a roof in the 400 block of Walnut Street on March 23, 1981. “I’m not afraid of heights,” Parson said as he took a break from his roofing work. “I used to be in the paratroops.” Parsons and two other men were reroofing the house. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
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