Written by John Middleton, Kenton Circuit Clerk, Commonwealth of Kentucky

A rising tide raises all boats.  The Leadership Class of 2026 (aka the Last Best Class aka the Best Looking Class) heard this phase more than once during our visit to the Somerset Pulaski County area.  We started our amazing journey with a visit to Our Place- God’s Food Pantry.  This special place serves as a distributor of food for 150 non-profit “partners” (mostly schools and churches) in over 50 Kentucky counties.  While it started as a food pantry, they quickly determined that getting laundry detergent to individuals in need freed up money for other things, like food.  Through the national  Good 360 network they receive items from Amazon and Walmart and put a monetary cost so that items such as a $2,200 Tempur-Pedic mattress could be  “sold” for $125 or a $225 pair of Nike Air Jordans could be had for $8.  If you make the business about the people and not the stuff a rising tide raises all ships.  Our Place is helping to raise the tide!

What do you do with an old worn out downtown that is threatened with running your boats aground?  Why you take an old boat and make it beautiful.  That is what happened with the 1920’s Virginia Theatre.  The building had sat vacant for 30 years and in 1992 the roof collapsed.  However, with a nice $2 million renovation the Theatre re-opened in 2022.  It is now a multi-purpose events center that hosts proms, weddings, concerts and other community events drawing a fleet of people from 40 states who have purchased 25,000 tickets.  This renovation helped raise the tide of Somerset promoting a re-birth of the downtown with shops and restaurants.  A true destination drawing people who not only want to visit but want to live there.  One classmate noted that this was the future- mid-sized towns that offered the best of city dining and entertainment, while allowing people to live in urban or rural settings. 

We used the theatre as our venue to be informed and enlightened by our classmates who work in utilities. From rural and urban power companies to wireless providers to water, we learned how they all keep us afloat.  We learned about how they help those in need and are providing the technology that will keep things rising in the future.  Then things got really exciting as we broached the topic on everyone’s mind across the country- data centers! The discussion was informative as we learned the potential benefits of these new shiny boats while understanding that it ultimately is how the agreements are reached that make all the difference.  We ended the discussion with an ah ha moment as they discussed replacing wood transmission poles with steel poles as they fare better during natural disasters.  Things we can do when the rising water may not be a good thing.

We then moved to the unique Maker’s Mill location.  Is the place a bar? An entertainment venue? A meeting place? A secondhand store? Yes, it is!  Yet another example of a cool place that helped to raise the tide in Somerset.  More importantly to the class it was the scene of a great panel discussion with Tiffany Finley Executive Director of the longest running music festival (34 years) in Kentucky, Marshall Todd the Pulaski County Judge Executive, Alan Keck the Mayor of Somerset, and Bobby Clue the Executive Director of the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce.  What a marvelous group of community leaders who enlightened us with how they transformed their region into a place where people not only wanted to visit but wanted to work and raise a family.  The key to it all was the leadership in the community who flooded it with great things to do.  The right leader, at the right time and place makes all the difference.  It was noted that things can change with 1 funeral or 1 election, meaning that the leadership can be lost easily.  It is not just one leader though; it is the team of leaders working together that has increased visitor spending by 28% since 2018.  Over 4 MILLION people visit the region each year.  Not only are they visiting, they are moving here and building for over $500 million in business investment.  Mayor Keck challenged the generational paradigms of the area being the 2^nd poorest Congressional District in the country.  The goal was to bring people together.  Judge Executive Todd noted that when the city grows the county grows. In other words- a rising tide raises all boats! Mr. Clue noted that cooperation wasn’t always the way, but that the 3 tourism boards came together to make things better.  People do business with people businesses don’t do business with businesses.  You must take ownership and tell your story.  If you can work together, you can create great schools and provide 1^st class medical care.  However, there is a warning.  All great leaders should find their successors, know when to step aside and get out of the way.  It is important to make sure young people are proud of where they come from, that there is always a home. The tide is rising in Somerset and with it,  a lot of new boats.

Speaking of the youth, we had a fantastic panel discussion who are making a difference for future generations in the area of education.  We heard about the Wendell Ford program that promotes civic education in the western Kentucky region.  Educating our new boats about local, state and federal government.  We heard about how the Council for Postsecondary Education is a convenor, helping to bring together universities for the common good.  We learned how Murray State brings in students from 49 state and 56 foreign countries, many of whom are 1^st generation college students. Finally, we learned about the KCTCS system of 16 colleges has over 110,000 students, with 1/3 being high school students earning dual credit, 1/3 being traditional students and 1/3 being adult learners.

We started day two at the literal Houseboat Capital of the World- Trifecta Houseboats.  We saw the humongous warehouse where they literally build a houseboat from the ground up.  This unique business is nearly a one of the kind in the whole United States.  They make house boats ranging in length from 68 feet to 120 feet, both production and custom ranging in price from $600 to $2.6 Million.  This local company provides employment of between 120 and 150 craftsmen.  Indeed, this family business literally raises the boats on Lake Cumberland and throughout the world.

Agriculture is a vital part of the rural Kentucky landscape, and we experienced how it can be used in many different ways during our visit to southcentral Kentucky.  Bear Wallow Farm has been turned into a tourist destination with up to 75,000 pumpkins across 50 acres.  The class experienced so many fun things, including a visit to the giant swing where ½ of the class jumped on. The farm created reasons to visit in the food, ice cream shop, pig races, and wagon rides all centered around fall outdoor activities that helped to create family memories for years to come.

Our second agricultural experience was at Honey’s Apple Farms, a 5^th generation apple orchard that has grown with the times adding not just apples but a pie shop and recently a doughnut shop and cafe.  Things really took off when a tic toc video hit ½ million views! The 10,000 apple trees yield 1 million apples with 35 different varieties.  The have expanded to peaches and pears as well.  This agricultural destination has helped to raise the tide by bringing in some 56,000 visitors.

While we were raising the tide, no visit to any Kentucky destination would be complete without raising a glass of the Kentucky brown liquor known as bourbon.  Horse Solider Distillery is a new state of the art distillery on 236 acres of a former gold course.  The distillery was founded by former Green Berets who entered Afghanistan on horseback after 9/11.  The facility has 2 36,000-gallon fermentation tanks.  It also has a spirit safe with the New York City skyline in homage to 9/11 with copper from the original Statute of Liberty.  All things that will lift up some of the 4 million visitors from nearby Lake Cumberland.

We ended our voyage with the Somerset Police at their training site observing a canine demonstration and simulated home entry. We saw how important communication was in law enforcement and how the officers supported each other (both the 2 legged and 4 legged). 

As you can see, we packed a lot into 3 days.

From nonprofits and educators to manufacturers, farmers, entrepreneurs, public servants, and community leaders, the Somerset-Pulaski County region offered countless examples of what can happen when people choose collaboration over competition and possibility over limitation.

From the Houseboat Capital of the World, we learned a lesson worth carrying home: when communities work together, a rising tide truly does raise all boats.