Leadership Kentucky learns about Murray
By HOLLY WISE
Staff Writer
For the first time since 1993, Leadership Kentucky held one of its monthly sessions in Murray, providing the 57-member class of 2008 an opportunity to see firsthand the status of Murray and Calloway County.
For some it was their first visit to Murray. For others, it was a return to their college town or where they were raised.
The focus of the session, held Wednesday, Thursday and concluding today, was education and natural resources, two things in which Murray and western Kentucky have a vested interest.
“It worked great to come to this community because you have both. You have a wonderful educational institution plus wonderful natural areas of Land Between the Lakes,” said Leadership Kentucky President Diana Ratliff during a luncheon by the Murray Convention & Visitors Bureau at Murray State University.
The group made stops at Murray Middle School and Murray State University Thursday and heard various speakers and panel discussions on Kentucky education. The agenda today is to hear presentations about Kentucky's natural history before traveling to Land Between the Lakes and touring key aspects of the recreational area.
“It's great down here,” said Scott White, a former Kentucky deputy attorney general and partner with Morgan and Pottinger law firm in Lexington. “The rest of the state needs to be looking at what you all are doing down here.”
According to White, the perception is that western Kentucky ends in Owensboro.
“Some of the things that the school system's doing here are amazing, what the university's doing is amazing,” he said. “We've got to get out here and not think of you guys as west Tennessee and southern Illinois.”
The purpose of Leadership Kentucky is to assemble a select group of individuals and prepare them to “take an active role in advancing the state for the common good,” their website indicated.
“I go back with a renewed sense of community,” said Debra Dawahare, a partner with Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs law firm in Lexington. “Not just a smaller community like here, but a large community that is our state and all the systems that operate within the state.”
Bringing people together from every part of the state “adds commonality to the idea of Commonwealth,” she added.
The information gathered from the participants is applied to their individual communities. “They use it and apply it however they can use it and apply it to what business they're in and to what their community service interests are,” said Ratliff.
One purpose of Leadership Kentucky, she said, is to get community members at the age of 50 involved in the community.
“Perhaps that means running for school board or a local office or getting more involved in the educational process or whatever we're looking at that particular month,” she said.
Having the current class of Leadership Kentucky at Murray State University provided an opportunity for networking.
“I've been a part of conferences here where people coming here from Frankfort have flown to Nashville and then we have sent somebody to pick them up,” said MSU Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Affairs Jim Carter. “If we're thinking that far western Kentucky is some place you have to get to by plane, then to be able to have an opportunity to get folks down here to figure out it's four hours, not six , and then see what Murray is.”
For Donna Herndon, a member of the 1987 Leadership Kentucky class, having the session held in Murray after 15 years was timely.
“We've been trying for a good while to get it back, so we're excited,” she said.
According to Ratliff, they try to alternate locations every three or four years.
“As we looked over the list, we saw that we had not been here for several years and we had a wonderful group of Leadership Kentucky alumni here,” she said. “You can't put on one of these sessions without the help of your alumni.”
Story created Jun 13, 2008 - 11:06:33 EDT.
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