Callie the Governor's Scholar

 

Over the course of her junior year Callie went through an application process for what is known as the Governor's Scholar Program, or GSP for short. This is a well known program for rising seniors in Kentucky where, if selected, you spend five weeks on a college campus with around 350 other rising seniors from all around the Commonwealth. You take classes in areas of specific interest, go on field trips, and spend time getting to know kids your age from all over. It is also free. We had heard nothing but great things about it and were so excited when Callie was accepted. Her initial excitement level was low because it meant five weeks away from friends in the summer and missing the first days of high school soccer. But she knew it was a great opportunity that she should take advantage of and leaned into it.

 

Everything about the process was good preparation for college both in terms of the application itself as well as outfitting a dorm room and spending weeks away from family. Callie was placed at Morehead State University, just a little more than an hour away from Lexington. The campus is in a pretty setting and we got a full move-in experience from the crowds of people, overloaded elevators, and nervous introductions to new roommates.

 

Callie shared a dorm room with three other girls and the first roommate she met is pictured here. Her name was Maybe and she was from Hopkinsville. The girls hit it off and we went to lunch with her family in the time we had before the official opening ceremony. This is the 42nd year of GSP and they have a very organized structure that is proven to work well for all involved. At the opening ceremony they lay out the rules pretty clearly for parents and scholars alike. One of the best rules is that the scholars can only use their cell phone when they are in their dorm room. Outside of the dorm room they should not have their phone on them. It is absolutely fantastic and it is a rule that anyone who goes through the program continues to support.

 

When the ceremony ends the parents leave and then line the walkway outside of the auditorium. The students then come out in groups according to their academic focus area. We managed to get a glimpse of Callie as she walked with her Engineering crew and were delighted to see that she was already chatting it up with one of her classmates. It was a sign that she was going to be okay and that's all we could ask for.

 

In the five weeks of the program there is one day designated for visitation. The second Saturday of the program we were able to pick Callie up at 8am and she didn't have to be back until 10pm. We decided to rent a pontoon boat so we could spend the day on a lake near Morehead. Everything about the plan was perfect until that Friday when Sarah tested positive for Covid. Not only did she feel bad but we knew it was not in Callie's best interest to expose her. That meant it was only John and Reese who made the trip and got to see Callie.

 

We weren't sure how Reese would respond to five weeks without her sister. The good/bad news is she seemed to be perfectly fine. That being said she was over the moon to spend the day with Callie and they had a fantastic time jumping off the boat, floating in the inner tubes, and just relaxing. Sarah made sure we had a full cooler of snacks and treats in order to maximize the time on Grayson Lake. And Grayson Lake turned out to be a great place to go.

 

In very small world twist of fate, John has an interesting connection to Morehead going back to his college days. Two of his college spring breaks were spent in Morehead with a group of Yale students working in partnership with a non-profit helping build houses in the region. And during that week John and his classmates slept in the basement of the Catholic church associated with the university. So John made the girls take a picture with him in front of the building he had once slept in over three decades ago. 

 

Callie and Reese communicated quite a bit during the five weeks, whether it was Face Time or texting. And Callie's program ended up providing a great opportunity for them to connect in person. Callie's Engineering class had field trips each week and she went to the Toyota Plant in Georgetown, the McAlpin Dam in Louisville, a water power plant somewhere, and the Engineering Department at the University of Kentucky. That UK field trip is what enabled this photo to happen as Reese conveniently ran into her sister at the Chipotle on campus. Reese had to work some logistical magic to make it happen, but she can do great things when she puts her mind to it.

 

It is amazing how quickly five weeks can fly by. Before we knew it the time had come to pick up Callie. Sarah and John actually drove up the night before to load up most of the gear from her dorm room to make the next day departure easier. We didn't get to see Callie during that process because they have a tradition for the last night that involves little sleep and no parents. The closing ceremony the next day was wonderful and it the final good-byes made it clear that Callie had not only had a great time but that she had made lots of good friends.

 

Due to unfortunate timing Sarah was not able to make it to that closing ceremony which meant that it wasn't until she got home from work that day that she finally got to see Callie in person after five whole weeks. Mother and daughter were finally reunited and it was great to have her home just in time to jump into her senior season of high school soccer.

 

Another group of people that really missed Callie were these three. They had taken the initiative to coordinate with Reese a surprise welcome home for Callie after her first day of soccer. We got them in the house and into Callie's room so that when Callie came home she was greeted with hugs, shouts, and signs. It was the perfect end to a great GSP experience.

Railbird

 

2025 turned out be a year of leaning into live music experiences in and around Kentucky. After we realized the prom/Tyler Childers show conflict we purchased one-day passes for Railbird, an outdoor music festival held on the infield of the Red Mile Racetrack in Lexington. It's a two-day event with big-name headliners and smaller bands at stages around the venue. In fact, one of Sarah's co-workers was on a side stage at the beginning of the day with his band Mojo Thunder. We were excited to see them play and got there early to catch the show knowing we had a long day ahead.

 

This time it was Callie who got to bring a friend since she missed out on the Tyler Childers show. This is the seventh year of the festival and it has quickly become a favorite for many in the area, including high schoolers. In other words, Callie had plenty of friends who were already planning to go and they had a great day going from stage to stage and hanging out. And because the festival takes place in early June the weather was great and they could all display their summer dresses and cowboy boots.

 

It's been a minute since John and Sarah have been to an all day festival and it is quite possible our endurance is not what it used to be. Fortunately the grass was dry and the ground reasonably soft. We could find a place to sit and enjoy the tunes. John's main complaint was that too many people continue to smoke cigarettes and even an outdoor venue doesn't help. He ended up with a cough for several days after. In short, we are old and don't know how we spent so much time in smoky bars in the 1990s during and after college. Thank God for smoking bans.

 

The headliner that Sunday night was Jelly Roll. We ended up knowing more songs than we expected to and he brings a lot of energy and passion to the stage. We were hoping he was bring out the headliner from the night before for a song or two but no such luck. Still, it's hard to have a bad time listening to live music.

30th Reunion

 

Memorial Day weekend was more momentous than usual as John headed to New Haven for his 30th college reunion. Yale does a great job organizing these gatherings and John was excited to see all sorts of folks. The first night started with an informal gathering at Mory's which was packed with classmates able to get into town early. Among other things, Mory is known for their cups and quite a few great college memories revolve around drinking cups at Mory's. It is not as easy to tackle these in your 50s, but it never hurts to try.

Every alum has their own perspective, but for John one of the best spots on campus is the courtyard in Jonathan Edwards, his residential college during his four years. This reunion weekend JE was not hosting the class of 1995, but he was still able to go in and walk around. 

 

A new feature of the reunion weekend were organized panels where classmates led conversations about different issues. A 30th reunion is much different from a 5th or 10th in terms of life experiences, and the schedule featured people talking about life after divorce, raising neurodivergent children, and writing a book. John's friend Amit led the charge for organizing these sessions and got John to agree to be on a panel talking about writing a book. John and his classmate Euny shared the stage and many of John's friends were kind enough to show up and pretend that it was interesting. Many of the people in this picture are far too aware that John wrote most of his papers the night before they were due and are not going to take writing advice from him. Soren, the guy on the far right in this picture, was one of John's roommates and led the effort to get as many of our JE people back to New Haven as possible. 

 

This picture captures the JE class of 1995 folks who were in attendance. JE had a pretty good showing overall. It would be fun to compare this photo to the photos taken with much less sophisticated cameras when these folks moved onto Old Campus back in August 1991. 

 

These three guys spent a good portion of the reunion hanging out and made a point of going for some long walks around the city to get some time for good conversation. Amit and John met on the very first day of an orientation conference and have been close friends ever since. Steve and John met through intramural soccer and their lives have intertwined in a variety of ways since college. Reunions provide an opportunity to see people you haven't seen in years and to reconnect with some you have lost touch with. Just as important they provide time to deepen friendships with people you have known for decades.

School Milestones

 

One result of Callie's hard work in all three years of high school came to fruition this spring as she was inducted into the Henry Clay chapter of the National Honor Society. It was impressive not only for her to have this accomplishment, but the fact that so many of her good friends also were inducted says a lot about the company she keeps.

 

The actual induction ceremony quite a formal proceeding and included four speeches, each one addressing a different pillar of the National Honor Society attributes. Each new member had to go up and officially sign the book that has recorded the names of Henry Clay honorees for decades. (The mother of one of Callie's friends was actually able to find her signature from back in the day) Our favorite part of this section of the ceremony was watching the student that was responsible for handing out and collecting the pen used to sign the book. It was quite an operation.

 

At the end each honoree walked away with their NHS cards that they can present if anyone ever challenges their membership. Callie and Hope enjoyed the silliness of it all and went a little overboard when asked to pose with their card by Sarah. Overall it was a great evening and a tremendous honor for Callie.

 

Speaking of honors, just a few weeks later Reese had her 8th grade graduation ceremony. This year it was held in the gym at Henry Clay High School and started out with some technical difficulties which meant we couldn't always hear clearly. Nevertheless, we did get to hear Reese's name called several times because she won awards for highest excellence in Science and highest excellence in Spanish. She also received a special Teaching Assistant award for being a teacher's aide for two years in a 6th grade math class. 

 

We were able to capture Reese as she walked across the shake Mrs. Jones's hand to recognize this milestone. We had also seen Mrs. Jones take a selfie with Reese prior to the ceremony starting. When we asked Reese about it she told us that Mrs. Jones said she wanted a picture for evidence when Reese comes back to teach at Morton years from now. It was a pretty special evening and we are so proud of Reese for all she has accomplished but even more for how she clearly has connected with and impressed her teachers.

 

And once the ceremony was over this group of girls and their classmates were on their way to high school. That is very hard to believe. We have pictures of Reese and Mary in particular from when they were in pre-school together. Time is flying by far too quickly.

 

After we took the honoree out to Orange Leaf to celebrate we realized that we hadn't gotten a good family photo for posterity. So we made Callie take our picture in the living room and called it a night. We now have two high schoolers in the house. Yikes!

Big Easter weekend

Callie's junior year of high school has been full of a lot of hard work in the classroom but it has also had its fair share of fun events. She was excited to go to her junior prom and share the evening with good friends. These days prom prep is just as, if not more, important as the dance itself. Callie got her first spray tan, and watching her and her girlfriends go through that process was quite an experience. Of course they had to start their day with bouquets and brunch. It takes time to put together the flowers that you will use for pictures and then put to the side the rest of the evening.

 

After brunch Callie and several girls got ready together so we only got to see the finished product of their efforts during the photo extravaganza at Idle Hour Country Club. Callie was one of almost fifty kids there to take pictures and then eat dinner before heading to the dance. We were happy to be able to snag a quick picture with just her in the midst of all the craziness.

 

Callie looked absolutely radiant and you could tell that she was having a great time. And she was fully comfortable with the fact that she was going without a date. She is certainly grown up and her comfort level is also a reflection of the great group of friends she has. But more than anything it is a clear indication of the wonderful young woman she is becoming. We couldn't be more proud of her.

Among the many picture groupings that occurred we were able to capture one of Callie with her Cassidy Elementary crew plus Molly. These girls have known each other for more than a decade and all of their parents were standing around talking about how old they all looked. 

 

We also made sure to get a picture of Callie with the girls she has become close with over the last year or so. All of these girls certainly clean up well but it is also evident how good they are for each other. 

 

As we mentioned there was a large group and we went in to get the necessary pictures since we had limited time. This was an impressive group of young men and women who we have gotten the opportunity to watch grow up. It is neat to see them at each milestone knowing there are more to come. But we also didn't want to dawdle because we had our own plans for the evening.

 

For Christmas we had purchased four tickets for the family to see Tyler Childers in concert at the UK football stadium. When we came up with this brilliant Christmas gift we did not know when prom would be. Turns out they were on the same night and while it took Callie a little while to realize she couldn't do both, she finally relented. That meant Reese got to invite a friend to the show and she asked Sophie to join us for the evening. We were all excited for a great night of music.

 

There were two opening acts which meant we had a lot of time in our seats prior to the main event. But this was certainly a popular concert because we saw all sorts of folks there. And they saw us. At one point John got a text from our associate pastor Linda with this picture and a simple note saying Hi John! It took us a while but we were able to locate where they were seating. And it was not only Linda and her husband Daniel but also our head pastor Frank and his wife Abby. You know you belong to the right church when you right into your pastors at the Tyler Childers show.

 

We had a fantastic time at the show. Tyler's early career included a lot of small shows played in bars around Lexington and it was cool to hear him revel in the experience of filling the football stadium with fans who could sing along to every song he played. Not only were we able to hear amazing music but he also put on a drone show unlike anything we had ever seen. The colorful chicken in the sky was a highlight for sure. 

 

And all of this took place on Easter weekend. Despite our late night outing with Tyler we still managed to have a fine Easter morning with baskets with a theme of relaxation and, of course, candy. We did not, however, manage to get a family picture on the big day. It's possible we were all pictured out or that may have just been Callie.

Spring Break with a College/Soccer Twist

 

As hard as it is to believe, Callie needed to spend her spring break visiting colleges to start narrowing down the possible options for her next chapter. John stayed back with Reese who had soccer practice and Callie and Sarah hit the road for a four-school southern tour. The first stop was Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Callie thought the campus was really pretty and the tour guide was very good. The food was good and Callie came away from the tour knowing this was going to be on her list.

They left Nashville after the tour and drove to Atlanta for the next two visits. Number one stop was Emory University. The campus was pretty and close to downtown, but Callie was not impressed. Emory did not make the list. But Sarah and Callie took advantage of their time in the city to visit the Botanical Gardens and spent a couple of hours checking out the exotic plants on display.

 

After leaving the gardens the two tourists ventured to Piedmont Park and decided to rent scooters to cruise around the area. The spent more than an hour cruising around, seeing the sights, and getting a feel for the scooters. Fortunately neither of them fell although there were some close calls. 

 

One of the things that Callie has said is that she wants to go to a school that is in more of an urban setting, and Atlanta is certainly a good option. Spending a couple of days in Atlanta provided the opportunity to get a feel for the city, including a nice breakfast place Sarah and Callie ate it before their next tour.

 

Georgia Tech was stop number two of the Atlanta segment of the tour. Callie thought the campus was beautiful and enjoyed some of the work spaces for students she got to see on the tour. This campus is much closer to downtown Atlanta but its campus is definitely its own place. Overall, both Callie and Sarah were impressed by what this school had to offer and this made the list.

 

The college tours were closely intertwined with important food discoveries. They found a place called Cava in Atlanta which they loved, and in Winston-Salem they discovered some really good crepes. Their next tour at Wake Forest was marked by heavy rain and no umbrellas. This was not the reason Wake Forest did not make Callie's list, but it didn't help. 

 

The college tour portion of the trip ended in North Carolina for a good reason. Both Callie and Reese were playing in a soccer showcase outside of Winston-Salem, so John and Reese drove down to join the party on the Thursday of spring break. Each girl played three games over the course of three days in some relatively chilly weather.

Both girls played well over their three games and the teams themselves performed well. The only issue with these showcases is you only play one game each day and then have a lot of time to kill. But at least both girls were playing in the same general area on the same weekend. Once Reese's final game ended we were ready to head west toward Lexington to prepare for school to start up again.

Winter 2025

 

The second half of the school year started off with a major delay. We got back to Lexington from Connecticut just before a major snow and ice storm hit that made life difficult for those in charge of clearing streets and driving buses. In the end the girls ended up with about five snow days in total. They weren't exactly crushed by that fact, but it certainly didn't help them get back into the swing of things once they finally got returned to their respective school buildings.

 

The weather couldn't stop the important celebrations in the city for MLK Jr., however. And for the first year since we have lived in Lexington we attended the Unity Breakfast. This was a special treat since Reese was an honored guest. Her essay on Unity had earned her third place in the city-wide essay contest. She was very satisfied with this because while she got a cash prize she did not have to read her essay out loud to the hundreds in attendance.

 

Along with her fellow honorees, however, she got to meet Mayor Linda Gorton and got her picture taken. Those who have who have been with this blog for years may also recall that Reese had her picture taken with Mayor Jim Gray after her baptism. Getting pictures with mayors is apparently her thing.

 

The cold weather lasted well beyond January but February and March are still busy with soccer activities. The girls practice during the week at night in the cold and our wonderful visitors got to watch a couple of games in freezing temperatures. Fortunately, Nana Banana and Sport are hardy sports fans and used to the harsh weather, so this was not a problem for them. At the very least they came prepared.

 

Although it was a short visit we we were able to get some good meals together and Nana Banana and Sport had front row seats to our crazy daily schedules. The girls love having them in town and appreciate the moments of conversation and laughter.

 

With the exception of soccer we tend to stay indoors as much as possible during the winter months but we are fortunate to have friends who remind us it is important to get out and spend time with each other. This picture captures the girls with Kelly at a spontaneous brunch after church one Sunday. We all agree that we need to do this more.