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Magoffin County Department of Highways crew’s quick action credited with saving motorist’s life
Chris McCarty dived into creek to pull unconscious driver from water, others helped with rescue efforts

Quick action by an employee of the Kentucky Department of Highways Magoffin County maintenance garage is being credited with saving the life of a motorist involved in a traffic crash the night of Dec. 19.

Chris McCarty dived into the cold, rushing water of Burning Fork Creek off KY 1888 east of Salyersville, near the Magoffin County state highway maintenance garage, to rescue Kermit Howes. Howes’ pickup truck ran off the road and overturned in the creek around 8 p.m. He was ejected from the vehicle and was found unconscious, floating down the creek.

Employees at the state highway garage, who were getting ready to salt and plow roads and remove trees in the aftermath of the weekend’s winter storm, heard the crash and located the spot where the driver ran off the road.

“Chris didn’t hesitate, he jumped right in and pulled the guy out of the water,” said Paul Bailey, superintendent II at the Magoffin County garage. “Chris saw him floating in the water and dived off the bank. He definitely saved his life.”

Once McCarty got Howes to the side of the stream, two other crew members – Matthew Bailey and Stanley Howard -- helped get him to the top of the bank, along with the help of a private citizen. Kentucky State Police and members of Magoffin County’s rescue squad responded to the scene, and Howes was taken to an area hospital with head injuries.

“Our employees at our garages work long hours during winter weather events to keep the roads safe for motorists, so we already know how important they are and how many sacrifices they make for the public’s benefit,” said Mark A. Westfall, chief district engineer for Highway District 10, which includes Magoffin County. “These are extraordinary individuals, and the heroic actions of Chris McCarty just serve to reinforce that point. He took action to save someone’s life without regard for his own safety, which is the classic definition of a hero. We salute him for his heroic deed. Matthew Bailey and Stanley Howard also were a vital part of this rescue operation, and they are to be commended as well. These three workers are fine representatives of our staff, and we are proud of them along with all our other employees who go ‘above and beyond’ on behalf of Kentucky motorists.”

KSP Posts Provide Holiday Help 

Kentucky State Police posts throughout Kentucky were busy helping Santa during December with Shop With A Trooper events to help families and children with their Christmas needs. Reports from various posts provided the following highlights:

Post 2 conducted its 13th annual event on Dec. 10 in conjunction with KSPPA District 2. Thirty children and their families were treated to pizza and soft drinks courtesy of the Princeton Wal-Mart. Later, they shopped with troopers for items such as clothing, coats, shoes and toys.

Post 6 held its sixth annual event on Dec. 19. Thirty children from nine of the 10 post area counties participated. Each participant received various items such as stuffed animals, a food box for their families and $200 each to spend at Wal-Mart.

Post 7 hosted 54 children from 11 counties on Dec. 12 at the Richmond Wal-Mart. Each one received a free picture with Santa and $100 to spend on clothes and toys. After the event, they were treated to lunch donated by the Richmond Chik-fil-a restaurant.

Post 11 joined with the Cumberland Valley FOP Lodge to host a program on Dec. 5 at the London Wal-Mart. Each of the approximately 180 children present were allowed to purchase $70 of clothes and $30 of toys.

Post 12 teamed up with KSPPA District 12 to help 26 children from 13 different families on Dec. 22 at the Frankfort Wal-Mart.

Post 13 spent approximately $11,500 to help 90 kids from Knott, Letcher, Leslie,  Breathitt and Perry counties on Dec. 9.

Post 14 joined with the Boyd Co. Girl Scout Troop #983, Hope’s Place, KSPPA District 14 and KSPPA Drug Enforcement District 17 on Dec. 12 to host 18 children from Boyd, Carter, Lawrence and Greenup counties at the Canonsburg Wal-Mart.
  
Tpr. Robert Purdy of Post 13 and his wife were first time participants in the program this year. “It’s very rewarding to be able to see the positive impact that we can have on younger generations,” he observed. “It’s a good thing we can share together.”

Capt. Mike Crawford, commander of Post 12, summed up the experience for everyone. “At this time of year, we are blessed to have the opportunity to provide help to needy families in our area,” he said. “With the current financial crisis affecting everyone, I am pleased that our local businesses have remained committed to our cause of providing for the less fortunate. This is just another way the Kentucky State Police show our commitment to the citizen we proudly serve.”

Nicholson's Idea Sparks Largest Event Ever to be Held in Kentucky
By Cindy Rullman

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” 

In the case of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, that has indeed proven true.

In 1995, the American sports world was suffering in the throes of the OJ Simpson trial and Major League baseball strike, but that same year, a Kentucky horseman began to incubate an idea that would prove to be remarkable for its scope and would have a positive impact on the American sports world.

“That was when I first learned about the World Equestrian Games, during a conversation I had in Germany with Michael Stone, then President of the Irish Equestrian Federation, who later became Secretary General of the FEI,” said John Nicholson, president of the World Games 2010 Foundation and executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park.  “It got me thinking about importing the games to the United States, more specifically to Kentucky, and not a day has gone by in the past 14 years when I haven’t thought about it or worked on it.”

Next John broached the idea with Rob Hinkle, and the two started discussing what it would take to bring the games to the U.S.  Nicholson was working for Equitana, and Rob for Disney. Each was a former employee of the Kentucky Horse Park and soon to return – Nicholson as the executive director and Hinkle as his deputy director.

Together they developed an ambitious, comprehensive, strategic plan to develop the park into the finest equestrian competition facility in the world.  

Then in the fall of 2000, they were ready to begin in earnest to work on acquiring the 2006 World Equestrian Games.

“For two solid years we devoted ourselves almost exclusively to working on the bid for the 2006 Games,” Nicholson said. “Rob deserves a great deal of credit for doing the ‘heavy lifting’ that it took to pull the bid together and from the beginning, we have received enormous encouragement from John Long and the United States Equestrian Federation.

“Throughout the process we had to address numerous obstacles, including a very serious problem called Equine Piroplasmosis, a tick-borne protozoal disease not currently found in North America - but some foreign horses carry the titer.  It meant that Piro-positive horses would have to remain in quarantine and unable to stable on the park grounds – a ‘deal breaker’ as far as the FEI was concerned. 

“Unless we solved this dilemma, we would never acquire the games, so we contacted Dr. Peter Timoney, then Director of the Gluck Equine Research Center, who is arguably the world’s most respected equine research veterinarian.  He conducted a risk assessment to determine if Piroplasmosis was indeed a threat to U.S. horses.”

As a result of that research, the USDA developed a reasonable protocol that satisfied all parties.

“This, along with invaluable contributions from countless individuals, made it possible for us to submit a viable bid to host the 2006 Games,” Nicholson said.

The Kentucky Horse Park lost that bid to Aachen, a crushing disappointment that became a blessing in disguise because it allowed the park more time to secure increased support and refine a new bid to host the 2010 Games. 

“Since then, our support system has become vast and deep, and has included unwavering cooperation first from former Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher and now from Governor and Mrs. Steve Beshear. The Beshears have been actively involved with the park for more than two decades and they are true champions. Mrs. Beshear is an accomplished horsewoman who knows and loves every corner of our 1,200 acres. They, the Kentucky General Assembly, the Kentucky Horse Park Commission and the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation have made it possible for this park to become the finest equestrian competition facility in the world. 

“Collaborations like these, coupled with our perseverance, resulted in the park being granted the 2010 Games.

“The World Games 2010 Foundation, Inc. was then formed to organize the games and Rob Hinkle became the vice president and chief operations officer.  Shortly thereafter, Dr. Pease Lyons and Alltech stepped in as a perfect naming sponsor. We have also received tremendous assistance from Mayor Jim Newberry and the city of Lexington.”

After 15 years of effort that was sparked by one man’s idea to bring a world event to his home state, and “a small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission,” the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will be held outside of Europe for the first time.  It will be the largest event ever held in Kentucky, the largest sporting event in the United States in 2010 and the second-largest in North America. Only the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be larger.