Community will benefit from generous donation of historical documents to CPL

Monday, I met with H.E. “Hank” Everman, a true historian, at the Corbin Public Library. Many of us with age have our history in our memories. Not Hank. He specialized in American History and Social Studies at the University of Kentucky, from which he graduated in 1963. He earned a Ph.D. in 1970 from LSU. He taught at LSU and returned to Kentucky in 1970 to teach at Eastern Kentucky University. He has written numerous articles for state and regional quarterlies, encyclopedias, and magazines.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

His reason for visiting the Corbin Public Library was to deliver boxes of historical documents and pictures about Corbin’s history. After categorizing the material it will become a part of the Corbin History room at the library, of which Diane Mitchell and others are working to establish.

My first question was what is a person who lives in Richmond doing with so many pictures and documents about Corbin. Everman attended East Ward School in Corbin, but later moved and graduated from Paris High School in Bourbon County. The real reason he had a treasure of information about Corbin was because of his father-in-law, the late F.D. “Jack” Heath, had urged him to research Corbin’s history.

The first thing I asked to see was a copy of the 1957 Corbin High School annual. Our news reporter Trevor Sherman quickly found it.

I don’t have a personal copy of the annual and looking at the pictures in it brought back wonderful memories. That is what the history room will do for many of us while it will be informational also. Thanks to Everman for the valuable donation.

The people working to establish the history room are also working to digitize the collection. This is a great. It doesn’t matter whether you have lived here a short time or all your life, Corbin’s history is something you will enjoy. And for those of you in Williamsburg, the same is true. A visit to the Genealogical Society in the old depot building is very worthwhile.

• Now on to another subject. I am so glad the world did not end when Coach Calipari left Kentucky. Some acted as it would while others wanted him gone. All is well, the Pope is here.

This leads me to my story of why I became a fanatic of Kentucky basketball at a very young age. I sat at the kitchen table with my dad and listened to every game. I knew all the players names and I kept a scoring sheet.

One of the reasons I was such a fanatical fan was because of Bird, Hagan, Ramsey, Newton, Hall, Crigler, Adkins, Smith, Mills, Cox, Hatton, and more.  I guess you get the picture, they were all Kentucky high school stars winning NCAA championships for Kentucky. Of course, Groza and other out of state players contributed greatly.

Reed Sheppard brought back some of that feeling this past season, but college basketball has changed so much it no longer resembles the greatness of the past. Money, NIL, and today’s rules. I’m lukewarm compared to the days when Kentucky ruled.

In 1958, I was a sophomore at UK when they won the championship. We listened to the game on the radio and then we celebrated the win by walking to Main Street where a big bonfire was glowing. That’s how us young and crazy kids celebrated. I rode a Greyhound bus to the UKIT when school was not in session and stayed for the tournament in my dorm room. One time the snow was so bad that I asked Claude Sullivan, the UK radio announcer, to tell my parents over the radio that I made it to Lexington safely. I wish I had the fire that I had back then. Maybe the Pope will bring it back.