For more than half a century, Hitchins School was the center of social life in the small Carter County community. A group of dedicated volunteers now are working to again make the old school the center of activity in Hitchins.
They need not look far for inspiration. Residents of Grahn have turned the closed Grahn School into a center that is home to a number of community activities, and in Olive Hill, the old high school located high on a hill overlooking the town has been turned into a center that hosts everything from plays to concerts to class and family reunions.
The restoration of the Hitchins School got a major boost last September when Edward Isaacs purchased the old school building and donated it to the Hitchins Preservation Society. Since then, volunteers have logged hundreds of hours clearing the old school of tons of debris, replacing broken windows and replacing gutters that were so heavily damaged that they were actually directing rainwater into the building instead of keeping it out.
There remains much work to do, but musicians have already performed bluegrass and rock concerts in the Isaacs Performing Arts Center in the building, and the Wizards of Dance rehearse in the building. A large room is being turned into a home for the E.K. Railroad Museum, and ENOUGH is planning to offer drug education programs in the school. ROTC students from East Carter High School hope to practice for air rifle competitions in a renovated upstairs classroom.
While the number of activities already taking place in the building is impressive, the potential exists for far more. For example, the old gymnasium, the old school’s centerpiece, has not been renovated. Once that is completed, the old school can be the center of community recreation.
Of course, all this takes money, and the Hitchins Preservation Society hopes to secure some grants. Both the Grahn and Olive Hill school restoration projects were helped immensely by grants they received. Meanwhile, fund raising continues nonstop.
But there is something the preservation society needs nearly as much money, said member Mike Johnston: Volunteers.
“We just need more manpower,” Isaacs added. In an effort to recruit more help from the community, the society has called a meeting for 7 p.m. Monday at the school.
While volunteers are needed to do a wide variety of tasks in the old school, there is another advantage to their efforts. Working together for a common cause sparks community pride and helps create the type of relationships that will make Hitchins an even stronger community.
We commend Isaacs for purchasing the old school and all those who have donated their time and talents toward making the old Hitchins School a vital part of the community.
Editorials
Restoring school — 06/04/09
Community members working to create new life for Hitchins
- Editorials
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Charles Chattin
Before it merged with Ashland Community College to form Ashland Community and Technical College as a result of the 1997 Higher Education Reform Act, the Ashland Area Vocational-Technical School compiled an impressive record for teaching job skills to young adults and placing more than 85 percent in jobs for which they were trained.
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Try again
It is time for Kentucky Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, to cease playing political games and redraw district lines that are compact and are based far more on population changes during the first decade of this century than on partisan politics.
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'Asset poor'
More than one in four Kentucky households are “asset poor,” meaning that they are living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no financial cushion to fall back on should they suddenly lose their jobs or have another emergency resulting in a temporary loss of or delcine in income.
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Safer mines
The head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says coal operators throughout the country are improving their operations and, as a result, mines are becoming safer. However, MSHA chief Joe Main said too many coal operators still “don’t get it” and are continuing to cut costs by ignoring safety. That’s why MSHA plans to continue targeting mines with a history of repeated violations for additional inspections.
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Not far enough
For the past three sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly, bills that would raise the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18 have been approved by the Kentucky House of Representatives by wide bipartisan margins only to die in the Senate without even a vote.
Now the Senate Education Committee has unanimously approved a dropout bill hailed as an alternative to the House bill, but it does not go nearly far enough. It is a halfway measure that would have only a limited effect on preventing teenagers from quitting high school before graduation and virtually assuring themselves of lives on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.
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Not their job
The local government committee of the Kentucky House of Representatives has wisely killed a bill — dubbed “Cooper’s Law” — that would have allowed the family of the Lexington toddler with cerebral palsy to have a playhouse on their property despite a deed restriction that apparently prohibits such structures.
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Keeping FADE
Despite an increase in cost to the department, Carter County Sheriff Casey Brammell told the Carter County Fiscal Court that his department will continue to be active in the FIVCO Area Development Drug Enforcement (FADE) Task Force — at least for now.
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Needed changes
The soaring enrollment that Kentucky’s community and technical colleges have experienced in recent years could come to a sudden end — or at least be slowed — as about 5,500 students in the statewide system that includes Ashalnd Community and Technical College are expected to lose their financial aid under new rules being implemented by the federal government.
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Released early
While it is disappointing that 75 of the 952 prisoners granted early release in January have violated the terms of their releases, the good news is that none of the former inmates have been charged with new felonies. That’s an early, but positive, indication that the nonviolent felons released before their sentences were up have been carefully selected and are among those least likely to return to a life of crime.
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Obese children
Almost a decade after former Gov. Ernie Fletcher called childhood obesity an “epidemic” in Kentucky, a majority of Kentucky adults still think that there are too many overweight children in the state and they place the bulk of the blame squarely on the shoulders of their parents.
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Charles Chattin
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