Remembering Elizabeth Love

We covered the funeral service of a woman from a local nursing home, after her obit came in with, "Date of Birth: Aug. 30, 1932. Place of Birth: Unknown. Parents: Unknown, Survived by: Unknown. Preceded in Death by: Unknown."
We felt that we needed to let people know that she existed.

Diana Davis, of Sentry Services, pays her respects to Elizabeth Love at Morgan & Nay Funeral Centre on Wednesday, August 29. Sentry Services, a program of LifeTime Resources, Inc., provides estate care to those without family support. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Without a family to mourn her, Elizabeth Love's caregivers from Hanover Nursing Center, from left, Martha Robbins, Tracie Vaughn and Sharayah Dockins, and Diana Davis, of Sentry Services, listen to Rev. Robert Leach at Love's graveside ceremony at Springdale Cemetery. Born in 1932, Love passed away with no known relatives and an unknown past. Her caregivers from the nursing center — where she spent the last 7 years of her life — said she always had a smile and a positive attitude. Dockins said Love didn't talk about the past but always looked forward to the day ahead. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Your Story — Jackie Shaffer

Fourth grade teacher Jackie Shaffer counts backward from 5 to give her students a chance to quiet down after they began getting a bit too loud with a group project on the first day of school at Dupont Elementary on Wednesday, August 22. Shaffer said it is important to let the children know who is in charge right from the start. By the time Shaffer had counted down to two, the children's volume had been quelled. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Fourth grade teacher Jackie Shaffer lays out paperwork on her students desks before the first bell at Dupont Elementary on Wednesday, August 22. Shaffer, was interviewed and hired two days prior. She said the other teachers at Dupont helped her get up to speed so she would be ready for the students after only one day of preparation. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)


Dupont Elementary fourth grade teacher Jackie Shaffer talks with student James Shelton on Wednesday, August 22. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Tree Count

Arborist Kasey Krouse, of the Davey Resource Group, catalogs the trees in John Paul Park on Monday, August 20. The report is part of a study contracted by the City of Madison to inventory all of the trees on city right of ways and in all city parks. The trees are cataloged by species as well as condition, the report will classify which trees need immediate attention and which, if any must be taken down for safety consideration. The study, funded by a grant was scheduled prior to recent storms that left area lawns and some homes and businesses littered with fallen branches and leaves. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Husk Heist

Melinda Sevier, and her daughter Heather Romans stand among the stripped stalks of their cornfield in Graham Township. Melinda said that when her husband, Kevin, went to get more corn for the family's farmer's market booth, he found that someone had looted nearly every ear in their field. The corn on a neighboring farm was stolen a short time later. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Shedding New Light for Old Cars

Art Davis tests the functionality of the LED bulbs for a 1941 Chevrolet taillight at the Technostalgia shop on Monday, August 20. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Todd Sondles, owner of Technostalgia, Inc., shows off one of his company's LED replacement taillights while standing next to the 1940 Ford Deluxe that he used as a template for his design. The Madison-based business offers the brighter replacements lights for many old cars as well as valve covers and other parts to create an old engine look with newer motors. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Ribberfest

Ribberfest is one of our top three festivals in Madison. Their slogan mentions Blues, Balloons & Barbeque. Here’s a sampling of all three.

Singer and Trombone player Big James Montgomery (left) and the Chicago Playboys guitarist Mike Wheeler (right) open the musical portion of the Ribberfest festival on Friday, August 17. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)
Center: Pilot Chris Spaulding adds heat to finish inflating his balloon in preparation for the morning “Hare and Hounds” Ribberfest balloon race on Saturday, August 18. The hounds (all but the first balloon) chase the hare (the first balloon) and attempt to drop beanbags on an X marked on the ground at the hare's landing site. The balloon pilot who lands their beanbag closest to the center of the X wins the race. Left: With the sun to their backs, the participants of the morning Ribberfest balloon race travel west — above and slightly south of State Road 256 — toward their target near County Road 1233 West. Right: Standing near the Sunny Side of Louisville balloon, Rachel Meserth, of Springboro, Ohio, pulls at a rope to keep her family's balloon, the Tuscan Sunrise, in place as it is unfurled for the race. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)
Left: Patrick Morgan of the Nashville, Tenn., based Fumo Comedo barbecue team prepares his team's entries for judging at Ribberfest on Saturday, August 18. Center: Hickory Flats teammates Paul and Mary Everman, of Rexville, take pride in the presentation of their chicken for competition at Ribberfest on Saturday, August 18. Right: Ribberfest judges Keith Liljedahl, of Indianapolis, left, and T.j. Wehunt, of Chattanooga, Tenn., peruse a pork rib platter on Saturday, August 18. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Nice Light at Old Settlers Meeting

Guitarist Ron Adams, of Shepherdsville, Ky., and fiddler Doug Fleener, of Leitchfield, Ky., practice songs Fleener picked for his set in the fiddling contest at 122nd annual Old Settlers Meeting at Neavill's Grove on Friday, August 24. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

The Old Settlers Meeting is one of my favorite assignments each year. The people are great, the music is fantastic and this year we had some of the best light coming through the trees that I’ve seen in a while.

John Mark McElroy, 11, of Bowling Green, Ky., warms up for the fiddling contest at 122nd annual Old Settlers Meeting at Neavill's Grove on Friday, August 24. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Rays of sunlight pass through the trees and fall on the antique and show tractors at 122nd annual Old Settlers Meeting at Neavill's Grove. All of the tractors will be part of a parade at noon today, including the 1932 John Deere Model b, left, and the 1950 Cockshutt 30, which both belong to Tom and Shana Cutter, of Hayden. Tom says he has ten or twelve tractors at home, some of which are totally restored, others that still show their age marks. "Some are meant to be nice," he says. "Some need to stay in their work clothes." (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Your Story Jeremy Hemingway

Jeremy Hemingway looks for the right socket to take off lug nuts from a tire on an SUV at Baker’s Auto Salvage, Inc. in Carrollton, Ky., on Wednesday, August 15. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Hemingway removes the catalytic converter from a vehicle being inventoried at Baker’s Auto Salvage, Inc. in Carrollton, Ky., on Wednesday, August 15. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Hemingway walks through the heaps of corroded and smashed up automobiles on the grounds at Baker’s Auto Salvage, Inc. in Carrollton, Ky., on Wednesday, August 15. Hemingway's duties at the salvage yard include inventorying new cars and trucks as they are brought n and to retrieve parts from vehicles in the yard as customers need them. Hemingway says he enjoys working on his own and adds that it easier to take cars apart than it is to put them back together. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Is My FEMA Trailer Going To Kill Me?

When Jerry Wheeler bought his trailer, he planned to enjoy time with his wife out of town in the quiet of nature. Now Wheeler says he is unsure what to do with the Gulf Stream Traveler since the government has halted sales on the trailers which were used by FEMA but then found to have dangerously high levels of formaldehyde in the materials used to produce the trailers.
"Here sits this brand new trailer and I don't know what to do," Wheeler said. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Bingo

Some weeks, people or ideas to focus on for our Your Story package are hard to come by. Such was a week when we caught Lisa Smith in our cross hairs. I had a couple of other people fall through and wasn’t sure what we would do. Then I saw a post by Mike Zamora about a Bingo parlor and BINGO! I was inspired or totally ripped him off, either way, thanks Mike.

Lisa Smith holds the I-18 ball in place in front of a small video camera that shows the ball on monitors throughout the room while calling bingo numbers at the Moose Lodge 765 on Wednesday, August 8. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Lisa Smith exchanges cash for sheets of numbers with bingo player Ione Ashcraft, of Madison.
"Lisa's a good caller," said Ashcraft, a regular bingoer at the Moose. "She's well spoken and keeps an eye out to make sure everyone is keeping up." (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)


Lisa Smith calls Bingo numbers at the Moose Lodge 765 on Wednesday, August 8. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Grandview Goings On

A group of members of a class action lawsuit against Grandview Memorial Gardens stand by as J. Anthony Goebel files the paperwork for the suit with court clerk Tracy Gray on Friday, August 17. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Last month my day started with the first in a series of class action lawsuits being filed against a local cemetery, and continued on to the cemetery where the latest in a long string of exhumations was taking place. This issues with Grandview Memorial Gardens are really too numerous to list. But, some of the gems include:
—Mismanagement of prepaid burial funds resulting in the money not being available when loved ones are to be put to rest.
— Misrepresentation of products sold, leaving families to believe that their loved ones’ caskets were placed in air-tight, water-tight boxes; neither of which was true in most cases.
— A poorly designed drainage system in the cemetery causing water to stay in the grounds instead of draining out and away from the plots — further affecting the coffins hat are not in water tight vaults.
— Plots that were pre-sold too close together thus not allowing the necessary space for a person to be buried if burials were already performed on either side of a plot.

There are so many facets to this situation that it is hard to get a handle on it. As far as art goes, we have decided not to shoot every single exhumation, but as the story continues to develop there aren’t a lot of other ways to show people what’s going on.

Marsha Smith, left, and Cecilia Means react after the class action lawsuit against Grandview Memorial Gardens was officially filed on Friday, August 17. Smith, whose first husband was buried at Grandview, said her tears were tears of joy that something is finally happening with the case. "We have to have justice," Smith said. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Willie Deaton's coffin is recovered from the Veterans Garden at Grandview Memorial Gardens on Friday, August 17. Deaton's family is the latest to remove their loved one from Grandview due to various problems at the cemetery including poor drainage on the grounds. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Melissa Warner puts her arm around her mother, Linda Deaton, as the two inspect the coffin of Deaton's late husband, Willie Deaton, after the exhumation from the Veterans Garden at Grandview Memorial Gardens on Friday, August 17. It was found that the coffin had been at least partially underwater, though the seal on the coffin was still intact. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Your Story — Jason Stewart

Jason Stewart, a coach with Calvary Baptist Church's Upward soccer program teaches Ethan O'Nan, 8, how to play the goalie position during a pre-season practice on Thursday, August 30. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

From Parent to Coach: Jason Stewart shows Kennedy Park, center, and his daughter, Sarah what positions to take on the field during a pre-season practice of Upward Soccer at Calvary Baptist Church on Thursday, August 31. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Jason Stewart asks the kids on the Crimson Tide soccer team what their favorite gift has been during a devotional time that is incorporated into the practice session for all of the Upward soccer teams at Calvary Baptist Church. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

New School on the Block

We all cover the first day of school and this season there was at least a bit of a news peg in that this was the first day of school for a new school. Unfortunately I dropped the ball a bit and only came back with some fairly standard shots.

Third grade teacher Brenda Dixon talks about rules for her class on the first day of school at the new Christian Academy of Madison. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Phillip and Nancy Ross, from right, and Shonna Heath watch their children, Isaac and Isabella Ross and Harley Heath as the youngsters start their first day of four year old kindergarten at the new Christian Academy of Madison this morning. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)

Dog Show

Wendy May, a resident of The Waters of Clifty Falls Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, watches a miniature Dachshund named Temo walk past as May and four other residents judged the small dog competition at the inaugural dog show at the Waters on Wednesday, August 1. Many of the dogs were brought in by family members of residents and from Waters staff. Temo belongs to Jalel Zaabani, son of Waters nurse Danell Zaabani. Waters activity director Tammy Stewart said there were more than 20 dogs at the show and the audience seemed to enjoy the event. (©Ken Ritchie/The Madison Courier)