Murray High - Shannon Elias / Calloway Co. - Sam Butts

Be Like Mike

I wasn't the first bloger - nor will I be the last - but no matter new or old you can't help but to fill somewhat like a proud parent when you have the ability to inlfuence other bloggers.

So without further adue or is it ado - - here is my sister-in-law's blog.

It's pretty cool and it's even got a picture of a really cute little boy on it!
Good Job Emmy Doo

Slingin' From The Top

The following are a series of photos I took for the home finale between Murray State and Tennessee-Martin Saturday night in the rafters of the Regional Special Events Center in Murray. This is something I did for the second year in the row and personally feel I had better results last year. But, I don't mind getting up there - although the air is much thinner - and trying out new angles.

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Calloway Co. — Chelsea Morris

Murray State - Micah Dunn

Murray State - Kalen Gibson

Just Becuase

Because I'm really not tired of winter - and becuase I can't really wait for spring to get here.

Turin Olympix

Truth be told, I'm not big on the Olympics, especially the winter games, but I felt compelled today to talk about the Winter Games in Turin for two reasons:
1) You know it's a really slow and pretty pathetic newsday when the Olympics and for that matter ice dancing are the main component in your sports section.



2) My morning routine of checking out internet sites, I stumbled across a blog by Chicago Tribune's Scott Strazzante, a gentleman who has been a inspiration and that of an idol of mine, for quite some time. He's In Torino or Turin or well just Italy and he's shooting the Olympics and doing it quite nicely.
So here is his blog address.


I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Murray High - Shannon Elias & Fulton City - Samantha Taylor

Murray High - Chess Volp & Fulton City - Billy Madding

Love Is In The Air

Dirk Draper and Summer Bolton pause for a kiss during a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt he planned for her. She was instructed to drive around town looking for expressions of his love on local businesses' signs. Inside each business there were gifts waiting for her.

Seven local businesses helped Dirk Draper declare his love for Summer Bolton. Among them were Taco John's. When Bolton saw the message rom her boyfriend of nine months, she knew there would be a gift inside the restaurant for her.

Normally, I think my photos do a pretty good job of telling the story, but in this instance, I felt compelled to attach the story - only because you rarely hear of something like this happening - especially in a place like Murray.

By KRISTIN TAYLOR
Staff Writer
Only 20 years old, Summer Bolton’s first Valentine’s Day with Dirk Draper will be one for the ages. Bolton mixed spontaneity with his love for her as he gave her an hour to find her name and sweet expressions on seven local business signs. Like a scavenger hunt, each business had a gift waiting for her.
“I just thought, wouldn’t it be neat if you woke up one morning and your name was on a bunch of signs?” Draper, 21, said of his twist on the traditional flowers, candy and love notes. “Wouldn’t you feel special?”
The first stop was Backyard Burger, where the message was “Happy Valentine’s Day Summer.” At nearby Ryan’s Steakhouse, she got two stuffed monkeys. At Grey’s property, the sign read “Be My Valentine Summer” and invited her in for a gift bag.
The day started when Bolton opened her apartment door to find Draper’s letter that directed her to drive about town for his messages and gifts. She said she was excited to embark on the hunt.
“It’s a good one,” Bolton said of her boyfriend’s idea when she talked to the Ledger & Times during the Grey’s Properties stop.
Grey’s broker Linda Houck talked to Draper when he came last week. And even though she had another message to put up on the marquee, she wanted to help the young couple celebrate.
“I think when people are as enthusiastic as they are, we should do what we can to help,” she said not long before she changed the sign to wish her “heart baby” husband a happy birthday.
Draper and Bolton met their freshmen year at Murray State when they both lived in White College. Now juniors, they have since moved off campus and have been dating the past nine months.
They were “sort of friends” in the beginning, Draper said after first meeting Bolton. “Then we kept running into each other and one thing led to another,” he said.
Much like the sweet trail he left her Monday.
The next stops were Taco John’s, Bab Bob’s, Boone Cleaner and Pocket’s Shell. The gifts along the way included flowers, candy, jewelry and a picture of the couple. Draper said he took a couple rejections when asking businesses for their help last week, but that didn’t hurt the plan.
“The ones that were in helped the whole way,” he said.
Draper had two extra gifts as incentive for Bolton to finish the Valentine’s scavenger hunt within 45 minutes. If she took an hour, she still got one extra gift. Really, Draper admits, the gifts were going to be hers regardless.
Committed to the cause, Draper even put up the greeting at Boone’s Laundry on 12th Street. That business didn’t have enough letters to spell out “I Love You Summer,” so he borrowed some from Domino’s to leave the message in a mixture of black and blue letters. But it helped all worth the reaction.
“She was stunned,” he said. “I just wanted to wow her. I think I did.”

What's That All Abooot

Calloway Co. — Chelsea Morris

Calloway Co. — Josh Streetman & Graves Co. — Randon Cavette

Snow Much Fun

Alona Anisimova, a freshman at Murray State University and from the Ukraine, waits for a ride outside campus as snow falls on her jacket Friday afternoon. Most of western Kentucky expreienced winter's first big snowfall Friday. (Below) Dawn Hall and her nephew Donte Thompson spent Friday afternoon building a snowman in front of their house Friday.

Murray High - Mallory Cunningham & Trigg County's - Janda Acree

Murray High - Shannon Elias & Trigg County - Molly Walters

Happy Birthday Momma

A Look Back At: The Barn

Calloway County - Chase Futrell & Murray High's - Aarron Jones

Murray High - Mallory Cunningham & Calloway County's — Beth Ross

IN FOCUS: Kristine Warren

A sign of her patriotism, Kristine Warren pauses at a barn on Furches Trail in the midst of preparing for a year-long deployment to Kuwait. She leaves Thursday to meet her new medical unit for the first time at Fort McPherson, Ga. The 38-year-old will leave her 2 1/2 year old daughter, Mary Ruth; her husband, Danny and her job at Murray-Calloway County Hopsital's Center for Health and Wellness in order to protect and serve her family, friends, community and nation. Below are more photos that accompanied a story written by Kristin Taylor

Murray State University - Matt Griffin

Wednesday was national signing day, the first day for potential football recruits to sign with the program of their choice, and some outstanding talent chose Murray State. Matt Griffin's first recruiting class at MSU consist of five student-athletes from each Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia, four from Ohio, three from Missouri and one from Wisconsin.

Murray High - Ted Masthay

Murray High - Todd Buck