Leadership Central Kentucky (LCK) - Jessamine County Recap

Written by: Morgan Humphries, Nesting supervisor at Valvoline Inc.

Historic Highbridge of Kentucky

Long white fences stretching for miles, buildings rich with history, underground structures strong and true, companies providing innovative and creative solutions daily, a historical site full of items to invoke reflection and remembrance. What a way to dive into regionalism kicking off with Jessamine County. As a resident of Lexington, I have frequented Nicholasville through friends and employment, but the next time I drive down Main Street I will have a new understanding and appreciation for the culture that runs deep within Nicholasville and fellow county cities, Wilmore and Keene.

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We all met at the Public Well which held a welcoming and warm atmosphere, you walked in and felt like Norm from Cheers, you just belonged. Not long after everyone arrived Tyra let us know it was time to get moving. So, we loaded up onto the bus (huge shout out to Bob, our incredible driver), excited and curious to see what our first stop had in store for us. Sensing that excitement and maybe even nervous jitters our lovely guide for the day Rhonda May (Executive Director of Jessamine Co Chamber) made us smile and laugh through easy conversation, introduction, and she was even thrilled to know that classmates of mine had read through the “Quick Facts” document she had provided us.

Dr. Kevin Brown, Asbury University's 18th president

I won’t speak for the entire class, but I’d be surprised if I was alone in the feelings that hit me upon our arrival on the Asbury campus. Wow, the effort and dedication that went into these buildings alone were humbling. As we walked through what can only be described as movie sets and displays, we were welcomed by Dr. Kevin Brown (President), Jennifer McChord (VP Enrollment & Marketing), and Dr. Mark Troyer (Director of Graduate Admissions). Jennifer had such light energy about her that you couldn’t help but get excited as she spoke to us about Asbury’s history. Dr. Brown followed suit and left me motivated as he spoke to stewardship and the level he thrives to achieve, taking care not just the students but their families. Dr. Troyer was, in a word, efficient in his quick and to-the-point speech eager to show us around the campus he was so proud to support. There was so much to explore from the original campus from 1890, to the Chapel and its stained-glass windows all the way to the Walt and Rowan Shaw Collaborative Learning Center that encourages learning skills that work hand in hand with each other.

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I personally could have spent the entire day on that campus exploring all it had to offer to its students, how it supports their religious beliefs while helping each student push past their limits to work towards being better than they were yesterday. With every fact or nugget of information Dr. Troyer shared with my tour group you could hear how much this school meant to him, how dedicated he was to the history and the future of it, and how he wished he had had more time to go through it with us. Before the class knew it, the clock struck 10:15am and Tyra rounded us up again to move towards our next destination. As we boarded the bus and had a few moments to digest all we had just been exposed to, I remember thinking “There’s no way they can top that.” Spoiler alert, I was wrong.

Linda Griffin, The President of Highbridge Spring Water, and the only woman I know who goes to work every day in a cave, shared her story about how she came into the leadership role with Highbridge which made you pause and appreciate family values and maybe even think of some stories where maybe you could relate. She and her sisters helped her father navigate what it meant to join the bottled water industry before it was even an industry. The way she laughed with us and wanted to know about each of us only driving in the point she has about the importance of customer service. How being kind can make all the difference. My time with her will not be soon forgotten as she is the embodiment of problem solving and tradition. The cave held thousands of documents and archives for large- and small-scale business along with her bottling plant. She showed us the spring the water is sourced from, and we even heard about some wildlife that is always eager to explore all the cave has to offer. As she said her goodbyes to us her smile never faltered and she made sure you knew when you were chatting, you had her full attention. Kindness at the forefront of her words.

Highbridge Spring Water Cave

​We moved on to visit PECCO and Blue Tank. Encouragement and creativity work hand in hand with these successful and growing businesses. To be able to witness how Scottie Perdue, Kyle Perdue, Logan Perdue and Tanner Perdue will go to any job they are called to with confidence that they will be able to provide the clean up needed and support their team in the process. They even go as far as creating their tools, vehicles, machines needed to handle any job they may be called to. It was incredible to hear them share stories about all the unique jobs that they had been called out on. From a coal truck hanging dangerously off a bridge over a highway strip, to the most recent flooding in Frankfort KY at Buffalo Trace. Watching Scottie, Kyle, Logan and Tanner speak with such confidence, you knew they’d tackle any cleanup while backing each other up every step of the way. While we were able to look at some of the equipment that the Perdue family had designed, we were able to enjoy an incredible taco bar provided by Public Well, those crunchy and salty homemade chips were the star for sure.

Class member Morgan Humphries at Camp Nelson

Our next destination was a short trip over to Camp Nelson. As a woman who married into a Military family it was a special moment to visit a place filled with so much history around the civil war and the part that Jessamine County played in it. We were honored to be informed that we were also going to be the first people to be able to explore their next “Footsteps to Freedom” exhibit that has just finished up that every day. I appreciated the extent that Ernest Price and Steve Phan went through to help us take notice of the effort placed on showing the details of people and their stories, helping the people connect with those from the past.
I remember being asked during orientation what was something I hoped to get out of this experience, and I said, “I hope it’s more than I expect.” Jessamine county was more than I expected in all the best ways!

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