by Ricky Bivins, Chapter President

Once again another month has rapidly slipped by and now we meet again. The May meeting was a BIG, no, HUGE success. Our Hopkinsville Hosts were most generous and provided a program that was second to none. Stan White, former President of the Cadiz Railroad was the guest speaker along with Thomas Harper and William Turner. The “point” of the program was the up coming book about the Cadiz Railroad being authored by Mr. Thomas Harper. The book promises to be both insightful as to the Cadiz Railroad and railroading in general. It is easy to forget how a small railroad or even a large railroad for that matter relies and depends on local business to survive. Stan White is I believe a third generation officer and stock holder of the Cadiz Railroad….at 89 years young! He is a delight to talk too and listen too. A grand time was had by all.

By the time this hits the Chapter Website, the up coming June edition of Madisonville KY’s annual Friday Night Live event downtown will be history. The Chapter made a commitment to set up a kiosk on the grounds of the Court House and “entertain” event goers. That entertainment was in the hands of our own Wally Watts and his Miniature Steam Engines. Wally along with our very own Thomas Bryan and I set up two of Wally’s steam engines along Main Street and I must say we had a blast….of steam! Event goers of all ages stopped by to see, hear and best of all, blow the whistle on Wally’s big Wilesco twin cylinder unit. Thomas managed the smaller but appealing Vertical unit while I conversed with on lookers. A special thanks to Danny Koeber for helping break down the display afterwards. I feel even though the Chapter turnout was three plus one, we had a successful display. Next month we will expand with an outdoor train display. Next month’s Friday Night Live will be July 8th from 6:00PM ending at 9:00PM. Please plan to attend and help out.

So month six of my tenure as Chapter President is upon us. The Chapter has been hosted by a radio station, entertained in Hopkinsville and now taken part in Madisonville Friday Night Live event. While member involvement is still low I feel we as a Chapter can hold our heads high and say “success”. But we should not stop now. There is more on the horizon folks. Two more Friday Night Live events, the Chapter Pic-nic, Clayton-Watts open house and the Christmas Dinner. Not to mention our photo archive project and of course our first time ever Rail Camper, Thomas Bryan. We are an active Chapter indeed. If I were to bring one thing to light, it would be; our Chapter needs more input from you, the membership. Attend the meeting this month and get involved.