Sounds Good

Kate Lochte speaks with western Kentucky native and author Bobbie Smith Bryant on Sounds Good. Bryant was born in the Black Patch of Calloway County and shares her family's heritage in a new book titled, "Passions of the Black Patch: Cooking and Quilting in Western Kentucky." Black Patch is the region in western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee where a specific type of tobacco, which has distinctly dark leaves, is grown.

Learn more at bobbiesmithbryant.com.

Murray-Calloway County Hospital Vice President of Institutional Development, Keith Travis, gives us an update on fundraising for the Hospice House, speaking with Kate Lochte on Sounds Good. On April 24, "Kentucky Gives Day" was a statewide fundraising effort for various causes in Kentucky, which included the Friends of the Hospice. Travis told Murray Ledger & Times that Kentucky Gives Day was a great success for the Hospice House, enabling funding for the Hospice facility and manpower.

The American Cancer Society's Community Representative Pam Whittemore likens the Relay for Life event at Murray's Stewart Stadium this Friday night to the experience of a cancer patient: everyone's there at the diagnosis or beginning, then during treatment attention dwindles or is unwanted, and upon cure everyone's back cheering. So Friday's event opens at 7 p.m.; the Luminaria Ceremony is at 9:30; and bands play from 11 p.m. to 3 p.m. when everybody's tired and there's some attrition. Nonetheless everyone's back for the 7 a.m. awards ceremony Saturday.

Nina McMullin has been baking all her life and decided to create a part-time outlet for her unique cupcakes. So she and her family set up a Thursday through Saturday business in an 1840's building adjacent to the Princeton Art Guild's historic building. Her shop, Mrs. McLovets' Cupcakes, opened in 2012, features five cupcake flavors a week. The shop's working space is 8' x 22', so this is truly a "small business."

See more on Mrs. McLovets' Cupcakes website.

The Marshall County Arts Commission is raising funds to finish the Marshall County Children’s Art Center on East Elm Street in Benton. Today on Sounds Good, Commission Director George Milam describes the effort to Kate Lochte. See more events at the Marshall County Arts Commission website. 

The Tennessee Iris Festival Iris and Horticulture Show is Friday and the David Johnson Chorus performs Saturday. Festival Board Member Christy Oliver has the scoop on all the other Festival events this week in Dresden. She speaks with Tracy Ross on Sounds Good. The festival runs from April 27 through May 4.  Click here for more information and a schedule of events.

Mike Wilson and Emily Kohl of the Gentry House in Murray stop by our studio on Sounds Good to speak with Kate Lochte about the first-annual community Derby Party: Run for the Homeless fundraiser on Saturday, May 4th at the Murray Banquet Center. The event starts at 2 p.m. and the race begins at 5:24 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Gentry House in Murray. The Gentry House is a homeless/emergency shelter that acts as a safe haven for families with children in Murray and Calloway County. Click here for more about the Gentry House. 

The Grand Parade was at 10 this morning, the Arts & Crafts Show is now open and the Fish Building, too, at the Henry County Fairgrounds. This is the finale weekend of The World's Biggest Fish Fry in Paris, Tennessee. It's a longstanding tradition involving events that started months ago, culminating this week. The General Manager of the Fish Fry tells us all about it with Kate Lochte.

We're pleased to offer another installment in our occasional series about young people who grew up in West Kentucky who are creating careers with success in major market areas. Writing for the Marshall County Tribune-Courier, Venita Fritz reports that Angie Gregory's nickname at Marshall County High was "Hollywood." And the nickname foretold the life. The daughter of Diane Gregory and the late Earl Gregory of Draffenville, the Murray State Grad is now working in the television industry in Los Angeles, with a show on the Bio Channel to air tomorrow night. Angie Gregory spoke with Kate Lochte about her recent resurgence.

Tracy Ross recently spoke with the "Voice of the Racers" Neal Bradley about last Saturday's Blue Gold Bowl and next year's Racer Basketball schedule. Here's this month's Murray State Racers update.