Group releases county history on DVD
When the lights go down Friday at Fohs Hall, the last two centuries of local history will come face to face with the present.
“My Kentucky Home: Crittenden County” makes its debut this week at a premiere event at Fohs Hall. The long-awaited documentary by Sam Koltinsky is the latest entry in his series chronicling the history of western Kentucky. His film on Caldwell County, where he calls home, has been highly acclaimed, but his experience with Crittenden County has been one of his most unique, the veteran filmmaker explained.
Koltinsky's foray into Crittenden County history began almost three years ago when he began filming a series of shots for the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum. That soon blossomed into the making of the 56-minute documentary to be unveiled Friday.
“When I started to see the treasures that your community had over there in terms of history, it was clear to me that you had the makings for a larger project,” Koltinsky said Tuesday, as he continued wrapping up work on the final Crittenden edits.
The dark history of Ohio River gangs coupled with other stories tied to the waterway, as well as tributes to all the little communities surrounding Marion and how each lost its identity through consolidation, are a large focus of the film.
“The history of Fohs Hall is an interesting one, too,” Koltinsky said. “I learned more about (the Julius Fohs) family and the wonderful deeds they did for the community.”
Koltinsky and his crew spent many days over the last two and a half years filming in Crittenden County. Two of his favorite were at Hurricane Camp in 2007.
"That place has such a wonderful history," he said of the Tolu area youth encampment, which has hosted children for the faith-based summer camp for 120 years.
Of dozens interviewed on and off film for the project, his favorite is with a member of the Amish community. Respecting the religious sect's wishes to not appear on film, the interview airs on the documentary as audio as the viewer's eyes fixate on an unprecedented tour inside an Amish home and grounds.
"That interview was very, very, very special to get a glimpse of that life," Koltinsky said with excitement in his voice.
Another signature interview in the film is with Nellie Qualls, a member of Crittenden County's small black community. The filmmaker said Qualls recalls some very difficult stories of hardship without any signs of bitterness.
"She tells them with a smile on her face," he explains. "I think we can learn a lot from her."
But for all the interviews with stalwarts of the community like Ethel Tucker, Judy Winn, Ed Runyan and Brenda Underdown, whose vast and thorough knowledge of the county was vital in completing the film, said Koltinsky, he still has a few surprises in the show.
"We've turn up some exquisite archival footage," he said. "The community is not aware of this footage."
Koltinsky's only hint is that the segment of film is from the early 1920s.
"I was so surprised when it landed in my mailbox."
The chronology of the documentary starts with establishment of county in 1842 and moves forward through time. Music for the film is all original, composed and performed by Koltinsky and head of production at Marvo Entertainment Group, Drew Hudgins.
Friday's debut airs at 7 p.m., at Fohs Hall, with free admission to the public. A social period with refreshments will begin at 6:30 p.m. Before the film is shown on a big screen set on the Fohs Hall stage, Tucker will introduce Koltinsky with a few words on the film. An encore will occur at 4 p.m., Sunday, with doors opening 30 minutes prior.
DVDs of the film will be sold for $20 during both showings. They will also be available for purchase after Sunday at Quilting Tomorrow's Heirlooms in downtown Marion.

Chief: Proposed firehouse safe
Leadership of Marion’s volunteer fire department remain pleased with the proposed site of the organization’s new home despite recent outcries against the location.
On Tuesday, Ronald “Red” Howton and Jim Johnson, the longtime chief and his assistant, both voiced their support for building a new three-bay firehouse at the corner of Main and Bellville streets where a vacant lot now sits. Each said the site is both practical and safe in spite of claims to the contrary by both council members and residents.
“The issues they’re talking about, as far as I’m concerned, are null and void,” said Howton, a member of the squad since the early 1970s.
Last month, Marion City Council voted 3-2 to begin a feasibility study for utilizing two adjacent lots at the corner of Main and Bellville to replace an aging, inadequate firehouse just a few yards away on East Bellville Street. Councilmen Don Arflack, a member of the fire department, and former police officer Jim Brown voted against the location, preferring the corner of East Bellville and North College streets. Both cited safety and cost as reasons for opposition.
An informal poll on The Press Online also showed opposition from the public, when asked if the city should move ahead with plans for the site. With 142 votes, 77 percent opposed the location.
As for safety, Howton and Johnson said it is no more a concern at one corner lot than the other. With the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s pledge to allow the department authority to manage traffic flow with the stoplight at the proposed site, the busy intersection poses no threat to safety or delays in responding to fires, Howton said.
“What’s dangerous is where we are now,” he said. “When you get ready to pull out, you don’t even know if someone is walking down the sidewalk.”
Johnson, who has been a firefighter since 1980 and routinely drives the fire truck in response to calls, said the layout of the new station would present no significant problem while entering or exiting the station with equipment. Neither safety to traffic nor firefighting capabilities would be compromised, he explained.
As for cost, acquiring the vacant lot and adjacent property with an existing building would be $132,500, as opposed to $139,000 for the parking lot off Bellville and College streets. Clearing and prepping the preferred Main and Bellville site would be an additional cost, however.
Johnson and some on the council would like to see that corner beautified with a new building, while Howton just wants a more functional firehouse, regardless. He said the council has been very cooperative with the fire department in seeking input on a new site, and just wants to move forward with plans.
Though the decision to move ahead was made at last month’s council meeting, the topic is sure to arise again Monday at December’s meeting. That session begins at 6 p.m., at City Hall.

FSA office to close next month
Despite attempts from the courthouse to Capitol Hill, the doors at Marion’s U.S. Department of Agriculture Service Center will soon be closing.
As of mid-January, Crittenden County producers and land owners will have to head out of the county for the services offered by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service. All services and personnel at the Marion office will be moved to Salem as part of the Kentucky FSA’s Restructuring Plan.
The date of Jan. 16, a Friday, has been scheduled as the last day of business for the Marion office, according to sources who wished to not be identified. Crittenden County Judge-Executive Fred Brown, who has fought to keep the office on East Bellville Street open since the initiative to restructure began two years ago, confirmed the announcement.
NRCS says closing the Marion office coupled with other planned closures will save $500,000 and increase productivity at service centers.
“Teams will specialize to focus on farmbill workload,” the federal agency’s Web site claims.
The NRCS's restructuring plan calls for no reduction in the number of employees.
Producers will be able to utilize FSA and NRCS services at the Salem office, or transfer their records to a nearer service center of choice. However, according to Winnie Breeding, management and information systems coordinator with Kentucky FSA headquarters in Frankfort, a written request by farmers or landowners must be submitted and approved before the transfer can take place. Letters to affected producers will be mailed out in January, she said.
Breeding said the Marion closure is among 12 others in the state included in the second of a three-phase restructuring plan that has already seen many of Kentucky’s 120 counties lose their own service centers.
“We closed some last year,” she said.
The ongoing consolidation of service centers will eventually reduce the number in the state to 54, according to an Aug. 5, 2008, update posted on the NRCS Web site. Currently, according to Breeding, there are 92 service centers in Kentucky.
Crittenden County’s service center was spared from consolidation in 2005, but the decision to close the office was made last year at the state level. Brown, local farmers and the business community have argued that Salem’s office should be closed in the consolidation because there is more traffic at the Marion location.
For instance, NRCS data show the Marion office handles 12-percent more NRCS and 54-percent more FSA work than the Salem office. And, 698 farms are located in Crittenden County, 180 more than in its neighbor to the west.
Even a voice from Capitol Hill has not altered the restructuring plan.
On Nov. 24, Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) sent USDA Sec. Edward Schafer a statement of opposition to closures in Kentucky’s First Congressional District.
“By closing the office in their county, this will require costly trips by farmers to a neighboring county,” Whitfield wrote. “Additionally, ...if a county loses their FSA office, it will have a negative impact on the local economy.”
According to Whitfield’s press secretary in Washington, D.C, Kristen Walker, the congressman as of Monday had not received a response from Sec. Schafer.
Offering the USDA a rent-free location has also apparently not spared the Marion office. In August, Crittenden Fiscal Court gave Crittenden County Conservation District $12,000 as down payment for the purchase of the building housing the federal service center. The conservation district purchased the building from Thom Hawthorne Jr., for $120,000 in the hope a rent-free agreement with the government might persuade state FSA director Jeff Hall to keep the office open.

3 suspect charged in break-ins
Three suspects believed to have been involved in an August break-in at Liberty Fuels in Marion have been charged, according to Police Chief Ray O'Neal.
Last week, Crittenden County authorities issued warrants for Paducah residents Tab Delancey, 43; Melissa Tipton, 39; and Charles Stewart, 27. Two of the three were in custody in Paducah on Marshall County warrants.
The trio are also believed to have been involved in burglaries in Possum Trot and Princeton.
O'Neal said a Marshall County detective working on an August break-in at the Possum Trot grocery store broke the case. Authorities picked up two of the suspects last week, but Stewart got away and remains on the lam.
Police say the three are suspects in an Aug. 11 burglary at Heaton's Marathon in Princeton, too. No Princeton charges had been filed as of Friday.
A surveillance video caught two men breaking in through the front door at Liberty Fuels on Aug. 6. An alarm went off as soon as they gained entrance and the men immediately left. An outdoor camera also caught a blue Buick Park Avenue on tape. Part of the surveillance video was posted on The Press Online.
Investigators in Marshall County, along with help from McCracken County authorities, searched a Paducah residence last week where they located the vehicle and a crowbar believed to have been used in the break-ins. In Princeton, two white males were also caught on videotape. There, they stole several cartons of cigarettes and a collection jar with cash and coins being raised for local cancer patient Tori Oakley.
The Marion police chief said there is strong evidence linking the three to the Marion break-in.