The House that Christmas built
When Steve and Kathy Williams began building their retirement home, they had one holiday in mind. The house had to have a room large enough to host up to 60 Williamses and members of their extended family at Christmas.
Though the couple live full-time in Louisville, where Steve is chief executive officer of Norton Healthcare, they spend one or two long weekends a month and every Christmas, of course, in Lola.
Since the 1950s, the Williamses have celebrated Christ's birth on the homeplace where Steve's parents, the late Harley F. and Juanita M. Williams, started their family.
This year is no exception. Family will be pouring in on Christmas Eve, but before that, friends and community members will support the Salem Garden Club by visiting the Williams and six other stops for the second annual Salem Christmas Home Tour on Dec. 6.
Guests of the Williamses will be treated to gingerbread cookies in the kitchen that opens to a large great room cozy enough for a Sunday afternoon nap yet large enough to host a big family gathering.
Christmas trees in nearly every room share family memories, including Victorian ornaments in an upstairs room filled with bedroom furniture that belonged to Steve’s parents. The tree in the downstairs dining room, themed “All God’s Creatures,” is adorned with framed photos of the youngest members of the family.
When construction of the 3,700-square-foot home started in August 2005, the Williamses had a minor request for their builder, Israel Sanders. The family did not want to break tradition, therefore they had to spend Christmas Eve on Lola Road. With much appreciation, Sanders had the house ready for the family on Dec. 23 of that same year.
"He got the floors down the day before Christmas Eve," Steve said.
All of the finishing touches hadn't been made, but the home had a working kitchen and bathrooms.
"We started to renovate the old house but it wasn't advised," Kathy says, explaining that the renovation revealed a crumbling foundation. "Much to everyone's dismay, we bulldozed it down. But a lot of the essence of the old house is in the new one, so there's still a hint of the old farmhouse."

A hint of the old
Steve required that the modern house serve two purposes – have a large enough space for everyone to gather and to keep it country with a mixture of old and new furniture.
In keeping with the latter requirement, Steve designed the modern structure with hardood floors, 360-degree views of the farm and a welcoming great room warmed by a large corner fireplace. Cornerstones from his homeplace are set in each corner of Kathy's beloved wrap-around porch.
Sadly, this Christmas will be the first without Steve's father, who died in January after a lengthy illness. But on a happy note, Kathy beams with excitement in introducing her soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Alicia, and her daughter, Bailey, who will be adding to those present this Christmas.
Every room is warmed with artifacts from both Kathy and Steve's lives. Kathy, too, is a Livingston County native, who grew up near Carrsville. Her father, Gene Dunning, and step-mother, Nova, will be among the holiday guests next month. Her mother is the late Rose Mary (Pope) Dunning.
"That spinning wheel was my great-great-great-grandmother's and that Blue Willow China is what I ate on at my grandmother's, so those are good memories, which is what we wanted to surround ourselves with," said, Kathy, a retired teacher, during a tour of the dining room.
Since the beginning of October, Kathy's project has been decorating two homes for Christmas.
And with their Lola home being one of the stops on next week's holiday home tour, Kathy's efforts have been kicked up a notch this year. But she loves Christmas decorating and has a particular knack for repurposing holiday decor.
"I am a bow-maker, and a lot of what I do is repurposing," she says. "I redo things, make new bows, redo old trees or wreaths by making them another color."
Her love for Christmas was fostered by her mother, who crafted beautiful, ornate ribbon roses, but Kathy also got plenty of practice decorating while volunteering for 15 years at the Festival of Trees and Life at Kosair's Children's Hospital in Louisville.

A change of pace
Though retirement is still a few years away for Steve, he and Kathy plan to return eventually, making their home in Lola their full-time residence while likely maintaining a smaller home in Louisville.
Steve was the administrator at Livingston Hospital from 1972 to 1977 and Caldwell County Hospital from 1979 to 1984. He enjoys the slower pace of life in rural western Kentucky, where he has more time for his woodworking hobby. As different as the pace of life between the two residences is Steve's role at each.
"I'm a laborer, I'm not in management down here," he jokes, drawing a chuckle from his wife.
As he looks out at the cattle from his second-story study, you can imagine the contrast in his life between Louisville and Lola. With more than 9,600 employees, Norton Healthcare is Louisville’s third largest private employer. Williams oversees an executive staff of 35 and more than 300 other managers/supervisors. Norton Healthcare has a consolidated medical staff of nearly 2,000 physicians; $1.3 billion in assets; an annual operating budget exceeding $3 billion in gross revenues and $1.15 billion in net revenue, with operating income of over $78 million in 2007.
It's understandable that relaxing with family would be the Williamses focus when they're in the country.
And while some of their family members are no longer with them, their memories are in every room – Kathy's grandmother's bookcase, Kathy's childhood furniture, an iron bed made by Kathy's father and family trunks refurbished in Steve's woodshop.
"We enjoy the feel of the home," Kathy says. "As we get older, we look at these things and enjoy the good memories."

City moving on $1.6 million in water, sewer projects
Mark Bryant admits it’s hard to get people excited about sewer and water upgrades, but the City of Marion is pushing ahead with both, okaying $1.55 million to begin work on campaign promises made this fall.
Go-ahead was given at last week’s city council meeting to use state-allocated grant money to start work on upgrading an aging water main and sometimes-inadequate sewage treament process. Both problems have plagued the city for years.
All five returning council members taking office in January, as well as newcomer Mike Byford, pointed to the need to correct problems with water and sewer utilities in their individual pitches to voters before the Nov. 4 election. Two resolutions unanimously-approved Nov. 17 will see the council begin to make good on those promises. The funding comes from a state grant earmarked during the 2008 session of the Kentucky General Assembly for Marion water and sewer projects.
In the first resolution, council members agreed to use $850,000 in sewer grant funds from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority for required improvements to the wastewater treatment facility on U.S. 60 near the northeastern edge of town. City Administrator Mark Bryant said it will take about $500,000 in upgrades to the treatment plant to satisfy an agreed order with the Kentucky Division of Water.
Currently, during excessive rains, the inflow of water to the treatment facility from storm drains and seepage can overwhelm the treatment process, sending runoff into nearby Rush Creek that has been left only partially treated.
“A normal rainy day is fine, but when we get these monsoons, it’s hopeless,” Bryant said. “You just can’t keep up.”
The grant will fund a new line that will treat excessive runoff with chemicals before being released into the area water system.
“During heavy storm events,” Bryant explains of the improved process, “the water will now come to the plant and what is not able to be fully treated will be by-passed and meet up with a new chlorine line.”
This is one of the more cost-effective fixes for combined sewer systems like Marion’s, which treats runoff and waste water, Bryant said. Other, more costly alternatives call for holding tanks or drying fields.
A permanent fix, the city adminstrator said, would be to build a new treatment facility. That would cost several million dollars.
As for water upgrades, the second resolution given the okay by council members will go toward replacing an aging water main along Main Street. That designates $700,000 in water distribution grant funds to be used to engineer a proposed 12-inch water line from The Front Porch restaurant near the southern limits of town to First Street just north of the courthouse.
An anitquated, cast-iron main causes frequent problems for the water and street departments. Because of its age and make-up, the line ruptures and leaks regularly – particularly during extremely dry or cold conditions – keeping Main Street pockmarked with patches. Its small diameter also restricts water flow when fire hydrants are tapped.
"(Opening) one fire plug on Main would put Greenwood Heights without water," Utilities Director Brian Thomas said of such an event.
"This is our No. 1 commitment to water projects," Bryant said of the upgrade.
If adequate funding can be obtained to install a new main once engineering is complete, the 82-year-old line’s days will be numbered.
“I would think construction could come as early as fall 2009,” Bryant said of a new water main.
Remaining money from the engineering study would help hook customers to water lines along North College Street, Leland Avenue and numerous other locations in town. Those lines have been installed but not yet put into service.

County OKs contract to build health center
Crittenden Fiscal Court this week approved hiring MP Lawson Construction of Paducah to build the new health department in Industrial Park South.
Magistrates met in special session Monday and approved the lowest of nine bids to build the proposed 8,800-square-foot facility. The cost to build the new health center at Marion’s southern edge will be $1.03 million.
MP Lawson has built public structures at Murray State University and also was general contractor for the Mike Smith Toyota building in Paducah. It is currently completing a project for Hunter Marine in Paducah.
Bids for the health department construction ranged from the low price by Lawson to $1.2 million.
Judge-Executive Fred Brown said competition among bidders helped keep the project price down.
“They came in a little lower than we anticipated,” he said.
JKS Architect and Engineering of Hopkinsville is the architect for the building. They designed Marion City Hall and the Crittenden County Detention Center. The firm recommended accepting the Paducah contractor’s low bid, according to county officials.
The new health department will replace the much smaller, 2,700-square-foot 50-year-old facility on North College Street.
Virtually all of the money for the new health department has been awarded to Crittenden County in the form of grants and government aid.
The new building will be built between the Marion Ed-Tech Center and Safetran. It will include three examination rooms, a laboratory, nine offices, a large records room, a conference room and meeting room.
Crittenden Fiscal Court will retain title to the current health department building on North College Street; however, there is already some interest in it from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. Extension specialist Nancy Hunt confirmed that the site is one of several her agency is looking at to facilitate a move from the courthouse basement. The Extension service is in cramped quarters in the courthouse with less than 900 square feet of office space.

Coal will fuel county budget through 2012
Crittenden County officials are a bit giddy this week after learning that a major source of funding is not going to dry up until 2012.
Magistrates Helen McConnell and Glenn Underdown said they learned the good news during a Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) meeting in Lexington last week.
McConnell said the now-idle coal mine of Ky. 365 in the northern part of the county had apparently sold a small amount of coal in the past couple of years, which will allow the county to continue to be classified as a coal producer, qualifying the fiscal court for lucrative state severance tax money. Once a county begins producing coal, it stays on the rolls as a coal producer for five years even, if production ceases.
Coal severance is a major source of funding for coal-producing counties. It’s where they get money for major infrastructure projects, grants, economic development and general operating funds.
“It’s very big,” Crittenden Judge-Executive Fred Brown said of coal’s impact. “We’ve received about $5 million over the past three years from coal funds.”
McConnell said it was a surprise for fer and Underdown, who learned from a state worker that coal severance taxes had been paid recently on coal from the Phoenix Mine just south of Sturgis.
McConnell represents the district where the mine is located. She said residents had noticed some activity at the mine over the past 18 months or so, but local leaders had not been given any indication that mining was occurring.
The mine opened in late 2004 and was selling about 10,000 tons a month to Louisville Gas and Electric Co. However, the original owners of Crittenden Coal Company sold it in February 2006 to Phoenix Coal. Permit and existing environmental issues prevented Phoenix from mining much at the site, but it did continue excavating and hauling coal in the summer of 2007.
The company plans to complete a reclamation project there next summer and move out with no intentions of returning.
Jeff Hayden of Phoenix Coal said he isn't sure what the new owners of the property have planned. Phoenix was leasing the mineral rights from Kimball International, which sold the property a couple of weeks ago to Forestland Group, LLC of Chapel Hill, N.C.
Local leaders are elated after learning that Crittenden has about four years left on its coal severance contract. That pact with the state virtually assures the county of millions of dollars over the next few years.
Judge Brown said he plans to continue efforts to find a coal company to resume mining operations in northern Crittenden County. In addition to putting people to work, it provides critical tax receipts, he said. When the mine was operating at full production in 2005, 26 miners were employed there.
Coal severance money helps balance the county's general fund and pay for jail expenses. It has been used to build the county animal shelter, a new senior center, improve Dam 50 Recreation Area and build a shelter and boat ramp at Dycusburg. Last year alone, Crittenden County received $1.4 million for water and sewer projects from coal severance funds.