It takes vision to change the narrative for our county

Too much to do and too little time.

It seems that’s the story we all have from time to time in our lives.

I feel like that right now also.

Along with producing the weekly newspaper, we are putting together our first-ever Manchester/Clay County Community Guide. This publication will be distributed throughout Kentucky at places, like rest areas, promoting our town and county.

I’m sure you’ve seen this promoting other towns. Why do one for us?

Because we’re changing, we have lots of community events and things to do here. This is an opportunity to show the rest of the state this isn’t your ‘mom and pop’s’ Clay County.

This is the dawn of a new era here and we need to promote the good that we have ongoing.

We are putting our best foot forward and this magazine is another step in showing the state we are not the same place.

It’s all part of changing the narrative of Clay County. We have a bad reputation. You can argue that we’ve earned that, and I won’t disagree.

But that was then, and this is now. We are trying to put our best foot forward. We are trying to prove we are a tourist destination.

It’s an exciting time here for sure. Lots of changes are underway and more changes are coming. We need to remain patient, supportive, and diligent in helping Manchester/Clay County become different!

Along with doing this book, I am also gathering information for the displays in the new Clay County High School Gymnasium Museum.

This will be the first one of its kind in our state and will promote the rich tradition of the Tiger and Lady Tiger basketball programs.

When we, the board of education, decided to remodel our gym with a large entrance area my first thoughts were to use this space to promote our programs.

Did you know Clay County was the first school in Kentucky to reach 2,000 wins in both the boys’ and girls’ basketball programs?

We have hired the same firm that created the historical society’s The Clay We Were Museum to design ours. Historical Society President Mike White and his wife LaBerta have been invaluable to work with in creating this exciting venue.

Instead of just having a typical venue, you must think outside the box. That’s what we are doing. We want to be unique. We want to promote one of the most positive things we’ve had here-our basketball programs. This is the type of vision that is changing Clay County.

We fully expect it to be a year-round tourist attraction for our community. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but if you’re a basketball fan, you are going to love what we will have beginning with the ’24-’25 season!