Mayfield, Kentucky

Ten migrant workers from Mexico live together in a house on a Graves County farm. Their labor is poured into Jerry Barber’s property, but their spirits have created a community of their own.

A product of Western Kentucky University’s Mountain Workshops held in Mayfield, Ky.

Tince Burton and his son, Scotty, are closing the family business – Burt on Gas and Oil – because of high gas prices. The small community of Lynville is losing a landmark, a place that has served as a gathering place for decades.

Fred and Margaret Merida, both in their early 70s, have been married for 45 years.

Traci Kendall has a husband, three dogs and too many horses to count. In her spare time, she runs an insurance office. She is so full of energy and life that most people don’t realize she suffers from diabetes and arthritis.

For Joey Gutierez, a senior at Mayfield High School, picking up a trumpet and joining the marching band presented opportunities he never imagined. Joey will be the first in his family to attend college.

Ruth Tucker has given her love and compassion to Graves County for most of her 95 years of life. Despite her age, she continues to support her neighbors through service and love.

A love of song and a belief in God are the pillars for 82 year-old Cynthia Wiggins. Cynthia wrote Christian song lyrics for musicians in her younger years, but suffered a stroke in 2006. She now writes lyrics and poetry from her assisted living apartment and encourages younger songwriters and musicians in the pursuit of creating songs of faith.

For the past 20 years, the little yellow house on Broadway has been a place where ladies in Mayfield meet. Denise McAlpin of A Cut Above Hair Salon is hair stylist, friend and therapist to longtime customers.

The vintage Hammond B3 organ hums as it warms up, soon to be tickled by Mayfield native Steve Holshouser in his new,20state-of-the-art recording studio in rural Graves County. Steve is working on incorporating music into a Web site he’s developing to promote his business.

Jeff Riley is president of Riley Livestock Inc., a second-generation cattle-trading business. Riley has an eye for what makes cattle profitable.

For more than 50 of his 76 years, Frank Coble has worked at C.B. Goodman & Sons lumber mill in Hickory. Although he considers himself semi-retired, he often puts in more than 40 hours a week, saying he would die if he stopped working. “Frank works harder than any two men,” said Tony Goodman, a vice president at the company.

Shirley was married for 43 years before her husband died of pneumonia. Sam had lost his wife of many years too. The two had known each other for years, but after a chance meeting in the Wal-Mart parking lot, they began to see each other differently. Now the couple has been married 14 years.

Richard Henson, owner of Henson Broom and General Store in Symsonia, is a third-generation broom maker. He makes many different types and styles of brooms, some of which were used on the Old West television show, “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.”

Addi Pervine, 19 months old, was born with an underdeveloped left20heart. The Pervine family has shaped their lives around Addi’s heart and now faces a third, and hopefully final, heart surgery.

A near-fatal accident allowed Joseph Lacewell, of Wingo, to leave his job as a chemical engineer and dedicate himself to caring for animals of all kinds at the Mayfield/Graves County Animal Shelter.

Sandy Alderice, Mayfield’s bookmobile librarian, provides books and companionship throughout Graves County.

David Meeks has been growing pumpkins for family and friends for nearly 20 years on his northern Graves County farm. Now retired from 30 years of teaching, David has expanded his seasonal pastime into a money-making enterprise called the Pumpkin Barn.

Ronnie Stinson has been a preacher at Trace Creek Baptist Church in Mayfield for the past 36 years. His faith carries on far beyond the church door, and he is known as one of the strong forces knitting the community together.

Kent Williams says he had every intention of turning a couple of bee hives behind his home into a simple hobby. But, the more he learned about bees the more fascinated he became. His quest for knowledge led him to start a small beekeeping business, and he shares what he learns by publishing a newsetter and speaking to groups large and small.

Andy Griffith has nothing on John Davis. Graves County sheriff for nine years and a 20-year Mayfield police veteran, John has the hand every resident wants to shake and the lighthearted jokes everyone wants to hear. “I am John, and I happen to be sheriff,” he said.

Wilker Harrison “Mickey” Stubblefield, 82, signed a 1947 contract making him the first African-American ever to play Kitty League Baseball. But his greatest accomplishment has been raising two young girls on his own while their mother serves time in a nearby prison.

Javier Gonzales heaves tobacco leaves into a stack as the sun sinks on Marty Freezor’s Melber farm. A country away in Lomo Bonita, Mexico, Javier’s wife discovers she’s pregnant. Javier isn’t there to share in the excitement but knows exactly what he must do. “I will need to buy more toys to take to Mexico this December,” Gonzales said.

The Mayfield Auction Barn is a community gathering place. Ricky Morris, 55, knows most of his customers, and some are like family to him.

Cathy Steddum is always on the go. In addition to caring for her son, Robbie, she teaches kindergarten, works with homeless women and children and performs in community theater.

As owner of Mathis Orchard, Coleman Mathis, 75, deals with much more than one apple a day. However, the doctor is no longer keeping his distance. Coleman’s age and health, along with the increasing cost of production, make him think about finally slowing down – one of these days.

Laura Hill commutes two hours a day to teach Graves County pupils how to make music. Under her direction, the Graves County middle school and high school orchestras grew from 30 students to more than 300. “I’m a workaholic,” she said. “It’s who I am.”

Derek Watkins’s reading skill has advanced six years in his three years at Shedd Academy for children with dyslexia and/or attention deficit disorder. The school makes the most of its students’ unique learning curve.

Jordan and Ashlyn Dowdy have an unusual relationship for siblings. She is active in school and preparing for college. He is eight months older, adopted and has symptoms of autism.

Katherine Brown may have taught pre-algebra and algebra for 30 years at Mayfield High Schoo l, but it’s her family, students and faith in God that define her.

Despite being paralyzed from the waist down in a tragic car accident in 2005, farmer Jacob Wooley continues to farm more than 400 acres of land in Graves County.

Charles Ray Harris has been a barber in Mayfield for nearly half a century. He’s cut generations of heads. It doesn’t matter who you are, says life-long friend Fred Biggs, Harris knows how to make anyone who sits in his chair feel like the most important person in the world.

Mayfield is a town that welcomes explorers.

Mayfield Mayor Arthur Byrn’s life revolves around community. A proud leader who knows his town, its people and its history, Byrn is committed to being a representative of the city in a multitude of situations.

Lisa West said she was called by God to build a ministry, but it’s not a church. She calls her Little Angels Day Care a ministry of sorts and helps run the First Assembly of God food bank.

Leon and May Carter began dating while she was still in high school. That was more than 72 years ago, and they’re still together. “I was running around for a girl to marry,” Leon said. “I found her and didn’t look no more.”

Daily life on Fountain Fresh Farm provides a practical, reliable curriculum for educating Terry and Cindy Trout’s seven children. “These kids could run the farm without me,” Terry said.

Kay Bell was an English teacher at Mayfield High School for 35 years before she retired. Now, her daughter, Amy, teaches freshman English in Kay’s old classroom.

Wherever Virginia Garrott, goes during her busy day of errands and social gatherings, people stop her to chat. Mayfield’s premier socialite is simply magnetic. She became deeply involved in her community through her positions as a newspaper columnist and active church member. Even at 85, she doesn’t plan on slowing down.

High school has been the center of Alex Adams’s life. The Mayfield High School senior is a cheerleader flyer and talented golfer hoping for an athletic scholarship.

Luke Guhy has all the trappings of a high school jock – quarterback of the football team, popular girlfriend – except that he is academically gifted, musically talented and, at 15, still trying to find his way outside of the gridiron.

For Lisa Woods, her husband and their three children, family time, learning time and play time all happen in and around their house in Mayfield. “I always knew that God wanted me to home school my children,” Lisa said.

As she packs boxes of antiques that decorated her grocery store and restaurant, Kay Saltsman thinks back on three years as the owner of Kay Mart in Lowes. Kay decided to sell the local hangout so that she could spend more time with her grandchildren and her husband, Earl.

Dr. Charles Badger has practiced at the Mayfield Veterinary Clinic for 16 years. He never knows what he’ll encounter as he cares for animals large and small.