Murray, Kentucky

Murray State University bass angler Kalem Tippet casts his line, hoping to help his team catch a $50,000 tournament grand prize.

Murray, Kentucky

Calloway County’s last dairy farm is a source of family pride for Jim and Judy Stahler, who have been milking cows daily for 44 years.

Jacob Hein, 25, never dreamed of standing in the bight lights of a stage on Broadway.

Steely determination keeps master blacksmith Gene Knight moving forward after a serious heart attack.

Abby Reinhardt sees her adopted Liberian sister Joyce and brother Freeman as gifts from God.

Marla Thomason, owner of The Cake Lady, and her family offer customers creations with royal treatment.

Despite liquor critics’ fears, the town has not taken a turn for the worst since legalizing alcohol sales.

William Winchester, 14, is taking a different path through life than his twin brother Joseph. William has Down’s syndrome.

On Dec. 1, 1997, high school freshman Michael Carneal opened fire in the Heath High School lobby in West Paducah, Ky.

Linda Hayden, owner of the Southside Barber Shop, oversees maintenance of Murray’s myriad heads of state.

Joey Miller is studying the euphonium and hopes his newfound musical gifts will earn him a college scholarship.

Michael Bobo trains his Clydesdales for wagon racing before he drives to practice oral surgery in Murray and Union City, Tenn.

After nearly 40 years as minister at the Glendale Road Church of Christ, John Dale is ready to step down from the pulpit.

After years apart, Jeff and Claude Miller share a workshop where they make cutting boards of laminated wood.

Mary Ruth Saywell

With a school, a church and a large family of her own, Teresa Speed, the principal of Murray High School, cares for a community.

Each season, Brad and Karly Lowe sow new seeds the old way.

A monarch butterfly on her son’s coffin motivated Donna Herndon to open the Angels Attic thrift store to finance a free clinic.

Joe Nanny dabbles in art and runs circles around the competition with his self-proclaimed “world’s largest” roller rink.

Sisters Teresa Bast and Patty Dedmon, owners of Sammons’ Bakery, spend their mornings making own baked goods.

Al Hough, a retired professor, fights blindness and tries to stay busy to fill the void left by the death of his wife of 50 years.

Below their second-floor bedroom, Gloria and Stu Shull serve friends and patrons at Gloria’s World Village.

Westside Veterinary Services, Murray’s largest animal clinic, has served pets and the people who love them for more than 25 years.

Ricky Hernandez supports his family in Mexico by leading a crew of migrant workers on a tobacco farm.

Migrant workers on Billy Dale Smith’s farm harvest and fire-cure tobacco for salaries that they send home to their families in Mexico.

Ian Mathes, a member of Murray State University’s rodeo team, blazes a trail toward the life of a rodeo clown.

With support from family and the community, Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey Jr. doesn’t let disability slow him down.

Science teacher Scott Sivills’ mentoring goes from the classroom to the gym where he coaches the girls’ basketball team.

Outside of the medical center, Dr. Michael Adams operates a family farm full of horses, cows, dogs and cats.

A deluge fails to dampen the spirits at Murray High School, where the undefeated Tigers beat Crittenden County 24-7.

Gary Collin, manufacturing quality analyst for Briggs & Stratton, uses much of his free time to keep fit for mountain bike racing.