New year’s resolutions reflect personal values. Many resolutions relate to our physical being: we resolve to lose weight or start an exercise program. Some resolutions relate to strengthening our spiritual lives, but it seems to me that people should also resolve to improve their minds.
In 2024, I encourage you to start a reading program. Watch television less and read more. Toward that end, I invite you to join the Jesse Stuart Foundation book discussion group, “The Regional Readers.” We read and discuss books written by Appalachian authors and books with Appalachian themes. We meet the last Tuesday of the month, March through November, at 2 p.m. at the JSF. The book group is open to all and new members are always welcome.
We all teach by example. If you want your children and grandchildren to be good readers, then you need to read and set a good example.
Reading helps you build “mental muscles,” and I’ll recommend a few books to add to your 2024 reading list:
- “Hidden Heroes of the Big Sandy Valley” is a collection of biographical essays by seventeen of the region’s best authors. Reading this book will be an exercise in self-discovery for many local readers.
- “Jesse Stuart: Immortal Kentuckian” is a comprehensive study of one of Kentucky’s best-known and most-loved writers.
- “Presidential Visits to Kentucky” by retired Kentucky librarian and archivist Wayne Onkst describes each historic visit to the Commonwealth by U.S. Presidents from 1819 to 2017.
- “Appalachian Murders & Mysteries” is a collection of twenty-three true stories written by seventeen regional authors describing 200 years of murder and mayhem in West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern Ohio.
- “Another World: Ballet Lessons from Appalachia” by Edwina Pendarvis, is a boundary-crossing book that views ballet through the eyes of 24 Appalachian women who began their ballet lessons in childhood.
- “Wit, Wisdom, and Other Stuff” by Keith Kappes, winner of national and statewide newspaper awards for personal commentary, is a collection of 125 of his best weekly columns.
- “The Thread that Runs So True” by Jesse Stuart is the autobiographical story of Stuart’s first teaching experiences in Greenup County. It is an inspirational classic.
- “The Court-Martial of Daniel Boone” by Allan W. Eckert is based on a true episode when the legendary frontier hero is charged with treason, and Boone defends himself in court.
These books are included among more than 10,000 individual titles in the Jesse Stuart Foundation Bookstore & Appalachian Gift Shop at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information, call 606-326-1667.
Finally, I ask all of my readers to make this one simple New Year’s resolution: Say to yourself each day, “I will obey the traffic laws.” Violating the traffic laws is epidemic in Ashland — and everywhere else, I suspect. As responsible citizens, let’s make a personal effort to make our town a safer place to live.
Happy New Year from your friends at the Jesse Stuart Foundation! Let’s work together to make 2024 a happy and healthy year.
By James M. Gifford
JSF CEO & Senior Editor
New year’s resolutions reflect personal values. Many resolutions relate to our physical being: we resolve to lose weight or start an exercise program. Some resolutions relate to strengthening our spiritual lives, but it seems to me that people should also resolve to improve their minds.
In 2024, I encourage you to start a reading program. Watch television less and read more. Toward that end, I invite you to join the Jesse Stuart Foundation book discussion group, “The Regional Readers.” We read and discuss books written by Appalachian authors and books with Appalachian themes. We meet the last Tuesday of the month, March through November, at 2 p.m. at the JSF. The book group is open to all and new members are always welcome.
We all teach by example. If you want your children and grandchildren to be good readers, then you need to read and set a good example.
Reading helps you build “mental muscles,” and I’ll recommend a few books to add to your 2024 reading list:
- “Hidden Heroes of the Big Sandy Valley” is a collection of biographical essays by seventeen of the region’s best authors. Reading this book will be an exercise in self-discovery for many local readers.
- “Jesse Stuart: Immortal Kentuckian” is a comprehensive study of one of Kentucky’s best-known and most-loved writers.
- “Presidential Visits to Kentucky” by retired Kentucky librarian and archivist Wayne Onkst describes each historic visit to the Commonwealth by U.S. Presidents from 1819 to 2017.
- “Appalachian Murders & Mysteries” is a collection of twenty-three true stories written by seventeen regional authors describing 200 years of murder and mayhem in West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern Ohio.
- “Another World: Ballet Lessons from Appalachia” by Edwina Pendarvis, is a boundary-crossing book that views ballet through the eyes of 24 Appalachian women who began their ballet lessons in childhood.
- “Wit, Wisdom, and Other Stuff” by Keith Kappes, winner of national and statewide newspaper awards for personal commentary, is a collection of 125 of his best weekly columns.
- “The Thread that Runs So True” by Jesse Stuart is the autobiographical story of Stuart’s first teaching experiences in Greenup County. It is an inspirational classic.
- “The Court-Martial of Daniel Boone” by Allan W. Eckert is based on a true episode when the legendary frontier hero is charged with treason, and Boone defends himself in court.
These books are included among more than 10,000 individual titles in the Jesse Stuart Foundation Bookstore & Appalachian Gift Shop at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information, call 606-326-1667.
Finally, I ask all of my readers to make this one simple New Year’s resolution: Say to yourself each day, “I will obey the traffic laws.” Violating the traffic laws is epidemic in Ashland — and everywhere else, I suspect. As responsible citizens, let’s make a personal effort to make our town a safer place to live.
Happy New Year from your friends at the Jesse Stuart Foundation! Let’s work together to make 2024 a happy and healthy year.
By James M. Gifford
JSF CEO & Senior Editor
