End of an Era - Good Bye Big Chuck

 This is an old photo of Big Chuck and me and a poster of him as the Kielbasy Kid that has hung on my wall since I was a kid.

Big Chuck was the face of Cleveland.

His passing ends an era never to be seen again.

Big Chuck was like family to many living in Cleveland and the NE Ohio area.

Big Chuck will be missed.

Preston Court Day 2024 - Preston, Kentucky

Last week, I was driving and walking through this sea of humanity and maze of trinkets. doodads, whatnots, Bluegrass, and guns.

Wish I was back in KY having a cold glass bottle of Ale8.

I did OK on this vid. There are a few parts where I panned too quickly while walking. Still, it gives you a good feel of the size of the event, the interesting characters, and the down-home goodness of everyone getting along and enjoying the festival on a beautiful day out in the country. .

PRESTON COURT DAY link

Gotta Go-Go!

Jesus Feeds Kentucky

 I only took a few videos during my trip to visit Charlie Conkright and attend Court Days in Kentucky, but the ones I did came out well.

I met some interesting people and made new friends.

This is one such person with a hundred stories to tell: Michael Young, founder of Jesus Feeds KY. I could have sat there all day listening to him.

If you get the chance to meet Michael Young, listen to his testimony of him dying. Amazing story.

Will be posting the other videos when time allows.

Jesus Feeds Kentucky

Visit to New Martinsville, WV photo dump - Sept. 2024

 

September 23rd through the 26th I was in NC.

 Last week, September 23rd through the 26th I was in NC.

Monday was terrific at the Billy Graham Library; Tuesday was an OK day, but Wednesday was stressful; that's when the rains started.

We were trying to find the Blue Ridge Parkway Skyline Drive entrance; GPS got us spun around leaving Ashville.

We stopped at the Black Mountain visitor center to ask for directions. After joking with the lady telling her, my parents took me here as a kid, then in 2000 I came back, but there was a freak weather system with such heavy fog I couldn't see anything, and now I am here, and it's supposed to rain. She said well, you may not see it again. I just got off the phone with my friend who works with FEMA, and he said to get prepared. It's going to be bad, really bad. But she never suggested turning around and heading out. We arrived at the entrance of Skyline Drive, but they had locked the gates. I was upset, thinking I had driven through worse, so I got back on 40 E to where we stayed when the heavens opened...

This was just the start of the hurricane; it was madness on the freeway, driving through such heavy downpours it was hard to see with the highway already partially flooded.

The beginning of this video shows where we were on Wednesday.

The photos are what I took while driving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lruqWTU3Rqc

This is where I received the info from the visitor center, in Black Mountain that also was hit with catastrophic flooding from Helene that had a critical dam breech that wiped out Chimney Rock. I am fairly certain the visitor center is wiped out or severely damaged.