Another successful railroad reunion

SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-EXPRESS

With reverence and respect, “hello’s” and “it’s great to see you agains,” railroad families, former neighbors and friends gathered for the 12th Annual Shelby Homecoming Railroad Reunion on Saturday, June 21.

“What a beautiful day it was to meet, greet and eat railroad food on the picturesque grounds of the Shelbiana Grace Baptist Church,” said reunion president Wayne T. Rutherford. “It makes me thankful to God that I could live and grow up in the little community of Shelbiana. Every time I hear the name, it brings back such sweet memories.”

Much took place over the course of this year’s railroad reunion. Railroad reunion co-founders A.V. “Ott” Ratliff and Hargis Harris read names of those who had visited the “great railroad yard in the sky,” since the reunion began in Ashland, in 1996. Dale Brooks, pastor of the Shelbiana Methodist Church and executive director of the reunion, blessed those in attendance, and Rutherford paid tribute to the Joyce Charles Clark family during his role as master of ceremonies.

Joyce is the late wife of William “Bill” Clark, owner of William Clark Enterprises. He and his daughter Pam established a railroad scholarship fund in Joyce’s name, which gives $2,500 scholarships annually to two high school seniors who have ties to the railroad.

“My daughter Pam and I feel blessed that we have the resources to partner with the railroad reunion to give these scholarships each year. Joyce would be proud of all of the young students that have received these scholarships in her memory,” Bill Clark told attendees.

Bill Clark presented the scholarships to this year’s winners, Catherine “Brooke” Heard and Joshua Matthew Parsons, two students who, according to scholarship chairman Virgil Osborne, were among the best and brightest in the Pike County School System.

Brooke, a 2008 graduate of East Ridge High School, is the daughter of Diana Lynn Phillips and Samuel Michael Heard and the granddaughter of Gary Douglas and Roena Friend of Pikeville. She has been accepted into the civil engineering school at the University of Kentucky.

Brooke told attendees that her grandfather, Gary Douglas Friend, a retired conductor and engineer, has been a huge influence on her life. She said he taught her to set goals and has helped her achieve her toughest goals.

Joshua, a 2008 graduate of Shelby Valley High School, is the son of Roger and Kimberly Jane Sowards Parsons of Shelbiana and the grandson of Bill K. and Emma Lou Sowards. He will attend Pikeville College on an Appalachian Honors Scholarship.

Josh’s grandfather, Bill Sowards, was a railroad engineer and his great-grandfather Jeff was also a railroader. Josh said his favorite song is “Life is like a Mountain Railroad” because of his family’s long history with the railroad industry.

A hush fell over reunion attendees as another winner, of the “2008 Shelby Hero” award, was announced. That title went to Raymond H. “Butch” Setser Jr., a graduate of Shelbiana Elementary School, Pikeville High School and the U.S. Naval Academy. He is a retired U.S. Navy captain who spent his career upon nuclear submarines.

For 30 years, Setser served in the U.S. Submarine Force. He spent seven of those years submerged in the world’s oceans while commanding three submarines — the “Henry Clay,” the “Pittsburg” and the “Ohio.” Setser continues to work for the U.S. Navy in his retirement, along with the U.S. Department of Energy, as a submarine system design consultant.

Setser introduced attendees to his wife and high school classmate Eloise “Ellie” Newsome Setser. He talked about their two sons, and reminisced about his mother and father, the latter of which was a railroad engineer, and he told the crowd that he remembered how he used to work on the old steam engines.

“Shelbiana was the best place to grow up, because it has close families and caring neighbors” Setser said. He said it was a “true honor” to be inducted into the Shelby Hall of Fame where his neighbor and lifelong friend John E. Coleman had previously been inducted.

Setser also told the young people they could be and do anything they wanted in life.

“Look at Butch. I achieved my goals. You can, too,” he said.

Many of the conversations at the reunion revolved around memories. Historian Myra Adkins Coleman, whose memoirs of railroading in Eastern Kentucky were published in 2007, was in great demand. Everyone wanted to talk with her about Shelby in what she called “the good ole’ days.”

Retired railroader Bill Gilipin referred to those days as the “Glory Days in Shelby.” He said his father moved his family to Shelby from Hinton when Gilipin was a small child, so his father could work for the railroad.

Henry Moore spoke of the drains of war and the sons of railroaders who fought and gave their lives in those wars. Everett Young and his family displayed railroad photos and memorabilia in the church dining room, and John Doug Hays displayed his rail dining car collection in the church vestibule.

Even the music that played during the reunion was nostalgic. Martin and Page Slone’s band played sweet renditions of railroad and gospel songs, and when George Slone sang “Mountain Railroad,” he brought tears to the eyes of the railroad families.

Perhaps the event was best described by James E.

, the son of a Shelbiana railroader, when he said, “What a great day! I visited with family and saw schoolmates that I had not seen for years. All because I came back to my hometown, Shelbiana, for the railroad reunion.”