Kentucky Arts & Culture

New docuseries profiles women farmers across Kentucky

Dairy farmer Kenya Abraham talks with docuseries producer Erica Chambers. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7b651d3/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x436+0+0/resize/792x432!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4c%2Ffb%2Ff856df804f1c8c17cc1ce266840b%2Fdp10.jpg] Dairy farmer Kenya Abraham talks with docuseries producer Erica Chambers.(Cheri Lawson) It’s a chilly Spring morning at a Lexington dairy farm. Farmer Kenya Abraham walks through the pasture and calls to Merigold the cow. Abraham encourages Merigold to move toward the creamery where the milking is done. “They love to come up for milking. It’s like treat time. We don’t give them grain. They’re fed alfalfa pellets, but it’s a treat for them to get that,” says Abraham. The 51-year-old Abraham said her operation is a micro-dairy where raw milk is produced. “We are definitely not a big dairy production that you see on commercial operations. We milk one cow at a time in here. When you come in, especially to that milking parlor, you leave everything right here at your car. I just ask that you do that. Allow yourself to engage with the process and with what’s going on, the rhythm of this life. That’s what we do when we come into this space,” explained Abraham. Farmer Kenya Abraham on her farm in front of the creamery. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d98fb2a/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x709+0+0/resize/596x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa0%2F60%2Fc11a0e294cb5a01ae24a1c292c66%2Fdp7.jpg] Farmer Kenya Abraham on her farm in front of the creamery.(Cheri Lawson) Abraham is being featured in a docuseries about women who farm. The dairy farmer is passionate about her work and talks about some of the challenges. “Well, I’m not just a woman. I’m a Black, Muslim female as well. I’ve got what people would think of as a triple threat to some folks. It’s difficult in general to farm, but as a woman, you carry a lot of hats. I wear several scarves. I homeschool my children. I work from home. And I also farm, so just taking care of house, and being a mother, being a wife, and all the things. But this is where the sanctuary is for me,” said Abraham. Photographer Erica Chambers is the creator of the docuseries she calls Dirt Pearls. Chambers said the traveling exhibit features videos of women farmers from Appalachia and down the road. “The original idea was to go around and meet women farmers and take their pictures. And then I’d show up, and they had all these incredible stories, and it’s wisdom, and I couldn’t keep up. So, I started using my cell phone just to capture what they were saying. And I thought when I do these on exhibits, I will put maybe a quote by their picture and then it still didn’t do them justice. And so, this is how it kind of shifted from doing portraits to capturing them on my phone literally. And I would start uploading the behind-the-scenes footage because I wasn’t ready to release the photos. And people were like, When is this film coming out? Because they want to hear their story,” said Chamber. Photographer Erica Chambers hugs farmer Abraham after hearing her story. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ec0adc5/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x737+0+0/resize/573x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fde%2F98%2F240272bd4826a43da6de7a0f0c35%2Fdp12.jpg] Photographer Erica Chambers hugs farmer Abraham after hearing her story.(Cheri Lawson) Chambers, who lives in Berea, received a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to begin this project. She says her intention is to focus on food justice, environmentalism, and the challenges women face on the farm. Along with dairy farmer Kenya Abraham, 27 other women have been videotaped by Erica Chambers. She shares comments from Melinda Wilder and Joana Amorim, both included in Dirt Pearls. “This is just another way of being environmentalist is you raise your food locally, you raise it organic. You serve your community,” said Wilder. “I just knew I wanted my career to be around plants and the natural world,” said Amorim. “The common theme that I see with all of the women that I’m featuring in Dirt Pearls is that it’s community, over Capitalism. They’re not trying to make, you know, a lot of money. They’re trying to take care of their families, and their community and the land. They’re land stewards,” explained Chambers. Milkmaids Aiya, Sabeal, and Laila Abraham prepare to milk a cow. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1b9a00f/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F51%2F91%2Fdeb4052046728dbcd3c535b905a1%2Fdp5.jpg] Milkmaids Aiya, Sabeal, and Laila Abraham prepare to milk a cow.(Cheri Lawson) Erica Chambers says working on this project has been life-changing. She walks into the pasture with dairy farmer Kenya Abraham. Chambers uses the camera on her phone to zoom in on Abraham, who wears a gold hijab and teal t-shirt. Abraham talks about the emotion of milking a cow. “ For me, I cry into the hip bone of a cow. I have a lot of stress, and it’s where I relieve myself. They just give back. They’re very giving animals. I love cows,” said Abraham. Aiya Abraham prepares the cow for milking. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5d2d51d/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x910+0+0/resize/464x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F69%2Fbe%2Fe224c10a42e6b673c82bd5f97415%2Fdp2.jpg] Aiya Abraham prepares the cow for milking.(Cheri Lawson) Chambers said the project is evolving. Instead of releasing the docuseries as a complete project, she plans to release various segments over time at different film festivals.

Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel is this year's Judy Gaines Young Book Award winner

Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel reads at Transylvania University after receiving the Judy Gaines Young Book Award. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6e2064e/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x618+0+0/resize/683x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb5%2Ffb%2F03c475b14e10b3deec2a0cd27f62%2Fpaulettaaward4.jpg] Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel reads at Transylvania University after receiving the Judy Gaines Young Book Award.(courtesy Virginia Underwood) Transylvania University has named Pauletta Hansel this year’s Judy Gaines Young Book Award winner. The award honors the work of Appalachian authors. Hansel talks about her poetry and shares some of her work. “Wherever I am, I am also looking through the eye of poetry and image and what our experiences tell us about what it means to be human.” That’s Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel in August 2018. She was preparing to lead a workshop designed to help with grief. We talked about Palindrome, Hansel’s book written in response to her mother’s journey through dementia and Pauletta’s own journey with her as caregiver and poet. Palindrome was the winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for best Appalachian Poetry Book. And now, Transylvania University has named Hansel this year’s Judy Gaines Young Book Award winner. “I am beyond honored to have received this award," said Hansel. Poet Pauletta Hansel addresses the audience at Transylvania University. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/29aa145/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x1002+0+0/resize/422x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F50%2F0f1f02e54bcd8d78aeb885d8905f%2Fpaulettaaward2.jpg] Poet Pauletta Hansel addresses the audience at Transylvania University.(courtesy Owen Cramer) Hansel said so many of her writing heroes are past recipients. "I look down the list of previous years and George Ella Lyon, who is so dear to my heart and has been so important to my writing, Frank X Walker, Crystal Wilkinson, Silas House," reported Hansel. This is the eleventh year for the award. Transylvania University’s Maurice Manning said this honor has recognized serious writers in our region who’ve made contributions to our literary culture. He said Hansel was at the top of the list this year. “It’s largely because she has an extensive body of work. She has long been an advocate, particularly for female voices in the literature of our region. And she in a very powerful way also an activist in recognizing particularly the struggles of the Appalachian region over a long history,” explained Manning. Pauletta Hansel was born in Richmond, Kentucky, and grew up in Breathitt County. The award-winning writer and teacher is the author of 10 poetry collections, including Heartbreak Tree and Coal Town Photograph. Her work has been featured in journals such as Oxford American, Appalachian Journal, and Still the Journal. She’s a founding member of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition and was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate. In 2019, at a poetry reading in Breathitt County, she read from her book Coal Town Photograph. “An Ode to Library Basements: And to the girl who skittered down the steps those bottomless Sunday afternoons to lose herself in possibility. You made me.” In 2022, she read from her collection Heart Break Tree during our interview. “The tongue-in-cheek title is, Home is the Place Where, When You Have to Go There You Only Think About How to Get Out.” “Busted up doll heads where the canned goods used to be, sun-steeped hill-buckled sidewalks, and everybody just looks tired. Nobody cares this is where your mother used to buy her meat. The houses you lived in plowed under.” And in 2024, to a Northern Kentucky audience, she shared poems from her book, Will There Also Be Singing? America. America, I am not singing you beautiful. I do not hear the melody beneath the rolling clang and clatter of your discord. I did not know I loved you, America, even broken as you were, until the fist came down. Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you thought you had until the dream of it is gone?” Early this month at Transylvania University, Hansel was honored, as were student winners Skye Struwig and Dylan Howell. Pauletta Hansel is joined by student awardees, Skye Struwig and Dylan Howell, along with Transylvania University's Maurice Manning. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/21c273c/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x894+0+0/resize/472x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5d%2Fa2%2F5e4a264d4e37a1f62cf9d85da971%2Fpaulettaaward1.jpg] Pauletta Hansel is joined by student awardees, Skye Struwig and Dylan Howell, along with Transylvania University's Maurice Manning.(courtesy Owen Cramer) Pauletta Hansel says the Judy Gaines Young Book Award typically focuses on the recipient’s past work. She’s looking forward to reading to audiences from her new book, Understory: A Women’s History of Appalachia. "This is a hybrid book. It includes both history, and memoir, and poetry, of course. I’m not one to leave the poetry behind. And looks at the history of the Appalachian region through my maternal line,” said Hansel. Understory is being published by the University Press of Kentucky and is scheduled to be released this October. **The 1850 campaign is replacing lost federal funds one supporter at a time. Thanks to our listeners and supporters, we are very close to reaching our goal of 1850 new supporters donating at least $10 a month. Click here to join the campaign! [https://afg.secureallegiance.com/weku/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=PLEDGE&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=2IHggXVb%2bSYhrOSvjvOZaxiCxtaFReuS]

A Kentucky artist created art awards from remnants of the London tornado

Collage artist Aleta Stone visits the white crosses put up in remembrance of those who died in the 2025 tornado. It's close to where she collected remnants for the collages that became art awards. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/26b342f/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F57%2F4c%2F9c854add40c0bd0ca44454eb922c%2Faleta3.jpg] Collage artist Aleta Stone visits the white crosses put up in remembrance of those who died in the 2025 tornado. It's close to where she collected remnants for the collages that became art awards.(Cheri Lawson) At her London, Kentucky, woodworking studio, collage artist Aleta Stone uses a belt sander to smooth out a piece of wood. This is where she created the 2025 Governor’s Awards in the Arts. “It’s all people that are linked into the art world in some way that win the awards. And being selected by the Arts Council to create the awards was such an honor,” explained Stone. The eight awards Stone made are one-of-a-kind collages. For the theme, she was tasked with reflecting the strength and resilience of the people of Kentucky who’ve been impacted by natural disasters such as floods and tornadoes in the state. “I wanted to create something that would reflect not only their strength and their resilience but also that would show the darkness, the fear, and moving then toward the light to a new day and new beginnings and hope,” said Stone. Aleta Stone demonstrates how she prepares a piece of wood in her workshop for her collages. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5e882ff/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffb%2Fc7%2F20aa705e4f48a8407692c1fab7ec%2Faleta8.jpg] Aleta Stone demonstrates how she prepares a piece of wood in her workshop for her collages.(Cheri Lawson) In her workshop, she has shelves of recycled wood she uses to fashion most of her collages. But on this day, Stone drives me to the area of London that was hit hardest by a tornado on May 16th last year, where there was death and destruction. It’s here that she collected debris from the piles of items destroyed in the tornado. She used pieces of what she found to make parts of the awards. Returning to the area of devastation is emotional for her. She points to numerous white crosses lined up near the road, honoring those who lost their lives. Each one of the crosses has some sort of messages on them, whether it’s God bless you and your family. You will be so missed. Rest in peace. Some of the other ones, love and hugs for you, sis. I will miss you; see you in heaven,” said Stone. A few weeks after the tornado, is when Stone was told she could collect pieces of the debris from the destruction. She points out some of the items used in the Governor’s Awards in the Arts collages. ”We found a guitar, so a couple of the pieces had a slice of the guitar put into them. I also had found chairback rails. I sliced those up and put them in some of the pieces. And then probably the saddest piece that I used was, I found a baseball to where the leather had been peeled back, and it was all scuffed up and scratched and dirty, and I brought it home and cleaned it up and I sliced up the leather and put that in some of the pieces to represent the children,” said Stone. Governor Andy Beshear stands by artist Aleta Stone and one of the collage art awards. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e157639/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x719+0+0/resize/587x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7f%2F47%2F69a149e544549ce2e6e64b6b3f49%2Faleta5.jpg] Governor Andy Beshear stands by artist Aleta Stone and one of the collage art awards.(courtesy Michael Flores) Back at her home, sitting on her screened-in porch overlooking a lake, Stone holds up her iPad with pictures of the awards. She says she was asked to create 8 awards. Each collage is unique and displayed in a 26-inch by 22-inch frame. She described one of the collages. “This has the baseball with the stitching, and then this particular one goes up to show the red. Red is the color of fear, and it was an extremely fearful night, but it is also the color of love. And there’s so much love in Kentucky. And this particular piece, I had a little heart, it was a wooden heart, and I broke it in half. And this one was called heartbroken,” said Stone. One of the eight collages, Aleta Stone created for the 2025 Governor's Awards in the Arts. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/30c6efd/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x902+0+0/resize/468x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fac%2Fbf%2Ffb3e755d44c388b0bdb4524c2f52%2Faleta1.jpg] One of the eight collages, Aleta Stone created for the 2025 Governor's Awards in the Arts.(courtesy Aleta Stone) Stone said the collages represent the strength and resilience of Kentuckians like Glenna and Fredi Angel. The sisters-in-law live next to each other in cabins on a farm in Laurel County. Their neighborhood was hit hard by last May’s tornado. Glenna’s 47- year-old-daughter Tiffany was killed. The collages Aleta Stone made as the Governor’s Awards in the Arts touched these women deeply. The idea that Stone used remnants of the Laurel County tornado is symbolic to them. Fredi says it’s one way to honor her niece and the others who were killed. “It means that they’re not going to be forgotten. These people are gone but their spirits are in those pictures,” said Fredi. For Glenna, who continues to grieve the loss of her daughter, the collages mean a lot. Glenna.: “It’s heartfelt, and it’s forever. It’s something that is so special that it’s going to last into infinity," said Glenna. Aleta Stone says she’s grateful her work is meaningful to survivors of natural disasters like last year’s tornado. She says she’ll continue telling the stories of Kentuckians through her art.

Celebrating Irish culture through the arts in the Bluegrass

Percussion instructor and co-director of the Kentucky Irish Music Academy, Jeremy Wade, plays the frame drum called the bodhran. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/47e5d56/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x452+0+0/resize/792x447!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F53%2Ff7%2F034ba80c4a2fbdc2d72d1df44534%2Fbodhran2.jpg] Percussion instructor and co-director of the Kentucky Irish Music Academy, Jeremy Wade, plays the frame drum called the bodhran.(courtesy Jeremy Wade) March is a month when some people celebrate Irish culture through music and dance. Arts reporter Cheri Lawson talked with musicians and dancers who share Irish culture through the arts. Percussion instructor and co-director of the Kentucky Irish Music Academy, Jeremy Wade, plays a traditional Irish drum known as the bodhran. He captures the sound as he plays from his home studio in Lexington. Wade uses a single hand and a small stick or tipper to play the wooden frame drum. “A lot of them look like oversized tambourines, and some of the early bodhrans would have even had jingles around them like a tambourine would. The one that I play most often is about six inches in width, and the diameter is about fourteen inches or so. There’s an animal skin stretched across that. The one that I play most often has a kangaroo skin. Most commonly, it would have been a goat skin,” said Wade. Introducing Irish traditional music in the classroom and to the community is a passion of Wade's. The award-winning performer teaches bodhran classes at locations such as schools and festivals. He performs everywhere from concert halls to coffee shops. The 36-year-old says he’s drawn to the melodic sound of the drum. He recalls some of the instrument’s history. “There are versions of it that go back, I think, even to the 1800s. And it has a very strong connection historically with the celebration of St. Stephen’s Day, where it wasn’t necessarily used as a musical instrument but more as a way to keep the beat as people would parade down the streets. In the late 1950s, early 1960s, it started getting introduced onto the concert hall stage,” said Wade. Wade and fiddle player Justin Bridgebeck enjoy introducing audiences to Irish music. Wade says the Irish music scene in the Bluegrass has been through a few different phases, but he said it’s evolving and currently has a significant following. “And now we have a full-on Irish music session that meets a couple of times a month at Kentucky Native Café,” explained Wade. Some people have always believed the bodhran is the heartbeat of Irish music. Wade called that a fairly new title for the drum. “It has become the heartbeat of Irish music, but maybe not always that way compared to Irish dance. There’s a much longer tradition, even of dance of percussive dance, than even bodhran when it comes to playing rhythm in Irish Music," said Wade. Jeremy Wade and Justin Bridgebeck play Irish tunes while Allison Duvall does an Irish dance. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/9593b4b/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x1066+0+0/resize/396x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F32%2Fcb%2Fcdebd0454abdb166ec3d84dee5de%2Fbodrhan1.jpg] Jeremy Wade and Justin Bridgebeck play Irish tunes while Allison Duvall does an Irish dance.(courtesy photographer Ayna Lorenzo and owner Allison Duvall) Recording Irish dance steps in her kitchen, Allison Duvall said hearing Irish music inspires her to choreograph dances. She’s the owner and director of The McTeggart Irish Dancers’ location in Kentucky. Duvall has been dancing since age ten and teaching Irish dance since she was 15. She says being immersed in Irish culture and teaching Irish dance is special to her. “It’s such a meaningful, almost spiritually grounded thing for me to be involved in Irish music and dance. Both as someone who’s descended from Irish immigrants, but also in my daily work, I work to welcome immigrants to the United States. Those are two of the reasons why I cherish so much the opportunity to continue practicing these beautiful cultural art forms,” explained Duvall. Singer-songwriter Tommy Sands spoke to me from his home in County Down, in Ireland. He has performed in Appalachia and plans a return trip to this region. Sands talks about the influence of Irish music in Appalachia. “The folk music that you play there is very similar in many ways to Irish music. It dips into the same well. Albeit with a slightly different bucket,” said Sands. Screenshot of singer-songwriter Tommy Sands from his home in Ireland. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3e37653/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x534+0+0/resize/791x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F18%2F79%2Fd00794d24d2999322db40d69a070%2Fbodhran3.jpg] Screenshot of singer-songwriter Tommy Sands from his home in Ireland.(Cheri Lawson) The singer and activist recalls how growing up in Ireland, he witnessed how music influenced people. “My earliest memory is watching toes tapping to the same rhythm regardless of the political persuasion or religious affiliation. And I saw that somehow the music was connecting people. I found music was something that could unite the secret and sacred things inside people without their understanding of it completely,” said Sands. Sands, Wade, and Duvall plan to continue embracing and sharing the music and dances of Ireland.

Kentucky Meat Shower 150th anniversary draws hundreds to Bath County

Professor Kurt Gohde, Billy Dawson, and Keisha Fielden hold the jar of meat. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/45a5492/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x610+0+0/resize/692x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffa%2F96%2F03d449f24dd3ba72c80e1036952e%2Fmeat8.jpg] Professor Kurt Gohde, Billy Dawson, and Keisha Fielden hold the jar of meat. (Cheri Lawson) Bath County Kentucky, celebrated a historic occurrence this month. It's the meat shower of 1876. That’s when pieces of meat mysteriously fell from the sky onto a farm. At the Bath County History Museum in rural Kentucky, dozens of people crowd around Kurt Gohde. He’s a professor at Transylvania University in Lexington “We believe it’s a sample from the meat rain of 1876, “ said Gohde. He’s holding a glass jar with the meat sample in a clear liquid. Gohde has been fascinated with the meat shower for over 20 years. “And the pieces that rained in that storm ranged from the size of a hailstone to the size of Rebecca Crouch’s hand,” Gohde explained. This jar of meat is believed to be the last sample from the 1876 Kentucky meat shower. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f7e845d/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x1075+0+0/resize/393x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F14%2Fca%2F5c5672354b648243b4714fda1230%2Fmeat9.jpg] This jar of meat is believed to be the last sample from the 1876 Kentucky meat shower.(courtesy of Clare Hingsbergen) Rebecca Crouch is the woman who witnessed the meat shower 150 years ago. She was outside making soap on her Bath County farm when pieces of what appeared to be raw meat rained on her under cloudless skies. In line to see the meat is Andrew Cruse. He has a cabin in eastern Kentucky and has heard the meat shower story for years. ”It’s wild. You know? It’s one of those things that you hear about and assume it’s kind of urban legend, but it’s actually, there’s a piece of it,” said Cruse. Shelly and Andrew Cruse got their picture taken with the jar of meat. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3b9c482/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x848+0+0/resize/498x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F21%2F67%2F5b61de9c45fcb92e4b3fa7bb3c8e%2Fmeat5.jpg] Shelly and Andrew Cruse got their picture taken with the jar of meat. (Cheri Lawson) Some, like Sasha Reinhardt, are having their picture taken with the jar of meat. She believes she’s a descendant of the Crouch family who experienced the meat rain, “It’s definitely a family, you know, part of our oral tradition. Of course, you know Appalachia is really big on storytelling, oral tradition, and this was always a favorite,” Reinhardt. A hundred and fifty years ago, the story was heavily publicized,  in The New York Times  [https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-new-york-times-new-york-times-articl%2F164789071%2F&data=05%7C02%7CCheri.Lawson%40eku.edu%7C03af513eb086453a0a5608de7ada628f%7Ce23043271af04dee83fbc1b2fd6db0bb%7C0%7C0%7C639083276790025332%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=X4PuWHBdTuCDUiqshTL5Z1OXNU1Lxwv6shKxvavmlNI%3D&reserved=0]and in scientific journals. There were several theories about what it was and why meat fell out of the sky. Theories ranged from it being a sign from God to a hoax. [https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20180419095331%2Fhttp%3A%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252014%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Herald%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Herald%25201876%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Herald%25201876%2520-%25200875.pdf&data=05%7C02%7CCheri.Lawson%40eku.edu%7C03af513eb086453a0a5608de7ada628f%7Ce23043271af04dee83fbc1b2fd6db0bb%7C0%7C0%7C639083276790055102%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=eH47K81mBMQbjQJfbpKCZ9WjCr42UtobWhK4GwKRqWk%3D&reserved=0] But Gohde said the most accepted theory is that the meat was vulture vomit. “And the idea ultimately there is that a flock of vultures was flying high enough above the farm that when Rebecca Crouch was hit with the meat, she looked up, she couldn’t see them, and the whole flock disgorged at the same time,” said Gohde. He said they tested the meat in the university's gene sequencer. “ultimately the strands were not long enough to be completely conclusive, so we don’t know exactly what it was, but we do know that it was closest to a goat,” explained Gohde. “It was one of those things that, as a child growing up here in Bath County, that you learned it from your parents," said Corbin. That’s Ian Corbin who grew up here. “We even had a week in school where you had your local history of Bath County, and learned about it,” said Corbin. Now he has organized a festival around the event.. He orchestrates meat-themed games in the town square, like a meatball toss and a bologna throw, where a thick piece of bologna is hurled like a frisbee. Vendors line the streets and sell things like t-shirts and mystery meat chili. Festival organizer Ian Corbin directs the meat-themed games. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0ebcdf6/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x977+0+0/resize/432x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe4%2Ff2%2F6ff067274457b5aab94e29dd41b7%2Fmeat40.jpg] Festival organizer Ian Corbin directs the meat-themed games.(Cheri Lawson) At the town’s library, author Mick Sullivan reads his meat rain book to the kids. “ Sometimes strange things happen. And you’re most certainly going to think this story is strange,” read Sullivan. Janie-Rice Brother brought her two kids to the library to hear the story. She said she’s heard it from her father, who heard it from his father. “I think it’s just a wonderful thing that this small community has decided to take what is a very strange occurrence and make it into something that the entire community can get behind and support,” said Brother. Janie-Rice Brother and her daughter, Laura Elizabeth meet author Mick Sullivan. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1f23c49/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F72%2F85%2Fb99fe34d48da9fa7f649ffd2a7e9%2Fmeat26.jpg] Janie-Rice Brother and her daughter, Laura Elizabeth meet author Mick Sullivan.(Cheri Lawson) At the end of the festival Hundreds of people stand around a white split rail fence near a field. A Cessna airplane flies over the area. One thousand eight hundred seventy-six individually wrapped pieces of beef jerky spill out of the window. The crowd looks up as 1876 individually wrapped pieces of beef jerky rained down from the window of the airplane. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/47cc12a/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x1281+0+0/resize/330x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fce%2F25%2F7b279fd34a2487b8402fe595342f%2Fmeat38.jpg] The crowd looks up as 1876 individually wrapped pieces of beef jerky rained down from the window of the airplane.(courtesy Clare Hingsbergen) That’s the work of Kurt Gohde and his team. Thanks to them, a meat shower has rained in Bath County for the second time in 150 years.