WLEX and Harrodsburg Festival of Books and Arts

Wow! What a weekend! As you all know, I have been busy promoting my newest book, Dark and Bloody. It is a collection of horror/suspense stories set in Kentucky. Most of them are set right here in Eastern Kentucky. I was able to continue my promotions over the weekend.

On Friday, June 25th, I was invited to WLEX - 18 in Lexington, KY to talk about my book on their 12:30 news program. Chris Goodman and Nicole Pence, who anchor the show, made me feel more than welcome as they interviewed me about my book. They were both so nice, I didn't feel nervous at all. In fact, as some of you know, this was my third appearance at the station. They are very supportive of the area and of the arts. I really do appreciate that!

On Saturday, June 26th, I traveled to Harrodsburg, Kentucky for their first annual Festival of Books and Arts. Over 60 authors and artists from all over Kentucky traveled to Harrodsburg that day for the fair. I was honored to be one of those invited, along with others such as Ed McClanahan and Ruth Fogel. I was able to showcase all three of my books: Nose Pickin', Pumpkin Guts, and my newest, Dark and Bloody.

It was a hot day on Saturday, but the event was amazing. There were so many great authors and artists who were showing their work. We took up all of Main Street in Harrodsburg! LOL! There was a large stage set up for presentations throughout the day. I really enjoyed the excerpts from Seussical, the Musical by the Ragged Edge Community Theatre.

One thing that I noticed was that Harrodsburg really supports their local art community. They are very supportive of their authors and artists. Events such as this one will help them continue this support.

My invitation to the fair began last year when I attended the Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort. I met some wonderful authors and illustrators while I was there. One of them was a man by the name of Tony Sexton who was at the event to promote his book, Scraps, which is a collection of poems that he had written over the years. We introduced each other and exchanged contact information. We still keep in touch with each other online. What did we ever do before email and Facebook? LOL!

Anyway, it turns out that he is an organizer of a Harrodsburg writers group. He started working with Elaine Hammonds who is the executive director of Harrodsburg First. Working with her and others in the community, they developed the idea for the book and arts fair. Although this was the first year, I am sure that it will continue to grow. I look forward to attending next year!

In all, it was a great weekend. I was able to meet lots of new authors and see some old friends as well. In fact, I was so pleased to run into Paula Sparrow once again. I had met her at the Kentucky Book Fair as well. She is a writer for Kentucky Living magazine. Her book, Creature Comforts, is a collection of stories about people who care for and rescue animals throughout Kentucky. She is a great writer and her book is just lovely. If you get a chance, you need to get a copy of her book.

Tired but happy, Lisa and I returned home on Sunday morning. We had a great weekend seeing some wonderful sights and meeting some fantastic people. However, as the old saying goes, there is no place like home. I was so happy to be back home here in wonderful Breathitt County!

Until next week....class dismissed!

Anniversary Wishes

This past weekend, Lisa and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. Lisa is such an incredible woman that the time has just flown by. I love her now just as much (if not more) than when we first got married. Her mom, Janet, only gave us 6 months! LOL! I think that the secret to our marriage is that we are both only children. We just let each other get their way and everything is fine.

For our anniversary, we traveled to Louisville to see a wonderful musical called Wicked. It is a retelling of the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. According to the musical, she wasn't really wicked at all...just misunderstood and a victim of politics. Since this is election month, it makes you wonder if there might be some of that going on around here in Breathitt County! LOL!

Lisa and I both love musicals. The music and acting in Wicked did NOT disappoint. We had seen it last year at the same place, The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. The atmosphere is great. We stopped off for some preshow refreshments and cabaret music. It was so nice to sit and relax. Lisa loves to people watch...and there were some very interesting characters parading around. Some people even dressed up in witch hats and black dresses! I was just lost in the music. It was great.

We had great seats for the production. We were about 14 rows back in the lower orchestra level which is just right if you ask me. You aren't too close...and you aren't too far away. I like a seat right in the middle. The actors were wonderful. Some of the music just gave me chill bumps up my spine and onto my scalp. Lisa told me that they did the same for her! I thought it was just me! LOL!

After the show, we went back to our hotel. We stayed at the Galt House which was just around the corner. It was such a nice night that we were able to just walk around the corner. It was so close. There are certain advantages to being in a large city. Namely...everything is so close!

Earlier in the day, we had walked down on the riverfront and had eaten at Joe's Crab Shack. We had never eaten there. Since we both love seafood, we decided to give it a try. The food was really good. The casual atmosphere made us both feel at ease. I had the fish, shrimp, and scallops. Lisa had a fish and shrimp basket. Both of us enjoyed our meals. The waitress found out it was our anniversary and made me wear a knight's hat and shield while Lisa waved a "magic wand." While patrons sang "Happy Anniversary," I had to kiss my princess. It was embarrassing but fun! LOL!

Walking back to the hotel after our meal, we passed the Belle of Louisville, a large steamboat. We have already planned on going back this summer for a trip down the river. It looked like everyone was having a great time with drinks, food, and live music. The band was playing some really lively ragtime music that was just fantastic.

On our weekend trip, we also took some time to shop. We went shopping for clothes. We also spent a lot of time in one of my favorite stores, Best Buy. It is amazing at how much technology is changing each day.

As our weekend came to a close, we made our way back home. On the way though, we stopped off at Natural Bridge and ate lunch at the Hemlock Lodge. The lunch buffet was great. We had salad, soup beans, chicken, fish, turkey, and a variety of vegetables. The best part was the blackberry cobbler with ice cream! I feel like I gained about 20 pounds with just that one meal. If you go to Natural Bridge this summer, stop in and eat there. The food is amazing!!!

Lisa and I said that this should be our last childfree anniversary. Our adoption paperwork is in Russia at the moment. Thankfully, there has not been a shutdown of Russian adoptions. I know that it was reported in the news that adoptions had shut down thanks to that stupid woman in Tennessee. However, our adoption agency is still going strong! Lisa and I hope to have our referral in the next few months. After 18 years of just us, we are ready to expand our family. I think that we are ready for children now. Somehow, it just feels like it is time to start.

I love Lisa so much. Next year, maybe we will have Jacob to help us celebrate our anniversary. It may not be filled with musicals, big dinners, and a lot of travel...but it will be filled with love.

Until next week, class dismissed.

Be Proud of Who You Are!

Do this...don't do that. Eat this...don't eat that. Wear this...don't wear that. It seems like as a society, we just love being told what NOT to do. Everyday there is an article or a television show that is screaming at us that we are living our lives completely wrong. Obviously, we should all be wearing the latest designer clothing, eating the latest trendy foods, and working out 300 hours a day so that we can all be underwear models. Unfortunately, nobody can live up to these expectations. How does that make you feel?

The world is made up of all kinds of people. We have tall people and short people. There are fat people and skinny people. There are people who dress up every day and people who think that t-shirts are the highest fashion. And really, that is what makes this world such a great and interesting place.

Growing up in Eastern Kentucky, I've been entrenched in Appalachian culture my entire life. The sad truth is that I didn't really appreciate it. I tried to be like the people that I saw on television because that is what I considered to be "normal." I tried to mold my actions and even my speech patterns after them. I considered their ways of life to be something for which I should strive.

Television and the internet has brought a wealth of information into Appalachian society. That is a good thing. I'm not knocking it in any way. I'm a firm believer that more information is better and that we should all work toward becoming more and more knowledgeable about our world. What is sad is that our true Appalachian culture is disappearing.

In a world of iPods, iPads, wireless this, and hotspot that...we are becoming a global society. We share information and ideas with the world. The mountains used to shelter us and also kept us isolated. It had good points and bad. Mainly, the bad was that we were usually about 20 years behind everyone else in just about everything...lol! And old joke, but there was some truth in it, I'm afraid. What was good is that it kept our culture and ideals alive and well.

Now, there isn't that much strength in a local identity anymore. Just as I strived to become more like what I saw on television, others are working toward an identity that is more globally acceptable. We have gained a lot with technology...but it wasn't for free. We have given up a lot as well. When this is gone, unfortunately, it is gone for good.

Since our world is ever-changing and the impact of technology is growing each day, we here in Appalachia may feel that all is doomed. In some ways, this may be true. Nobody can travel back in time...at least not yet. Nobody can bring the past into the present. However, we don't have to feel that everything has to be lost. We can still flavor our lives with the spice of our ancestors. We can keep our cultural palettes alive by knowing that there is nothing wrong with just being ourselves.

Don't be ashamed to be yourself. Don't be ashamed to keep your family traditions alive. Don't be ashamed if your idea of a perfect life doesn't match what you are being feed by the mass media. Nobody knows you better than you do. Nobody can tell you how you are supposed to live.

It seems like the media loves to portray the image of the dumb, lazy hillbilly. When we think of Appalachia, what images come to mind? If we only getting our information from mass media, we may think of barefoot hillbillies who live in shanty houses with junk and trash all around. We may think of high poverty and ignorance. All of these are very negative images that get the high ratings that television stations love.

However, if we take another look at Appalachia, we may see things in another light. We can see people who are honest, friendly, hard-working, and independent. We see a love for family. We see a love for community. All of these are very positive images. Unfortunately, we don't see these images much in the modern media because they don't get those high ratings.

So I guess that what I'm trying to say is never be ashamed of where you come from or how you live. Every person is a valuable member of this world. We each have something to contribute. Nobody should ever feel that they are less important than anyone else on this planet. And as a culture, we should be proud of our Appalachian heritage. It may be shrinking as we become more of a global society, but we can bring the positive influences along with us. That can our gift to the world.

Take a moment today to be proud of who you are. Be proud of what you have accomplished in this life. And take a moment to consider just how much more you have to offer. You are important. You matter. Smile with that knowledge. And if you want to run barefoot through the grass on a warm spring day...well, then do it. After all, it IS one of life's little pleasures!

Until next week....class dismissed.

Powell County Reading Celebration

Everyone knows that when you start reading a really good book, the characters and events in the story seem to come to life for you. On Saturday, March 27th, book literally came to life at the 2nd annual Powell County Reading Celebration. This county wide celebration held at Clay City Elementary was a way for everyone in the county to get together and celebrate reading.

As a local author, I was invited to attend the event. I knew that it was going to be pretty cool to talk and interact with the kids at the schools in Powell County. However, I was not prepared for the amazing events that I saw! It all started when my wife Lisa and I arrived in Clay City. Immediately we could tell that this night was going to be a really big deal because we started seeing people holding signs that stated "Parking for Literacy Celebration." We hadn't even arrived at Clay City Elementary yet!

Arriving at the school, we unloaded the van and heading inside. I could see that this event was going to be a very big deal. The door was decorated to look like one was attending a major event...the Academy Awards! There were two large golden Oscars beside the door. The door itself was framed with silver and gold. The sign read "Where Books Come to Life." Things were getting more and more exciting!

Once inside, I saw that the events of the night would include more than just author signings. The rooms of the school had been turned into literacy showcases! Students and teachers from around the county had worked extremely hard to create performances based on literary works. For example, there were rooms where people could enter and view student performances of Dr. Seuss classics, Where the Wild Things Are, and even scenes from the Little House series. I was very impressed.

During the evening, other events were happening as well. There were book project scavenger hunts where students competed for prizes. There were rooms set aside as living wax museums where students were dressed as characters from their favorite books. There were prizes given away to the county's top Accelerated Reader students from each school. There was even a free dinner for everyone who attended.

Each student who attended the event was given a free t-shirt that proclaimed the joys of literacy. In addition, each student was given a free book. I thought that this was just simply amazing. Looking around at all of the people, you could see the joy and excitement on their faces. Everyone was so thrilled to be celebrating the joy of reading.

In some of the rooms, performances were being given by professionals performers. There were storytellers, artists, and Native American life performers. I also had the good fortune to meet and speak with Joe Bowen. While talking with him, I learned that he had walked all the way across the United States on stilts...once. He had ridden a bike across the United States...twice! Wow! I was in shock! That was simply amazing.

Taking my place with the other authors in the library, I was awed at the mass of people who traveled through the library. I spoke to so many wonderful parents, students, teachers, and community members that evening during my visit. I sold many of my books. It is always such a joy to me to get my books into the hands of people who love to read. Thanks to all the people who took time to speak with me and to look at my work. I do truly appreciate it.

I was able to showcase my newest book, Dark and Bloody, at this event. I used a nice foam board poster of my book to draw attention to it. It seemed to do the trick because several people were interested in it. I think that the fact that it is a book of short, scary stories helped. I also think that many people appreciated the fact that all of the stories are set in Kentucky...most of them right here in Eastern Kentucky.

I also had copies of my two children's poetry books, Nose Pickin' (and 50 Other Ways to Tickle Your Brain!) and Pumpkin Guts. I was thrilled to get these books into the hands of these excited kids.

At the end of the night, my wife and I packed up. We were pleased to receive a t-shirt as well. I will wear it with pride! The evening had been magical. How wonderful to just stop for a moment and celebrate reading. Reading is so important in all of our lives. It is vital that we express the importance of reading to our children. The Powell County Reading Celebration had done that.

I want to thank all of the nice people who invited me and made my wife and I feel at home. It was a very nice event. I look forward to attending next year.

If anyone wants a personally autographed copy of any of my books, please see my website (www.alonzofugate.com). You can also get them from Barnes and Noble and Amazon. In addition, Showtime Video in Jackson has some autographed copies of my latest book, Dark and Bloody, for sale. Showtime Video is a great place to eat and to get a great tan. My wife and I tan there all the time! Maybe I will see you there!

Until next week....class dismissed!

Warm Days and Elk Horns

Wow...what a beautiful weekend! It seems that Nature has decided to shine upon us for a while at least and give us the gift of warmer weather. Lisa and I went outside for our walk today instead of just walking on the treadmill. We walk up Little Buckhorn on a two-mile trek that we scoped out. It is a nice little walk and it allows us to actually talk to each other while we walk. This is different than the treadmill also. Usually then, Lisa just cranks up her iPod while I watch television. Usually I try to catch up on shows that I have recorded...like Brothers and Sisters. It is a great show but it comes on too late on Sunday night for me! That's a school night...and I'm in bed by then!

I spent most of this weekend giving my latest book Dark and Bloody the final edit. Now, I just have to give my publishers the final okay and it will be available...everywhere. Yes...I will have copies available soon. But the best place to purchase my books...just like most everything these days...is the internet. Don't you just love modern technology?

In adoption news, Lisa and I have all of our paperwork notarized and finalized! We are heading to the office of the Secretary of State tomorrow to hand deliver them. They have to be apostilled by the state of Kentucky. This just means that the state is saying the court system here in Breathitt County was able to verify our notary. Whew! Lots of paperwork! But after this last thing, we can send it to our adoption agency (Children's Hope International). They will send it to Russia and we will get assigned to a region. Russia is big country you know! We will keep you all informed!

This weekend, I was feeling a little down with the sniffles. So instead of going out, we stayed home. In a way, this was a good thing. Lisa and I had stopped off at Kemper Furniture on the way home last Friday and bought a new mattress set. It wasn't supposed to be delivered until Wednesday or Thursday, but they ended up delivering it on Saturday. What a treat! It sleeps so well! I didn't realize how poor our old mattress was until we got this new one. Kemper Furniture is a great place to shop for furniture!

On Saturday, while I took a nap and tried to get well, Lisa baked a cake. It was an oatmeal coconut cake and was very good! We ended up inviting my mom and dad around to share in the cake. My dad said that he was bringing something for me to see as well. It turned out that he was bringing us an elk horn that he had found! This thing is HUGE!

I was in shock when I saw it. We took some pics of it and posted it to my Facebook page. Dad gave it to us because he said that it would look good in our log home. I agree! LOL! We are thinking about getting it professionally mounted.

I will leave you this week with a pic of the elk horn. Enjoy! Remember, you can visit my webpage at www.alonzofugate.com. I am also on Facebook. You can email me at alfugate@yahoo.com.

Until next week...class dismissed!

LBJ Elementary Wins District Championship in Governor's Cup Academic Competition!

Saturday, February 27th, started out cold and dreary. However, the snow couldn't chill the spirits of several young minds from around the county. They knew that the 2010 District Governor's Cup was going to be held at LBJ Elementary that day. This was their chance to show off their academic prowess....and show the world just how powerful the mind can be!

Although starting with a delay due to the weather, soon students, parents, and other involved community members converged upon LBJ Elementary for the academic competition. Contest manager, Henrietta Sheffel (FRC director from Breathitt High School) used her expertise in academics to start the match on time. Soon students from LBJ Elementary, Highland-Turner Elementary, Rousseau, and Jackson City School were taking tests in the areas of math, science, social studies, language arts, and arts and humanities. Students had competed in composition and future problem solving earlier in the week.

After a morning of testing, students competed in quick recall, which is a game-show like competition where students try to beat other students by "buzzing in" first and answering questions. It was an exciting day that saw many ups and downs for everyone involved.

At the end of a long day, the LBJ Elementary academic team, coached by Alonzo Fugate, was pleased with the following results:

· Composition - Abi Thomas, 3rd place; Adrianna Coomer, 4th place; Ashlee Gross, 5th place

· Math - John Wyatt Hall, 5th place

· Science - Jacob Collins and John Wyatt Hall, tied for 3rd place

· Social Studies - Logan Back, 1st place; Katie Bowling, 4th place

· Language Arts - Adrianna Coomer, 1st place; Zach Rice, 2nd place; Abi Thomas, 5th place

· Arts and Humanities - Zach Eiserman, 1st place; Kelsie Dalton, 2nd place

· Quick Recall team - 3rd place

· Future Problem Solving Team (Katie Bowling, Rachel Miller, Zach Rice, and Rebecca Watts) - 1st place!

The final scores for the day were broken down as follows:

· LBJ Elementary - 48.5 points

· Highland-Turner Elementary - 36 points

· Jackson City School - 35.5 points

· Rousseau Elementary - 3 points

LBJ Elementary was excited and pleased to win the District Championship. Students, parents, and others were cheering and clapping as each student received their medals and ribbons. A championship trophy was won for the school trophy case and is being displayed with pride in the front office of LBJ Elementary.

Coach Alonzo Fugate stated, "I am so pleased and so proud. These students have worked so hard all year long, and they deserve this win. It takes a lot of hard work to be on the academic team. It was good to see that hard work pay off. It was because of their dedication and the dedication of their parents and teachers that these students can proudly call themselves academic champions."

Coach Fugate continued, "Although I am the coach, there are so many more people involved in making a winning team. First and foremost are the parents. In particular, I had lots of great support from Amy Baker and Janice Hall with practices this year. Next, I want to thank all the teachers for their work in helping to prepare these students in class. I also want to thank LBJ's principal Ron Combs for all of his support this year. He has been wonderful. Finally, I want to thank Superintendent Arch Turner and the Breathitt County School Board for all of their support and encouragement. Without them, we wouldn't have such great schools and great students."

The team will now prepare for the Regional Governor's Cup which will be held at Buckhorn Elementary on Tuesday, March 16th for composition and Future Problem Solving and Saturday, March 20th for all other categories. But as Coach Fugate added, "No matter what, these kids are already champions in my book."

Update on the Adoption

Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven't written in a few weeks, but the snow days get me in a daze! Fortunately, today was nice and sunny. It almost felt like a spring day! I walked around to Mom and Dad's house and saw that the Easter lilies (flags) were already coming up. I can't wait to see those nice yellow flowers in bloom. Hopefully they won't be covered up in snow.

We have missed so many snow days this year in the Breathitt County school system. If I am not mistaken, it is right at 26 days. That is a lot! We work hard in the school system to get the students ready for the world and testing. We will just have to be more vigilant in the coming weeks. Hopefully they will move the testing window back a few weeks as well.

One good thing about the snowy days is that it forced me to stay inside and work on my writing. I finished up my next book. It is called Dark and Bloody and is a collection of horror/suspense stories that are set in Kentucky. Most of them are set right here in Eastern Kentucky! I got the title from the nickname that Kentucky had when settlers arrived....a dark and bloody ground. It should be out in the next month or so. I will debut it at the Harrodsburg Book Festival.

In case you have been wondering, YES, Lisa and I are still adopting. We have been working on this adoption for over 2 years now. At first, we were planning on adopting from Vietnam. Unfortunately, Vietnam shut down all of their adoptions. We were going to stick it out, but after 1 year on the list, it didn't look like we were going anywhere.

Finally, a few months ago, we decided to switch to the Russian program. It was meant to be. I got on the website of our adoption agency, Children's Hope International, and saw that they were desperate for people in the Russian adoption program. We talked it over and decided that we just couldn't wait on Vietnam anymore.

So now, we are officially in the Russian program. We have all of our paperwork together. We just have to get it notarized and then we are all set to send it off to our adoption agency. They will have it transferred to Russian and sent to Russia. After that, we wait to be matched with a child. We requested a little boy as young as possible. We still have his name on the nursery door, Jacob. We still have all the stuff...two cribs, clothes, toys, changing table, high chair, stroller, bibs, rattles, etc! We just need the baby.

From the looks of things, we should be expecting a match sometime around August or September of this year. After that, we will take our first trip to Russia to meet the child and approve the adoption. Then, we come back to the United States for a couple of months. We then return to Russia for two or three weeks to finalize the adoption. I can't wait to get him home! The hardest part will be meeting him and then having to come back home for those two months!

I will keep everyone updated on the process of our adoption. Hopefully we will have him home in time for Halloween. I want to take him trick or treating!

I'm not sure how our little dog Sassy will take the adoption. She is our baby right now and is spoiled rotten. I'm sure that she won't like having to share lap time with a baby. She will have a panic attack! But she is really good with kids once she gets used to them. I am sure that she will come to love Jacob as well. I don't worry about our other dog Sadie. She loves all kids!

I guess that I will close for now. I will post a picture of my current baby....Sassy.