Interview with Jean Dorton, November 8, 2006

Partial Transcript: Uh, this is Dale Johnson with Eastern Kentucky PRIDE Incorporated and, um, today I'm talking with Ms. Jean Dorton.

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses her family, including her father's career and her relationship with her older siblings.

Keywords: Brothers; Family relationships; Older siblings; Siblings; Sisters

Subjects: Employment--Kentucky; Families; Johnson County (Ky.); Paintsville (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So, Johnson County, um, pretty much all your life? Did you, did you leave to go to school or anything?

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses going to community college and teaching preschool. Dorton also discusses her eventual return to college for a degree in Environmental Science from Morehead State University.

Keywords: Environmental science; Jobs; Johnson County (Ky.); Morehead State University (Ky.); Preschools

Subjects: Careers; Community colleges.; Education; Employment--Kentucky; Head Start programs.; Occupations; Preschool teachers.; Teaching; Universities and colleges.

Partial Transcript: So, when I got finished, uh--bringing this back into PRIDE a little bit, when I finished I, uh, really wasn't always finding work in that field where I could stay in the Paintsville area.

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses her early environmental career and her beginnings with PRIDE working on the board. Dorton and Johnson also discuss how busy PRIDE coordinators are.

Keywords: Conservation; Conservation districts; Darrell Ishmael; Grants; Ishmael, Darrell; Jobs; Paintsville (Ky.); Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE)

Subjects: Careers; Employment--Kentucky; Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Floyd County (Ky.); Johnson County (Ky.); Occupations

Partial Transcript: But, um, but a lot of, uh, people I talked to like in '97 or '98 when the--when somehow the judges all found out about PRIDE and getting money--

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses the tenth anniversary of PRIDE and the beginning of the organization, including the original meeting with judges. Dorton also discusses a recent successful audit of the organization.

Keywords: Audits; Beginning; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Rallies; Tenth anniversary

Subjects: Anniversaries; Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Finance

Partial Transcript: Uh, since you're a board director, I guess what--did you start out with all these grant programs that you got now or did you start--

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses PRIDE's original 3-prong plan to clean up dumps and litter, fix the sewer situation, and educate the public.

Keywords: "Three prong attack"; Dump cleanups; Dumps; Garbage; Litter (Trash); Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Sewers; Straight pipes

Subjects: Education; Environmental education.; Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Plumbing.; Pollution.; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Septic tanks; Sewerage.; Waste disposal sites

Partial Transcript: And then the--what's so nice is the staff were the ones that came up with the roadside pride and having those contests.

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses the idea of the roadside pride contest. Dorton also discusses the spring and fall cleanups and the change from fall cleanup to roadside pride.

Keywords: Community cleanups; Fall cleanups; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Roadside pride; Spring cleanups

Subjects: Communities; Contests; Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Pollution.; Refuse and refuse disposal.

Partial Transcript: Uh, I noticed that a lot of counties said they'd been contacted by Richard in the last year, you know, about getting a lump sum of money to clean up the last remaining dumps that they had.

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses the goal of having ten counties clean for the tenth anniversary, and the cost involved that prevented them from achieving that goal. Dorton and Johnson also discuss stories of people being rude to volunteers cleaning up the sides of the road.

Keywords: Dump cleanups; Garbage; Litter (Trash); Volunteer experiences; Volunteering

Subjects: Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Finance; Pollution; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Roadside litter; Voluntarism; Volunteers; Waste disposal sites

Partial Transcript: But you were talking about the beginning of PRIDE and how you decided on these three things.

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses how the PRIDE organization originally decided on its three prong plan by surveying counties. Dorton also discusses how the habit of dumping trash came around.

Keywords: Area development districts; Dumping; Dumps; Garbage; Habits; Illegal dumps; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Straight pipes; Three prong plan; Trash; Trash pickup

Subjects: Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Litter (Trash); Pollution.; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Waste disposal sites

Partial Transcript: I was wondering about the spring cleanups cause when, cause when I go talk to the, the kids in the PRIDE clubs they may not know much about cleaning up the dumps or the sewers or any of that but they all know about the spring, spring cleanup...

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses the importance of volunteers to the PRIDE program. Dorton also discusses the Whitehouse Homemakers who organized a group cleanup of Johnson County. Johnson talks about the "Petticoat Mafia," a garden club that does cleanups. Johnson and Dorton discuss a new bed and breakfast.

Keywords: "Petticoat mafia"; Bed and breakfasts; Johnson County (Ky.); Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Volunteering; Whitehouse Homemakers

Subjects: Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Homemakers; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Voluntarism; Volunteers

Partial Transcript: But, um, have you taken a--as a board member have you taken a special interest in any of the particular area--

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses her interest in the education aspect of the PRIDE program. Johnson and Dorton discuss how they reach children and adults with the program.

Keywords: "Commandos"; Outreach; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Public service announcements (PSAs)

Subjects: Adult education; Advertising, Public service.; Children; Education; Environmental education.; Environmental protection; Environmentalism

Partial Transcript: Hopefully, you know, we really will eventually get all these dumps cleaned up.

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses improvements that have been seen since the beginning of the PRIDE program.

Keywords: Dump cleanups; Improvements; Kentucky River

Subjects: Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Johnson County (Ky.); Lawrenceburg (Ky.); Pollution; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Rivers; Waste disposal sites

Partial Transcript: I'm just real excited about these PRIDE clubs 'cause, um, the kids are just dying for something like that to do.

Segment Synopsis: Dorton and Johnson discuss the successes of PRIDE clubs in schools and how they help to get kids outside. Dorton and Johnson also discuss a colleague.

Keywords: Clubs; Colleagues; Coworkers; Kids; Organizations; PRIDE clubs; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE)

Subjects: Children; Environmental education.; Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Schools

Partial Transcript: Uh, but no, no funny stories about any, any of the staff or, or going to spring cleanup?

Segment Synopsis: Dorton talks about finding diapers on the side of the road filled with green slime. Johnson tells a couple of stories about cleanups. Dorton discusses how innovative some people are when doing cleanups. Dorton tells a story about a granddaughter cleaning up the place her grandfather dumped.

Keywords: Cliffs; Creative ability; Creativity; Diapers; Dump cleanups; Grandchildren; Granddaughters; Grandfathers; Grandparent and child.; Grandparents; Innovation; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Rappelling; Stories

Subjects: Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Litter (Trash); Pollution.; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Roadside litter; Waste disposal sites

Partial Transcript: I guess one thing a lot of people ask me is, "If Hal Rogers ever retires, will PRIDE go away?"

Segment Synopsis: Dorton discusses the future of PRIDE and the ultimate goal of education. Johnson discusses how PRIDE clubs sometimes lead kids to activism. Johnson also discusses how kids in PRIDE clubs push for recycling in their hometowns.

Keywords: Activism; Funding; Future; PRIDE clubs; Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment (PRIDE); Recycling (Waste, etc.)

Subjects: Children; Education; Environmental education.; Environmental protection; Environmentalism; Refuse and refuse disposal.; Schools; Student movements.