Interview with Ken Hisel, April 18, 2017

Partial Transcript: Hi, this is Julia Taylor with the Scott County Public Library.

Segment Synopsis: Ken Hisel is introduced. He talks about growing up in Scott County, helping his father in the newspaper business. He talks about learning photography and running the printing presses. He describes several different types of presses. He talks about whether he continued working in the newspaper business later in life.

Keywords: 4-H; Careers; County Peddler; Fathers; Georgetown News; Georgetown News and Times; Georgetown Times; Hot type presses; Houses; Jobs; Lead; Paid; Publications; Scott Shopper; Sid Hisel; Training; Working

Subjects: Childhood; Employment--Kentucky; Families.; Georgetown (Ky.); Newspapers--Kentucky.; Photography.; Printing industry.; Printing machinery and supplies.; Printing presses.; Printing--Periodicals.; Printing.; Scott County (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Um, okay. So let's get into the tornado.

Segment Synopsis: Hisel says he was taking a class at the University of Kentucky when the tornado hit Stamping Ground in 1974. He talks about his experience driving back to Scott County. He talks about his father's work in the cleanup process, including driving Judge Executive Charlie Sutton to see the governor in Frankfort, and eventually being made director of Disaster and Emergency Services. He describes a bank vault that was left intact despite the bank being destroyed by the tornado.

Keywords: Bank vaults; Banks; Ben Quillen; Charlie Sutton; City Hall; Civil defense; Decisions; Destruction; Directors; Disaster and Emergency Services; Electricity; Emergency vehicles; Fathers; Fire departments; Frankfort (Ky.); Gas trucks; Generators; Governor's wife; Governors; Hamilton Oil; Home; Judge Executives; Mayors; Military; Power outages; Thunderstorms; University of Kentucky

Subjects: Georgetown (Ky.); Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.); Tornado damage; Tornadoes.

Partial Transcript: Now I, I do, uh, need to orient our listeners.

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks about a local doctor who offered his services for free after the tornado. He talks about the rest of his family helping his father with the cleanup process. He talks about how the police handled the many sight-seers attempting to drive through Stamping Ground who were blocking the highway. He talks about how telephone lines were set up, and about flying in a helicopter to take photographs of the disaster.

Keywords: Brothers; Cleanup; Construction workers; Coordinator of services; Death; Directors; Disaster and Emergency Services; Doctors; Family; Fathers; Frankfort (Ky.); Generals; Helicopters; Help; Houses; Joint efforts; Killed; Mayors; Medical treatment; Military; Military units; Mothers; Phone systems; Photographs; Photography; Photos; Pictures; Police; Robert Ward; Sheriff's departments; Sid Hisel; Sight-seers; Telephone companies; Telephone posts

Subjects: Families.; Georgetown (Ky.); Medical care; Natural disasters; Physicians--Kentucky; Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.); Tornado damage; Tornadoes.

Partial Transcript: Um, so was there--I, I've heard rumors of, of issues maybe with looting or things like that. Did you see anything like that?

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks about problems with looting after the tornado and discusses how the town used garbage trucks as a security patrol at night. He talks about the military units that came to the area, and about the curfews that were set.

Keywords: 2-way radios; Communication; Curfews; Garbage trucks; Looting; Martial law; Military; Military divisions; Military units; National Guard; Problems; Safety; Security patrols; Two-way radios; Walkie-talkies

Subjects: Georgetown (Ky.); Natural disasters; Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.); Tornado damage; Tornadoes.

Partial Transcript: Um, so how did people get necessary supplies?

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks about the organizations that provided supplies to those in need after the tornado. He talks about how some people were not allowed to return to their homes to retrieve their belongings, and mentions where they dumped the rubble. He talks about how long it took for activities to return to normal.

Keywords: Assistance; Belongings; Bulldozers; Cleanup; Destruction; Food; Help; Hollows; Houses; Married; Meals; Normalcy; Property; Red Cross; Safety; Salvation Army; Supplies; Wedding; Workers

Subjects: Georgetown (Ky.); Natural disasters; Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.); Tornado damage; Tornadoes.

Partial Transcript: Um, you pretty much hit on almost all the organizations I was interested in.

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks more about the organizations and politicians that helped during the recovery process. He talks more about his father being made director of Disaster and Emergency Services after it was separated from the fire department.

Keywords: Areas of responsibility; Charlie Sutton; Churches; City; Civil defense; County; Decisions; Disaster and Emergency Services; Fathers; Fire departments; Georgetown College; Judges; Mayors; Organizations; Sid Hisel; Students; Warren Powers

Subjects: Georgetown (Ky.); Natural disasters; Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.); Tornado damage; Tornadoes.

Partial Transcript: I'm a little curious.

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks about some of the other disasters that have occurred around Scott County including another tornado, a tractor trailer accident, and a pesticide truck accident. He describes the cleanup process for each of these incidents.

Keywords: Creeks; Environmental cleanup; Fathers; Funding; Funds; Gasoline spills; Governor Martha Layne Collins; Hauling; Pesticides; Refrigerated trucks; Severe weather; Sid Hisel; Tractor trailers; United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Subjects: Bridges--Accidents; Environmental disasters.; Georgetown (Ky.); Natural disasters; Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.); Tornado damage; Tornadoes.

Partial Transcript: Um, so going back to the tornado a little bit, um, how do you think it affected Stamping Ground as a community?

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks about whether the tornado affected the Stamping Ground community itself and says that it has always been hesitant about outsiders.

Keywords: Affect; Businesses; Changes; Closed community; Effects; In-migration; Locations; Outsiders; Recovery; Stores

Subjects: Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.); Tornado damage; Tornadoes.

Partial Transcript: So, um, you had the pleasure of growing up basically learning all the, the events of what's going on in the, the county.

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks about his father's role in bringing youth football to Scott County and discusses why some parents opposed the idea. He talks about playing for a little league team himself.

Keywords: Bill Wilson; Events; Fathers; Injuries; Junior high schools; Little league teams; Meetings; News stories; Newspaper articles; Opposition; Parents; Scott County High School; Sid Hisel; Sports teams

Subjects: Families.; Football.; Georgetown (Ky.); Newspapers--Kentucky.; School sports.; Scott County (Ky.); Sports for children.

Partial Transcript: Um, was there anything else?

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks more about a crane accident which blocked I-75 and describes the cleanup process.

Keywords: Blocking; Cleanup; Contracts; Cranes; Creeks; Damage; Emergency events; Helicopter fuel trucks; I-75; Shutdown; Tow trucks; Upright

Subjects: Disasters.; Georgetown (Ky.); Scott County (Ky.); Stamping Ground (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Um, okay. Was there anything else you wanted to add?

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks about not finding money during the demolition of several banks in town, however a construction company found $13,000 when demolishing a hotel.

Keywords: Bank buildings; Demolition; Fathers; Garvice Kincaid; Georgetown Hotel; Salvage rights; Sid Hisel; Transfers

Subjects: Bank facilities; Banks and banking.; Georgetown (Ky.); Money.; Scott County (Ky.); Wrecking.

Partial Transcript: Um, yeah, I was a little curious; we talked a bit about the differences in the newspaper industry and the--the printing industry really, um, when you were a kid and now.

Segment Synopsis: Hisel talks more about working with printing presses during his childhood and discusses how the process and the machines have changed since those days. He talks about how printing photographs has changed since the days of dot-matrix printing. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Art; Changes; Cold type; Deaf people; Dot-matrix printing; Etching; Hot type; Kentucky School for the Deaf; Lead; Line type; Newspapers; Offset presses; Pictures; Sign language; Sisters; Smithsonian Museum; Teaching; Type setting

Subjects: Childhood; Photography--Printing processes.; Photography.; Printing industry.; Printing machinery and supplies.; Printing presses.; Printing--Periodicals.; Printing.