Coming up on Kentucky Life... Frisbee golf is played in numerous parks around the state.

And is a great way to be outdoor I'll introduce you to a pair of Kentuckians.

Who are known worldwide worldwide in the sport.

The North American International Livestock Expo.

Brings agriculture professionals from all across the US.

To Louisville every year.

We'll take you to the Trail of Tears Heritage Center.

In Hopkinsville.

Which shares the story of Native Americans.

Who once called those lands home.

Before they were forcibly removed.

And we'll introduce you to the creative side.

Of Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido, a Cuban-American artist.

Who is a professor at Morehead State.

All that's next on Kentucky Life ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Hey, everybody, and welcome to Kentucky Life.

I'm your host, Chip Polston.

Now, I always enjoy visiting all the neat places.

Our show takes us.

But this week we're at the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center.

In Maysville.

And I gotta tell you I was blown away.

When I first walked into this place.

There is a collection of miniatures.

Here that are next level.

I have literally never seen anything like this.

Now, they also house a genealogical.

And historical research library here.

With a remarkable collection of historic maps.

And other important documents.

All while showcasing and celebrating this region.

We can't wait to show you around.

But first, what do you get when you combine.

The traditional game of golf and throwing a frisbee?

You get disc golf.

Now, I recently had the privilege of playing.

With a couple of disc golf greats here.

In the State of Kentucky.

Tossing precision drives and banging chains.

Well, at least they were all along the way.

Join us for a disc golf adrenaline rush.

As we introduce you to one of the fastest growing sports.

That's fun for all ages.

Chains clanking ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ So we're here at the beautiful Falling Springs disc golf.

Course in Versailles.

Really is a gorgeous day with two guys who are literally.

The godfathers of disc golf here in Kentucky.

This is Everett Lasley and Dave Greenwell.

Guys, thanks so much for being with us today.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you.

Everett, let's start with you first.

In terms of how you came to, to do this.

How did all this start for you?

Well, I started, I always had a frisbee in my hand.

And I went to play college baseball.

The guy that came to our team to play second base.

Was from Elizabethtown and he went.

Oh my gosh, you play disc golf!

And I was like, what?

So we went to Otter Creek Park fall of '78... And the rest is history.

The rest is history.

And, Dave, how did this all come together for you?

You know, similarly, it was Otter Creek Park.

But the nature director at Otter Creek Park.

Handed me three discs.

And said, see if you can throw them in.

And I threw all of them in.

And he made me scoot back and I threw them all in again.

And he said, oh my gosh.

I thought I was gonna win this tournament.

And I said, I don't even know what you're talking about.

And from there it's been 45 years of traveling.

Around the world trying to spread the word.

Of one of the best sports I've ever played in my life.

That's amazing.

And the group that really does a lot of work here.

In Kentucky.

The Bluegrass Disc Golf Association.

I know, Everett, you helped start that.

What does the group really do here.

In Kentucky for the sport?

We started in 1996 and there were about 35 of us.

In that beginning crew after we built Shillito Park.

Dave and I built Shillito Park.

Every year there's ice bowls.

That are held all across the country.

So we pick out an organization.

And then we collect canned goods We take a percentage of the entry fees.

And we have done goodwill.

Will donate 500-600 cans of vegetables.

And, you know, anywhere from $500 starting out to, you know.

A couple $1,000 now.

And it's always for a good cause, you know.

We vote on what is needy at this time.

And a great, great community.

All right, you guys ready to take me to school on this?

Absolutely.

Let's do it.

Let's hit this first tee.

All right.

So here we are in the T box.

Now, Everett, walk us through what some of these discs are.

And the different type of discs we're gonna be using today.

There's basically three kinds of a disc.

The putter.

But you could see the differences.

In the thickness of them.

The putter, it's a little bit thicker.

It's what you're gonna finish your shot.

With into the basket.

A midrange is something kind of like a five iron.

If you were to compare it with anything.

It's something you're gonna throw 200 to 300 feet.

And then usually going off of a T box.

You'll use a driver, which is super thin.

They're cut differently.

Some will go left, some will go right.

It just depends on the cut.

But you can see the differences in the plastic of the putter.

The midrange, and the driver.

All right.

Well, let's see how you kick us off here.

Dave, step on up, man.

Let me take a good lesson from you here.

And watch what you do.

All right, I will be throwing a driver here.

Okay.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ All right.

Well, I feel like I'm playing football.

With the New England Patriots today.

But let's see what we got here.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Hook, hook, hook.

Well, that was pretty good.

I got a little distance.

I hooked it a little more than I wanted to.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Good shot.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh, nice.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Dave, what really makes this such a great activity.

For people to be out on a great course like this?

You know, mother nature, you know, anybody can do this.

And it's just a great way to get good exercise.

Breathe some fresh air.

And have fun with your friends.

And, Everett, as we were talking about.

Age range on this, this can be 7 to 70.

I mean, this isn't something that's really restricted.

To a particular age group.

Sure thing.

I've got pictures of my son.

when he was three years old at Key West.

Don't want a basket, putting side of him.

And, you know, we're playing with 70 and 80 year old people.

It's the number one lifetime fitness sport.

You figure, I mean, it's 5,260 ft in a mile.

And this course is 8,800 ft. And definitely, as we just proved.

We're not doing it straight every time.

Right.

So you're gonna get tons of recreation.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ All right, guys.

So we're ready to putt.

You guys head on over to your discs.

And let's bring these home.

All right?

All right.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ There it is.

Yes!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Yeah.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Well, guys, this really has been a lot of fun today.

You know, I used to play this as a kid.

Hadn't played it in 40 years until.

I picked up with you all today.

But you were great showing me how everything works.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.

Just don't make it 40 years on the next time.

I won't, don't worry.

I'll see you guys back on the course soon.

All right?

Yes, sir.

Sounds good.

We hope to see you there, too.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ While Kentucky is known for its agriculture products of tobacco.

And corn it's also home to farms And families dedicated to raising different livestock.

Animals such as cattle and hogs.

And every year farmers from around the country.

And the world turn their eyes to Louisville.

For a livestock exposition that shows off this tradition.

Of Kentucky farms.

And how that tradition is taught to.

And carried on by future farmers of the Commonwealth.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ For half a century the Kentucky Fairgrounds in Louisville.

Kentucky, has been home to a world famous tradition.

In the agriculture industry.

The North American International Livestock Exposition.

This livestock exposition draws participants young.

And old from around the country to exhibit hogs.

Cattle, and other livestock raised on farms.

This is a very important show for those of us here.

In Louisville.

Kentucky, from the economic impact it has on our economy.

It's also important to Kentucky agriculture.

That takes all of our 120 counties.

But it's larger than that.

We have attendees here and people exhibiting.

From all over North America.

We also have visits from many other countries.

So this show has a huge impact in many different areas.

Visitors are able to walk among the participants.

Seeing differences in the breeds And then watch as attendees compete with each other.

For a prized purple ribbon.

It's appropriate for Louisville to host this event.

Given the role livestock plays in Kentucky, especially beef.

We've got more beef cows on this side of the Mississippi.

Than any other state.

That's east of the Mississippi.

So we're a very thriving cattle state.

Kentucky also has been strong in the number of hogs.

That are raised in the bluegrass In the recent years, just the way the swine industry has gone.

Those numbers have dwindled a little bit.

But we still have a very good swine operation.

A lot of folks are feeding pigs for other people.

And so that's created an avenue for younger people.

To come into the swine industry to be able to.

To raise hogs when normally they would.

Not have been able to.

Indeed watching the young exhibitors.

Showing the hogs they have raised.

You realize this is a classroom.

A learning arena for many young rural Kentuckians.

Helping to develop the commonwealth's future generation In agriculture.

Teaches kids a lot of responsibility.

I mean, from the standpoint of having to take care.

Of those animals at home and work with those animals.

You know, these animals won't show themselves.

So you have to get out there and work with them.

And be able to, to drive them in different places.

And, you know, my own kids showed pigs years and years ago.

And, I mean, you're spending three or four hours.

In the barn every day.

Seven days a week.

Cow mooing.

This is an educational experience.

Raising the animal, taking care of the animal.

Understanding animal husbandry, the science behind it.

The medicine behind it, the care that's necessary.

The nutrition of an animal.

And then get them to the point they want to exhibit them.

And show them in the competition For these young people to have that experience.

They're developing skills that they'll benefit.

For the rest of their life.

I started showing when I was 10, I turned 21 this fall.

I've had my fair share of mistakes and mishaps.

But I learned how to grow from them.

And really became the person I am today.

Some contestants like Haley Beukema go on to college.

In the field of agriculture.

I knew from an early age when I started showing dairy cattle.

That it was really important to me to stay involved.

Currently, I'm a junior at the University of Minnesota.

Studying agricultural communication and marketing.

And starting from my experiences within the show industry.

I really found a passion for the Guernsey cattle breed.

Through my experiences in 4-H as well as just experiences.

Watching good cattle walk through the barns here.

At shows like this.

I've really found my niche of wanting to continue.

To judge cattle.

And be the people that are standing.

In the middle of the ring.

So I'm able to do that at college.

And I judged at the national contest.

At Expo and at Harrisburg this year.

But I was fortunate enough to be able to come.

And show this week and judge the Louisville contest next year.

The highlight for many is to compete with the animals.

They have raised and cared for, for so long.

The exposition is known worldwide.

Recognized in pictures for the iconic green shavings.

In the competition rings.

Wherever I travel around the country, around the world.

And I mention Louisville, Kentucky.

If they have anything to do with agriculture.

They know about the green shavings.

We're known for that worldwide.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ And for Kentucky, this event is perhaps most important.

For representing the role these livestock animals.

Play in our economy and our farming community.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I love to see the young people.

I realize what it means to a young person.

To be engaged in this.

But I also recognize the economics of it to the parents.

The family, the farm, the ranch.

Where they might come from.

They're competing here for the title of being the best.

Of their breed.

The best of their species, best in their community.

Best in their nation.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Hopkinsville is home to the Trail of Tears Heritage Center.

Which aims to educate people on the native tribes.

That once lived on those lands.

And each year they host the Trail of Tears Pow Wow.

A gathering for Native Americans from across the US.

To honor indigenous cultures and traditions.

And remember those who walked and died along the trail.

Dancing is not just dancing, there's more to it.

There's also something healing about being around others.

From the same cultural background.

Especially when you're such a limited ethnic group.

This is the kind of event where cultural exchange can happen.

In a welcoming environment.

The powwow is something that there's a variety.

Of different perspectives.

In native cultures, dancing dancing is a part of ceremonies.

In native cultures, dancing dancing is a part of ceremonies.

Is also a part of, you know, there's social dances.

There's a variety of ways in which dancing.

Is a part of various cultural expressions and foundations.

If you go to a powwow, you'll see a lot of common elements.

There's typically a grand entry of dancers.

There's almost always.

If not always, they dance to honor veterans.

Since there's a long history of native service.

In the armed forces of the United States.

There's singers and the drummers and then there's.

You know, any good powwow has a really strong MC.

But it's also, you know, even with the fun.

And everything, there's a strong respect.

For what's also going on and, you know.

Every powwow has its rules.

Powwow is different things to different people.

Our powwow is a major gathering.

They do dance competitions, drumming competitions.

So it does kind of make it fun for the general public to watch.

But it's also one of our mission statements here.

On our Trail of Tears Commission Is the education of the general public.

About native American history and culture.

Almost every Native American tribe has a removal story.

At some point and many of them are called.

You know, trail where they cried or trail of tears.

We're referring to the trail of tears.

We're talking about the Cherokee.

Removal that came through Hopkinsville.

Typically, when people talk about the trail of tears.

The emphasis is on the Cherokee Nation.

And the experience of the Cherokee Nation.

From the fall of 1838 to the early spring.

Late winter of 1839.

When the US government forced them from their lands in Georgia North Carolina and in Tennessee.

It was through Tennessee through the kind of western corner.

Of Kentucky.

Crossing the Mississippi in and around Illinois, Missouri.

And then traveling across Southern Missouri.

And in some cases through Arkansas.

And then into what was then called Indian territory.

What is now Oklahoma.

The trail itself is one of these experiences that's hard to.

To truly kind of understand and capture certainly.

For anyone in the present day.

And particularly when you think of how little.

They were able to take from their homes.

Before being forced into these camps.

And then being put on the trail.

On an average day, removal party.

Again of somewhere around 1,000 to 1,200. or so would move maybe 10 to 12 miles.

Most of the individuals would be walking.

There was poor food, there was overcrowding.

And the summer of 1838 was incredibly hot.

You all of a sudden had outbreaks of disease.

There's issues of malnutrition.

All along the way, young and old, Cherokee men, women.

Children were dying.

And that's what happened to Chief Whitepath and Fly Smith.

Now, Whitepath was leader of the traditionalist Cherokee.

He was from a little place called Turniptown, Georgia.

He was a farmer but he would go back.

And forth to Washington DC, fighting the removal.

He returned from one of his trips.

There was a pioneer family living in his cabin.

They had taken over his farm.

And in the State of Georgia, he had no rights anymore.

So he surrendered himself to one of the stockades.

To walk on the trail.

He left the first of October 1838.

And the first week of November 1838.

He died here in Hopkinsville.

Fly Smith was from a place called Ball Ground, Georgia.

He was a head councilman.

We know he had a small family.

He was about 75 when he passed away here.

But that's about all we know about Fly Smith.

We do know the way they named out their detachments.

That Whitepath would have had to linger.

On this property 3 to 5 days before he died.

Because Fly Smith was two detachments behind him.

And so we do assume it was probably just old and tired.

As, you know, kind of a caregiver here.

I get a lot of feedback from natives.

They know what happened here.

They know who is here.

There is a lot of time spent not publicly during powwow.

Showing respect for the chiefs that are buried here.

I've been coming here for about 11 years now.

But every year.

I come here.

I always take tobacco and sage up to the burial site to pay.

I always take tobacco and sage up to the burial site to pay.

My respects to those men that walked this land, you know.

I feel very honored to be able to do that.

I always look around and I see the young ones.

And I've watched a lot of these young ones grow.

To be a part of this dance.

Now they're juniors, you know, young adults.

It makes me happy to see that they're carrying.

On their traditions, you know.

It makes me feel good to know that my culture and my history.

My people's history will live on And that's the thing with Native American people.

No matter what tribe you are.

When one calls on another, they always answer the call.

We are all brothers and sisters.

We are all family.

Drumbeat.

Our last story is brought to us by a student.

From Morehead State University.

It features Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido A Cuban-American woman who migrated to the United States.

To start anew, much like her family did.

She decided to call Kentucky her home in 1992.

When she started teaching at MSU Her creative work encompasses two and three dimensional media.

And has explored topics such as immigration.

Cultural identity and politics.

Let's check it out.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ My name is Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido and I am an artist.

So I do mixed media art.

So over a span of 30 years.

I have done paintings, traditional sculpture.

Mixed combination of those.

I started making art because of my mother.

She is an artist, but at the time was working in painting.

And she would do mixed media, use a lot of different materials I started doing it as a way to understand myself.

Kind of figure out where I fit in the world.

As somebody who was born in the United States.

But had parents that were from another country.

Understand marginality.

Feeling like you're part of two different cultures.

But not really 100% of either.

My parents, aunts, grandmothers were born in Cuba.

And they immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s And that migration has led me to want to create work.

In response to that, to try to understand that.

Traveled to Cuba with my family in 2011.

All of my family met in Miami and then we.

Because we wanted to travel together to go to Cuba.

Because we hadn't been there before.

And we wanted to be there with my parents.

We wanted that experience of all traveling together.

And so when I arrived at their apartment.

Their condo, they had these two enormous suitcases that were.

You know, wide open and they were filling them.

With consumer goods, non perishable foods.

And over-the-counter medicines.

And so when we then then got to the airport.

My godmother who was also traveling with us.

Had her own enormous suitcase.

And what I realized that everybody who joined the airport Queue had these giant suitcases.

And these were items that were being taken to family and friend Or to be donated.

And then when we arrived in.

In the airport and we exited the airport.

There was so much joy because people were excited.

To see family and friends.

But also because they knew what was in the suitcases.

And they were going to have access to these.

So when I came back, that was really, you know.

It was emotional to have seen that and understand.

You know, the difficulty.

Then I had sketches that came from that.

I was trying to figure out well.

What -- I knew I wanted to do a pinata.

But I didn't know what kind.

So I thought about that pinata idea.

And thought maybe I should stick With the actual subject matter of suitcases.

To help kind of convey that information.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Going to Cuba was so impactful.

And emotional because we had.

My sisters and I had grown up hearing family.

My parents, my aunts, my grandmothers talk about.

You know, it just part of the daily conversation.

And to be able to go there and with my parents.

And they walked us through their neighborhoods.

They actually, the people who are in those homes.

Now let us enter and walk through.

And there was still even some old furniture.

That had been left behind.

The tile work was the same.

So that was really emotional.

And my sister is a poet.

One of the things she said.

And I'm not going to do it justice.

But it was very poetic.

It was basically something like, you know.

To step off the plane.

And to be on the actual land that somehow.

That would make her more Cuban.

And I think the whole trip absolutely helped us.

Understand our family.

And because we had all traveled together and, you know.

Came off the airplane together, it was, you know.

That came to mind immediately us Like literally stepping off the plane and on to Cuban land.

Was just, you know, an emotional experience.

So by addressing some of these topics.

It allows me to kind of work through some of what.

I have experienced.

Some of it can be positive and some of it can be negative.

Right?

So if we're dealing with or addressing inequity.

Then that can be a painful thing to readdress.

But if it allows me to get it out, you know.

So that I feel like I have addressed it, you know.

I'm one person, I can make certain contributions.

But it can't change.

Me as one person can't change the situation.

That people find themselves in.

But by creating the work.

I think other people might be able to understand.

A little bit better.

And maybe that will change one person's mind.

About something or help them understand.

What's happening somewhere else.

Ideally, I am bringing this to a larger audience to, at minimum Maybe understand things a little bit more.

And understand what other people go through.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We've had a great time here today at the.

Kentucky Gateway Museum Center in Maysville.

Now, if you were like me.

And you hadn't checked this place out yet.

Put it high on your list because it really is remarkable.

If you'd like to learn more about the center.

Be sure to like the Kentucky Life Facebook page.

Or subscribe to the KET YouTube channel.

For more of what we call Kentucky Life extras.

Where you'll learn more about this gem of a facility.

And have access to lots of other great videos.

Until next time, I'll leave you with this moment.

I'm Chip Polston, cherishing this Kentucky life.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪