Coming up on Kentucky Life.

Meet Wade Houston, Louisville businessman and former coaching staff member at Male High School and the University of Louisville.

Author, Aimee Zaring explores the recipes and journeys of refugees who live in Kentucky in her new cookbook.

Established in 1799 by Kentucky State Statute, First Vineyard was the very first commercial winery in the US.

And a blonde fresco mural honors the once thriving African American community of Jonesville in Bowling Green.

All that's next on Kentucky Life.

Hey, everybody and welcome to yet another great episode of Kentucky Life.

I'm your host, Chip Polston.

Now, today we're here at the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

We have a great lineup of stories to share with you.

So let's get right to it.

Now, you may know prominent Louisville businessman, Wade Houston, or you may know the successful Male High School and University of Louisville coaching staff member, Wade Houston, or you may know him as the father of former NBA All-Star, Allan Houston.

But what you may not know are that his roots are in Alcoa Tennessee and the struggles he faced as a player when he helped integrate the University of Louisville basketball program back in 1962.

Join us as we explore the background of this treasured Kentucky icon.

Wade: I was born in Alcoa Tennessee October 9th, 1944.

The city of Alcoa was a very unique city, and that it was named after the aluminum company, Alcoa Aluminum, which was one of the largest aluminum companies in the world.

The city in my estimation was far advanced than a lot of southern towns, primarily because Alcoa pump quite a bit of money into that city for its workers.

The story behind this is that, when Alcoa first came here, they had a lot of people working in the pot room, right?

So they went out into Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi and pulled in blacks who were able to really withstand the heat and work in the pot room.

And that's how this whole community came together.

That's why we're probably so close to it in terms of family because we all came in as strangers, and we also started to bond.

Wade: Right.

Dad used to talk about mentoring the young black guys that were coming in because he felt that they weren't just tough enough to stick it out.

And so, he was saying what the money you could make good jobs.

Now you're supporting your family, your homes and cars.

He said, because they didn't want to stay.

History of my father was similar to a lot of African Americans back in the 40s and late 30s and that, -- they had menial jobs at the plants.

And for the most part, when there was a downturn in the economy, the African American workers, during that time, were some of the first to be laid off and the last to be hired back.

So that was kind of the thing that happened to my father.

And my mother for the most part was a homemaker.

Logan: Wade was a nice looking guy back, during that time.

-Logan: You know... -Wade: That's right.

Wade growing up, you know, Wade wasn't as tall as he is today.

And he had the biggest ears man, and we used to laugh at his ears.

I mean they were big but he -- just like anything, his body grew into his ears.

So now they're absolutely great.

Wade: All right.

This is me.

And the coach that I am sitting next to my grandfather is a very special man.

Logan: So this is the Hall -- Charles M. Hall school marker.

And of course, these are some of the throwback.

So back when Hall was first started et cetera.

The only key thing is this right here.

Wade: So you did get one of my better pictures.

So I'm thankful for that.

Logan: So I think that's -- Wade: That's what's amazing though is that, that we live long enough to see -something like this done.

-Yes.

Wade: You don't always capture these kind of pictures, these kind of moments.

And there's so much history here for this school, and for this city.

We started here in the first grade on the other side of this building.

And then as we got older, as we started to understand the importance of athletics and all the guys that have come before us, this is what we wanted to end up.

I remember just at the circle where your favorite shot because you're always -- it wasn't a fake and drive, -it was bouncing, stop and pop.

-Right.

There we go.

I can remember like it was yesterday when the letter came from the University of Louisville to coach Teeter.

And said, we have an interest in one of your players so much so that we want you all to come up for a visit.

And, when I found out that the letter was from the University of Louisville, I got excited but I didn't -- I'm thinking Tennessee State, National College, and those places, and coach Teeter said, "no", I said, "we got to take a look at this one.'

Kenny: When you think about Wade Houston being one of the first African Americans to walk on that campus.

I can't imagine what they went through.

Not just the bad but the good as well.

You're the first.

You're the gold standard.

You're the example of why African Americans coming to the school to play athletics.

Alice: When Wade, Sam, and Eddie made that decision to enroll at the University of Louisville back in 1962.

I'm not sure that they, especially Wade, coming from Alcoa Tennessee, in that environment understood what a significant endeavor that really was.

That was special to us because he was breaking new territory.

Janet: The first of anything has a really hard road to go down, and they make it just a little bit easier for those that come behind.

Logan: So now you move into an environment where not only are you going to be a suspect to a lot of attention, but you're gonna be ridiculed.

You're gonna have a situation thrown at you that gonna test your character.

I can remember at that time, we had to ride, still ride on the back of the bus.

So I'm riding on the back of the Greyhound bus, and the Greyhound bus stops from Louisville to Knoxville.

That bus must have stopped 10 times, you couldn't use the bathroom.

So you had to fend for yourself, find a way to get off the bus and somewhere to use the bathroom.

And I said I will never do this again.

I said I'll never take a Greyhound bus at that time.

That experience was one that I'll never forget.

There were times that he would call and he'd want to come home, he would want to come home.

But Wade was an example.

He had chosen to do this to go to University of Louisville.

And mom and dad just thought, okay, you can do this and we'll help you.

Allan: When my father decided to help integrate the University of Louisville basketball program, it was, to me, it's not surprising that he took that challenge.

How can food bring us together?

That's the question posed by, author Aimee Zaring in her book, Flavors From Home; Refugees in Kentucky Share Their Stories and Comfort Foods.

Participants in the book come from around the globe.

Many have opened successful restaurants, catering companies, and grocery stores in Kentucky.

Together, they shared their journeys to Kentucky, their favorite meals, and how food can connect us all.

Chip: Few things bring people together like a meal.

Author Aimee Zaring knows this pretty well.

It's the theme of her book, Flavors From Home; Refugees in Kentucky Share Their Stories and Comfort Foods.

The book which contains over 20 recipes from countries around the world, is more than just a cookbook.

It's the stories of those forced to leave their homes who have made their lives in Kentucky.

Food is one of the great unifiers.

It's a common shared experience.

I wanted to write about refugees and their favorite native dishes.

Because of my work as an English language teacher at the school where I taught, we would have occasional potlucks.

It was at those potlucks that I saw something interesting happen.

I saw such a diverse group of people coming together in a way that I hadn't seen them come together in the classroom.

And I really saw food, the simple act of sharing a meal together as a universal language as a heart language.

Chip: Participants in the book come from around the globe, and arrived to Kentucky as early as the 1950s, and as recently as 2012.

Several of those interviewed for the book have opened successful food-related businesses such as restaurants, catering companies, and grocery stores.

One such story is of Azar and Ada Akrami, who became refugees in the wake of the Iranian revolution in the late 1970s.

A family of self-described foodies, the Akramis quickly became known for their delicious cooking, a hobby that eventually became a small catering business called Shiraz.

In 2006, eldest son Ramin transformed the business into a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Today, Shiraz has four locations and a loyal clientele, a following, he credits to his traditional Persian cooking style and the cuisines appeal to many different tastes and cultures.

Ramin: Iranian food is kind of addictive.

It's simple and it's cooked on fire which we've done for thousands and thousands of years.

So there's a inherent familiarity.

The main ingredient of our dishes that we cook here is lemon juice.

And the flavors that natural wood brings out in different proteins and vegetables.

Our food is a moderate, means that appeals to all cultures.

And that's what's been the most amazing and surprising thing to me is how much we share in commonality across all the races and sex of -- its food.

We all eat it.

It brings us together.

Chip: Another restaurant tour featured in the book is Huong Coco Tran, a Vietnamese refugee who came to the US in the 1970s after her country was overtaken by the Communist Party.

Tran arrived by boat along with 18 relatives, including five school-age siblings and her 65-year-old father.

29 years old at the time, Tran felt it was her responsibility to care for her family and worked several jobs to keep them going.

But early on a seed was planted that she could do more.

Tran: This is the story, I never forget, that one week I came to Louisville and my sponsor took me out for lunch.

We came to McDonalds the first time in my life.

She asked me, what do I want?

And I never in the hamburger store before.

And I watched her, and see how everything new to me.

And she comes to the counter, and she ordered then later, they give her the tray.

Then in my mind, I think about someday, I will make the Vietnamese or Chinese oriental food, fast served like that.

Then four or five years later, my first dream come true is the Egg Roll Machine in 1980.

Chip: After the Egg Roll Machine, Tran went on to open eight more businesses in Louisville.

Some of them became local legends like cafe Mimosa, a Vietnamese and French fusion restaurant once located along Bardstown Road.

Most recently, she opened Heart & Soy, and roots, to health conscious restaurants under the same roof.

To her, they represent a coming home to Vietnam.

One dish, Quang Yellow Noodles is even named after her hometown.

While her recipes help her stay connected to the culture of her youth, she sees them as a way to connect with others as well.

Well, you will never forget where you come from.

I have a friend, customer, and say where you go school for cooking, I said, I had no school to learn at all.

That's only on my memory.

I like to cook, and I like to see the people enjoy my cooking.

You see food everywhere.

Food start the stories.

When you meet the people, knew you have food around, you know, welcome them.

Chip: The impact of refugees can be seen in just about every community in Kentucky, reminding us of the ways we are all connected beyond a meal or a dish.

Zaring says it best in her books afterward.

The offering and sharing of food can transcend language and other boundaries and ultimately remind us of the rich cultural heritage we each bring to the table.

Established in 1799 by Kentucky State Statute, First Vineyard in Nicholasville is the first commercial winery ever in the United States.

The founder was a Swiss immigrant by the name of John James Dufour.

And the property was first surveyed by none other than Daniel Boone.

On top of that former presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both received wine from First Vineyard while in office.

Now, it's safe to say that this vineyard has a remarkable relationship with the history of both our state and our country.

Our next story dives deeper into this historic location.

Let's take a look.

Tommy and I have been friends for 40, 45 years or more.

And we hadn't seen each other for a long time.

We ran into each other.

He said, Summer didn't show up.

Can you come help me?

And I said, yes.

And I've been out here ever since.

Tom: So Bobby and I started doing what they call a title search.

We actually tracked this history from the time with Virginia, actually.

It wasn't in Kentucky yet, all the way to my ownership of this property.

And we have every deed in between that.

I love Kentucky.

I've been here pretty much all my life.

i've traveled, but I've always come back.

And I thought, how neat would it be to know that the wine industry, which is a huge industry now started in a little old place like Jessamine County, Kentucky.

While we were involved in doing that, we also found out, I believe it's his fourth time remove grandfather was one of the shareholders in the Vineyard Society, which was the -- back then they called him subscriptions.

They basically sold stock and his grandfather was a stockholder.

So everybody says, well, was it in the family?

No, not really as far as the property, but yet there is some history there too.

After 4.5 years of research, we finally felt good about saying this is the First Vineyard, and we can prove it.

His name in Switzerland would have been Jean-Jacques Dufour.

His father sent him over here, basically to see where we could have a vineyard and winery.

So he arrives here in 1796, and he spends the next 2.5 years, a little over 2.5 years traveling all over the United States.

He went up the Mississippi river, the Ohio river, the Kentucky river.

And he finally realized there is nothing here that where you can buy wine from the public.

So he didn't have the money to start this himself.

So there was a newspaper in Lexington, it was a -- The Gazette and he put a business plan there, just like you'd write it today.

So immediately, almost 99 people bought shares and it was just amazing.

The name of the people, there was Congressman, House of Representative.

Daniel Boone did the first survey.

Patrick Henry signed the first deed.

Henry Clay was the attorney for, and a stockholder in.

But an interesting fact about him, he had just graduated from William and Mary College.

He didn't have the funds to buy a whole share, so he split it with someone.

Tom: But just about everybody who was -- who's who in America that started this country both stalking him.

And as soon as the wine was made, he took it to Pastaway's tavern in Lexington, Kentucky.

And all of the members of the wineyard society gather there.

There was even people from Europe that came there because this is a happening.

In 1805, two-gallon oak cask of wine was taken to President Jefferson who, of course, was then President of the United States.

Well, it was probably about six weeks later, he sends a letter to the Dufours, thanking them for the wine.

We have four varieties here.

We've got the Concord, the Norton, the Alexander, and the Diamond.

And these are all American grapes.

Bobbye: We have 13 different kinds of wine.

We have three fruit wines, the apple, the blackberry, and cherry cordial that taste -- you taste the cherry and then you taste the chocolate in it.

For the reds, we have Chambourcin, Norton, Kentucky River Red, Red Dog.

And it's the Concorde Asian Buffalo Trace Barrel.

And we have a regular concord, Sangria, a Rose, and we don't have quite as many whites.

So we have the Kentucky River Rapids.

That's our driest white.

We have a Vignoles that has a real citrusy finish to it.

It makes it seem drier than what it is.

We also have a Riesling, and then we have our most popular one is the Diamond.

We have met so many interesting, sweet, fascinating people being here.

That's my favorite thing about it.

The other thing is the beauty of this place.

I just really love it.

[country music playing] The community of Jonesville was once a vibrant, primarily African American community located in the heart of Bowling Green.

But in the 1960s, the neighborhood was destroyed by a campaign of urban renewal, and was quickly replaced by Western Kentucky University's rapidly expanding campus.

Today, a Buon fresco mural honoring the community stands in WKU's Kentucky Museum, overlooking the area where Jonesville once stood.

Brent: Jonesville was a vibrant, prosperous African American community in Bowling Green.

1881 is the first land deeds that there's records of.

So over the time, there's about 65 houses, people attended school, worshiped, and really formed a very unique and cohesive community.

It was the early 1960s, city Bowling Green started a campaign of urban renewal.

So a lot of people were dispossessed from their homes, and subsequently the school was able to acquire that land as they were growing for their own needs.

It was a peaceful, loving neighborhood where we all took care of each other and didn't have to look for babysitters because at that time, grandmother or aunt or somebody was at home to watch after you.

We all played together.

We lived together, everybody had gardens.

So there was no food shortage in our neighborhood.

It was just a loving community.

We shared a lot.

We took care of each other a lot.

We were born here.

We were going to die here, and we were not leaving.

So that's what happened until the urban renewal entity was developed.

And it just went down from their urban renewal.

They just came in and condemned the land.

After that, they sold the land to WKU.

It was a nightmare.

You just woke up one morning, and your property is gone and there's nothing you can do about it.

And that was devastating.

Brent: So the Jonesville mural, it was the spring 2021.

We were thinking about how we were going to do a refresh of our Kentucky Museum lobby here.

Our President, Cabone started a Jonesville reconciliation work group to really think about -- this is a part of our history and how do we validate and honor those people who are connected to Jonesville and bring that to the public consciousness in a very thoughtful way based on those stories, enlisted Mike Nichols, the fresco master on our faculty.

And it soon became evident that we needed to draw on someone who had a lot of thoughts about community.

And Alice Gatewood Waddell came up right away.

Alice: I felt like it was important to tell the story of Jonesville.

My mother was raised there along with her brother and a lot of siblings, a lot of relatives, that grew up as cousins, just like they were actually siblings.

So we had family celebrations and picnics and just a lot of family fun on that piece of property that was owned by my great grandparents.

Most people don't know the history of that community or that it even exists.

And I thought it was important to tell the story, not only because the community was destroyed, but the way in which it took place, the image just came from my personal experience of what I knew about Jonesville and I tried to encompass several things within one painting, the livelihood of the community, the destruction, the moving out of the community, and also the children that always wondered why it was such a division between WKU and that neighborhood and wondered what was going on on top of the hill.

Michael: The term fresco translates from Italian, it means fresh because it describes the process of painting into fresh plaster.

And what most people don't realize is that plaster, it's lime plaster and it's really a squishy form of limestone.

And so a painter like us would spread that squishy limestone onto a ceiling or a wall or a dome.

And then as it interacts with the atmosphere, it converts back to the hardened limestone.

And somewhere along the line, artists figured out that they put pigment on the surface of that spread squishy plaster.

That if they did that before it cured, the particles of color would be locked inside that's squishy plaster when it turned back to hard stone.

And so fresco is really a way of making paintings, not onto stone but into stone.

Historically, this particular medium was prized for its durability.

And so it's been used for thousands of years, was used by the ancient Roman Empire and famously by the Italian renaissance artist who prized above all other forms of painting.

They use this particular technique to paint the most important subject matter.

This technique ties into Alice's imaging that way because of the fact that it's incredibly durable.

And so it lasts the test of time, the imagery will be preserved in stone for as long as the wall is here, for people to move forward.

There needs to be honesty and reflection.

I think this helps with that.

Well, that wraps it up for another episode of Kentucky Life.

Many thanks to the great folks here at the International Museum of the Horse and the Kentucky Horse Park for having us.

Can't wait to come back a little later in the season.

Be sure you stick around for that.

But before we go, I want to leave you with this moment, I'm Chip Polston, cherishing this Kentucky Life.

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