College Town At Christmas, 2018: Looking Back At My 30 Years Of Living In Bowling Green, Ky.

    I remember years ago when I first moved to Kentucky in 1987, I used to get homesick for down South.  I missed my native city of Memphis, Tenn., and North Mississippi, the place where I spent my teenage years.  I used to miss my friends and family also.

    It's also where graduated from high school and went to college.  I was a Southern Boy and I am still am.  But things have changed tremendously back home.  To be honest, I can't keep up with it hardly anymore.  It's all becoming a blur now it seems.  Our memories do seem to slip as we get older they say.

   

Patty and I before a Christmas party in 1992

However, by fate, I met a lady through the Roman Catholic Church in Oxford, Miss., while I was college student at the time at the University of Mississippi, (Ole Miss) in the 80's. And then after we where married and our son was born, we eventually ended up in Bowling Green, Ky., home of Western Kentucky University.  WKU is where my wife went to college back in the 70's when she lived in her hometown of Russellville, Ky., which is 30 miles west of Bowling Green.  She said she had always loved Bowling Green and thought it would be a nice to live one day and to raise a family.  And indeed, Bowling Green or "BG" as it is affectionally known to us and its loyal citizens, has a been a great place for us to live, work and raise our son for these last 30 years.  Our son, Galen Jr. or "Tony" as he affectionally known to us and all of his family and friends, is a graduate of WKU and now lives and works in Nashville, which is 60 miles south of Bowling Green.

Our little family, 1988. Patty, Tony, Santa and me.

During this Christmas season, I have been reflecting a lot on my life and my life of living in Bowling Green all these years.  No, I have not made a big impact on the city by running for political office and serving as a leader making important decisions that ultimately effect its citizens or businesses in one form or fashion.  Nor have I been a major player in the Bowling Green business community making tons of money by managing a factory, a store or being a private business owner along with being a member of the local chamber of commerce.  Nor I have I been a professional such as a doctor, lawyer, a counselor and priest or a pastor by having a direct impact on its citizens and families on a personal level.  However, I have been a productive citizen, a homeowner and a taxpayer and staying out of trouble for the most part all these last 30 years of living here.  Yeah, I have ruffled a few feathers here and there regarding some of my strong letters to the editor in our local newspaper or stating my assertive opinions on the local morning AM talk radio program in the past.  But for the most part, I've had a good run in Bowling Green and I hope to have another 30 years! Being a writer, an observer of life and a sales and service professional all these years, I have met many fine people in this city and from the surrounding towns and counties alike.  Like everywhere else in the world, there's a story on every corner in Bowling Green and Southcentral Kentucky. I have found this to be extremely true.  And I don't have to look very far either.  There's a lot of interesting people who live here. I have always been like a sponge through the years, absorbing everything I can about its people, its places and its culture.  It's only natural for me to be curious and to ask questions regarding people and their lives. And it's also the way that I was trained in journalism school while I was at Ole Miss.  Basically,  to ask questions and write stories along with taking pictures. ( I like making short videos these days too).

Me, Jude, our Australian Shepherd, and Patty with Santa in 2016

    So as I reflect back on my past Christmases of living here, BG has been very good to me and my little family.  For the most part, it is a safe place to live because we have an excellent police force as well as a great county sheriff's department and a wonderful Kentucky State Police force.  Also, the WKU police force is great too. Although, we are not natives to this town, BG has been accepting of us and thousands of others who come from all over the United States and from around the world.  We have a large Bosnian community and a growing Burmese and Congo African community too.  And like most places in the South, we have a large Hispanic community too.  WKU brings in students from all over Kentucky, the South, and other parts of the US.  And the university has its fair share of international students too.  So I feel very fortunate and blessed to live in Bowling Green.  God has been good to me all these years and I have received many special blessings by living here.  We have a wonderful church which is Holy Spirit Catholic Church and I have fairly good health, a good job, a good home, a good neighborhood and most importantly, a wonderful wife and son.  So if you live in Bowling Green, be thankful this Christmas season and for what this city does for us, its citizens.  We have good streets and roads and excellent schools.  We also have a good medical community too. 

      Mainly, we are a very blessed community especially during Christmastime.  Go outside and feel the Christmas spirit in the air.  And drive downtown, and see the Christmas lights on the square or eat at one our many fine restaurants.  Eat, drink and be merry! Be cheerful and jolly also! (But don't drink and drive. Get a Uber. Or the BGPD will get you!)  Yes, we are very blessed this Christmas season in Bowling Green and I thank God for that.  Merry Christmas and God Bless!

  

The Devil Made Him Do It? Pastor Exposes Himself To 15 year-old Girl

     This recent particular Bowling Green (Ky) Daily News police story posted below reminds me of the time when I was a senior at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, Miss., in the Spring of 1987 and I was working at the JD Williams Library as a student worker in the Acquisitions Department for a locally known gay man. But I wasn't gay, I was married and I still am heterosexual and married after 28 years. However, I was getting ready to walk out of the lobby of the building to go to lunch when a female student comes running down the stairs of "The Stacks" (upper level floors with shelves and shelves of books) as it was known, screaming bloody murder.  As it turns out, the sexual pervert was an older man from a surrounding town, who exposed himself to the student on the 4th level.  He ran downstairs and then ran out the front door as fast as he could.  I commence to chase him out onto the front lawn and down through the business school and on out in front of Kincannon Hall, about a 1/4 mile away.  During the chase, several other Ole Miss male students started chasing him also.  Finally, the man stopped because he realized he was out numbered.  Soon after, the UPD, (University Police Department) showed up and placed him under arrest.  The next day, I was quoted in our student newspaper, (The Daily Mississippian) about the incident.

JD Williams Library

     But the recent exposing incident that happened in Russellville, Ky., a small town, 30 miles of west of  Bowling Green, strikes me as being odd for a couple of different reasons.  For one thing, he was a pastor for God's sake! Don't tell me, the Devil made him do it, right?  Also, didn't he realize that the department store had cameras everywhere?  And the pastor had his seven year-old son with him that day. What a dumb ass!  But he was mainly a dumb ass for what he did in the first place.  This guy needs to get on his knees and repent while begging for forgiveness.  Then he needs to seek some serious counseling for his sick perversion.  If you're going to be a pastor in the public eye even if it is in a small town, you better walk the walk right especially if you're going to talk the talk.

Pastor charged with indecent exposure

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Posted: Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:42 am

By the Daily News | 0 comments

Russellville, Ky.

A Russellville pastor is charged with indecent exposure after a woman reported that a man exposed himself to her juvenile daughter while the two were shopping in Burke’s Outlet on Feb. 13.

The girl told police that the man had a small child with him and possibly left the area in a van, according to a release from Russellville police.

Pastor Kevin Lohse

Police obtained video surveillance from the store and posted a still image from the video to the department’s Facebook page. The photos quickly resulted in more than 600 shares and led to the accused perpetrator turning himself in to police, according to the release.

Kevin Lohse, acting pastor at Woodlawn Baptist Church, admitted to investigators that he was the man in the video and that he had his 7-year-old son with him that day.

Lohse can be seen on the video manipulating his zipper to expose himself to the juvenile, who was shopping in the juniors’ section of the store, according to the release.

Police charged Lohse on Wednesday with indecent exposure. He was in the Logan County Detention Center and posted a $2,500 bond.

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Posted in Police news on Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:42 am.