The Rotary Club held their weekly meeting again this week via Zoom. Prayer was led by Dan Smith, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four Way Test. Recognition of birthdays and anniversaries which included the President of the Rotary Club J. Michael Shapaka who had his 47th wedding anniversary last week. Lawrence County Circuit and County Clerks and Rotary members Jodi Parsley and Chris Jobe both had birthday recently in September.
Guest speaker this week was Missy Kennedy. Missy, the Park Manager overseeing the golf course, campground and marina. Missy is a Cincinnati native graduating from the University of Cincinnati where she majored in Communication Arts and played four years on the Women’s Golf Team. After having a successful
college career, she became a PGA Member in 2005. She has worked at several diverse golf operations ranging from the Hamilton County Parks in Cincinnati to Idle Hour Country Club in Lexington. From the public sector to the private one, she is very experienced in many aspects of both golf and parks operations.Kentucky State Parks brought her golfing family to Kentucky in 2009. Her husband Steve Kennedy became the PGA Golf Professional at Grayson Lake Golf Course. He is now the Park Manager at Grayson Lake State Park. Missy has been the PGA Golf Professional since 2011 at Yatesville Lake Golf Course. In 2015 she became the Park Manager.
In 2016 Steve and Missy started the golf team at Kentucky Christian University. Over the course of 5 years they coached and mentored over 22 young adults. They built an outstanding program, with team appearances at the NCCAA Championship two years in a row. They stepped down this past summer to pursue coaching their 13-year-old daughter, Morgan.
After almost 11 years of living in the bluegrass state Missy calls Kentucky “home.” Her free time now is spent coaching and watching her 8th grader walk the fairways and compete across the state in junior tourneys and high school invitationals. She loves to see how the game of golf has grown in Eastern Kentucky. She also loves to see how Yatesville Lake State Park has grown to visitors from all over the country.
“I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to continue to do what I started in 1990. That is working at a park. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Besides where else can I hear about a big fish tale, a great golf shot and a campers travel adventure all in one day!”
Missy spoke about the year and how it has affected Yatesville. She stated the campground has shut down for a little over a month and reopened the first of June and is pretty much completely booked through the end of October. She talked about how phenomenal her staff is and how they have cleaned and met social distancing guidelines. She stated revenue has been good the last few months. With Halloween coming up and that being their biggest event now has to be downsized. Campers can still do site decorating, costume contests and pumpkin carving but all activities have to remain on their campsite. Her staff will dress up and have goody bags for the kids.
