Monday's Man

A lifetime of work in politics and government began for Radcliff resident Les Dawson when he was growing up in West Point.

Dawson, 83, recalls being as young as 7 when his grandmother — who he described as a “strong Democrat” — would take him along with her on local government visits.

“She knew everybody in the courthouse,” he said of his weekly trips there.

Kendrick Johnson hits the gridiron with the Kentucky Wolverines and hits the books as a teacher at Brown Street Alternative Education Center.

Originally from Michigan, Johnson settled in Hardin County after serving in the military.

Johnson’s played football in some form for 28 years. At 43, he continues to play semi-pro football.

He played three years with the Louisville Galaxy then helped form the Kentucky Wolverines in Elizabethtown. He is the founder, president, owner, offensive coordinator and quarterback of the team.

In tragic circumstances, Wes Blair, 30, found an opportunity to help others and give back to the hospital that means so much to his family.

Before she was 3 years old, in December 2010, Blair’s daughter, Addison, was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma — a pediatric cancer creating tumors in the body and tumor cells in bone marrow.
She died in March 2011.

Sometimes you just never know when you will run into a life-changing moment.

One for me came earlier this month as I was heading west on U.S. 62 and a car parked in Elizabethtown Memorial Gardens caught my eye. It was the only car I could see over the vastness of the cemetery on this day.

The grass at the cemetery I imagine was soggy from nearly 4 inches of rain the day before. But there sat a man, I would guess somewhere between 65 and 80 years of age, in a chair by a grave.

It was a stunning picture.