By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
Four family members of the late U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class Elmer Lawrence attended the Barren County Fiscal Court meeting Tuesday, where a proclamation in their cousin’s honor was read aloud and presented to them.
Lawrence, 25, was killed aboard the USS Oklahoma in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, but his remains were not identified until 2021, and they are being returned to the Red Cross community in western Barren County on Saturday.
One of those present, Bernard Lawrence, read information to the fiscal court written by Ted McDuffee, a first cousin of Elmer’s who lives in Indiana and could not attend the meeting. In it, McDuffee shared memories he and his mother had of Elmer.
“I remember Mother telling me Elmer was all boy. She loved him dearly,” McDuffee wrote.
He wrote that he could recall one time that stood out to him when Elmer came home on leave in 1941, wearing his Navy uniform, and he had his girlfriend, Marie Copas, with him. They were going to a party in Elmer’s honor.
Copas, also now deceased, taught for many years at Park City School and never married.
Chris Lawrence, Bernard’s son, read a message of gratitude on behalf of the family for the proclamation, which was signed by Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd and Glasgow Mayor Henry Royse, and for the efforts to bring home his relative’s remains.
“He and many others have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom today,” Chris said of Elmer.
A collapse of a portion of Milburn Taylor Road – creating a span approximately 10 to 15 feet across and roughly 10 feet deep – is caused by flooding and related erosion on July 2. It was repaired in less than 13 hours with the assistance of local community members who used their dump trucks to help haul rock. PHOTO COURTESY OF BARREN COUNTY PERSONNEL
A collapse of a portion of Milburn Taylor Road – creating a span approximately 10 to 15 feet across and roughly 10 feet deep – is caused by flooding and related erosion on July 2. It was repaired in less than 13 hours with the assistance of local community members who used their dump trucks to help haul rock. PHOTO COURTESY OF BARREN COUNTY PERSONNEL
Continuing on with the meeting, the fiscal court unanimously approved the standard financial reports and payment of bills, which included annual insurance premiums, and heard from several department heads and committee chairs, with some of their topics yielding action items.
One item of note was from the Road Department, which has been busy, on top of its usual workload, not only clearing of trees and debris from the various storms this spring and summer but also dealing with the effects of flooding they have brought.
“I can’t thank the volunteer fire departments enough …,” said Jamie DeGroft, road supervisor. “We’re a small crew – I should say a small team – down there, 13 people, and they’ve helped us tremendously through those storms.”
Photos were projected onto a screen in Fiscal Court Chambers showing a collapse of Milburn Taylor Road near Roseville Road, which was caused when a road tile – drainage pipe – 60 inches in diameter and 60 feet long got washed out by flooding and related erosion. That happened July 2, so businesses were closed, especially with the subsequent holiday, he said, but he managed to find three local community members with dump trucks who used them to haul rock on short notice, and a local quarry opened so they could get the rock.
“Within 12 and a half hours, we had this put back to where it was passable again,” DeGroft said. “The team I’ve got down there, boy, they’ve been through a lot and they just keep stepping up.”
With all members present and all votes unanimous, other approved items included:
— Purchase of a 2017 Chevrolet van with internal separation cage and less than 21,000 miles previously owned by Hart County for use by the jail;
— Purchase of roughly $950 in used equipment already at the concession stand at the city-county soccer complex, concessions for which are now to be handled by the county;
— Repair and surface-treatment work for two ball fields at Jackie B. Browning Park, totaling $15,679;
— Creation of a bank account for South Cooper Industrial Park, because the county is serving as the pass-through agency for some funding types; and
— Contract with Lyons Service for the Barren County Courthouse for annual maintenance, to be reimbursed by the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts.
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