Category: Uncategorized

Steve Gilmore: A hero in his Ashland hometown

Steve Gilmore held three of the most volatile positions that anyone could have in Ashland – the city mayor, the school superintendent and the Tomcat head basketball coach.

Those are three of the most second-guessed jobs in Ashland. Every decision is publicly scrutinized, criticized and magnified unfairly. In Gilmore’s case though, at the end of the day, those decisions he made were more often than not celebrated.

“Everybody is a coach, and everybody is a mayor, and everybody thinks they want to be superintendent,” Gilmore told me in one of several stories that was written about him. “I think you develop perspectives. You learn perspective so much better. You don’t have that growing up and in the eye of the storm.”

He’s made friends and made enemies, pleased some and angered others. But, along the way, Gilmore said he’s always tried to be fair. He also considered himself fortunate to have lived and worked in a place he loved so much.

“I’ve been the most blessed person in my hometown,” he told me. “I may be the most blessed person anywhere.”

Gilmore has stood firm even in the face of criticism be it as the Tomcat basketball coach, city commissioner, mayor or superintendent.

Steve Gilmore presented me with “Mark Maynard Day” after retiring from the newspaper in 2017. He was always a friend even if the story didn’t go the way he may have liked.

The late David Payne, of his best friends, once told me about Gilmore: “He stands by what he believes. You have to admire that. All those jobs have their share of second-guessing. But he never backs down.”

Heartfelt tributes are pouring in for Gilmore, who died early Wednesday morning after an extended illness. He is a giant in Ashland lore, somebody who had a deep love for the city where he grew up and a favorite son whose impact will be felt for generations to come whether it was in politics or school administration.

But he’s even more Ashland than that. Gilmore pitched in the first Little League game in Ashland history in 1955, played against the great 1961 Tomcats as a high-scoring star for Holy Family and became the youngest coach in Ashland history at 27 years old in 1972. He was also on the ground floor of the rebuild of Putnam Stadium which today is one of the state’s best places to watch high school football.

Steve Gilmore was a popular politician who was a city commissioner and eventually the mayor, even running unopposed one term which, at the time, was also a first in Ashland history. Like any politician, he had an ego but he did not let it get in the way of fairness, a trait he carried with him throughout his life.

Gilmore had a sense of Ashland history, too, which was why he was so humbled when awarded the Elks Sports Day recipient in 2012. He was awed by those who had come before him and even helped him become the person he was. The history was important to him.

Steve Gilmore posed with good friends David Payne, Dicky Martin and Donna Childers Suttle at Putnam Stadium in 2014. Gilmore was the Ashland school superintendent who was on the ground floor of the rebuild that was completed this fall.

Few have had the passion for the city Gilmore exhibited, said Charlie Reliford in a 2012 interview. During Reliford’s umpiring days, he was nicknamed “Mr. Ashland” for his constant references to his hometown.

“As I started to leave Ashland — and you know how much I care about Ashland — I always felt like he cared more than I did. He took the job as mayor when Ashland Oil was leaving, and it looked like hard times. But he made things better. He’s always been a great representative of Ashland, Kentucky, no matter what he was doing.”

Gilmore was a standout basketball player for Holy Family, where he graduated in 1961, and he went on to play four years of basketball at Rio Grande. The basketball teams from Gilmore’s era still meet every year for reunions, a testament to the closeness of the players and coach. He returned home after college, landing a job as a teacher/coach at Putnam Junior High. That started him on a long and highly successful trek right here in his hometown.

“This school district has been my life and it’s been good to me. It’s the people who you teach with, coach with and interact with that make it special,” Gilmore said during an interview after he was awarded as a Distinguished Tomcat. “It’s an older community, and I’m part of that. The whole community is Ashland, and I wouldn’t trade this town for any town in the world.”

Steve Gilmore spent a lifetime of serving Ashland in various capacities. He died on Dec. 11 at 81.

Gilmore’s journey took him from Ashland to Rio Grande and back to Ashland again where he remained a friend and vital cog in the community for more than five decades.

Ashland was home for him, and he didn’t want to be anyplace else.

“I’ve said this many times — and I certainly didn’t coin the phrase — but it’s hard to be a hero in your hometown,” Gilmore once told me.

In the case of Steve Gilmore, though, the cape with the A on it fits more perfectly than he dared to dream.

He will be remembered that way in Ashland. A hero, and a friend to the end. RIP, good friend.

Johnny Mullins made lasting impact as athlete, friend

The 1960s are considered a golden era in Ashland Tomcat sports. They won state high school championships in basketball, football and baseball in the decade and had some of the greatest athletes to ever wear maroon and white.

JOHN MULLINS

Few teams anywhere – not just in the 16th Region but in all of Kentucky – could match them. Ashland put together powerful youth programs, especially in baseball, where state championships were quickly accumulated. That translated later to high school baseball teams from 1965-1969 when Ashland dominated the state with three titles, a semifinal finish and a runner-up finish during a five-year Tomcat Dynasty period that remains unmatched in state history.

The names from that era are forever remembered in Ashland. We sadly lost one of them last month with the passing of Johnny Mullins on Oct. 18. He was a brilliant athlete who excelled in baseball and basketball for the Tomcats while also starring on three memorable youth league championship teams, including the 1963 and 1964 Ashland American Little League state champions. The ’63 team was one win shy of being in the Little League World Series, losing to a team from North Houston 6-3. The following year, as a 13-year-old, he was on a Babe Ruth state champion, and he was just getting started. He was a star from the beginning with clutch performances on the mound and at the plate.

John Mullins stands behind Jim Speaks, a pair of fireball pitchers who were inducted into the CP-1 Hall of Fame in 2017. Both former Tomcat stars passed away in 2024.

Johnny was loved and admired by his teammates because if he was on your team, he made you better. He was a special talent.

Ashland’s baseball coaches recognized that in 1967 when they invited Mullins, who was a freshman at Coles Jr. High, to try out for the team. During that era, freshmen never played varsity in any sport. Ever. They would wait their turn not just in the freshman year but usually the sophomore year, too. But the Tomcats needed a shortstop and Mullins’ talent was undeniable. Let’s give the kid a shot, they said.

While he didn’t ultimately start at shortstop, he was a valuable reserve and pitched some too. That was unheard of for a freshman, and this was a team coming off an undefeated state championship season. All they did that season was win another state championship, and then another during Mullins’ sophomore year when he played a starring role.

Mullins was an easy selection for the CP-1 Hall of Fame in 2017 because of the gigantic roles he played on Tomcat teams of that era, including as a junior when he helped the Tomcats reach the state championship game for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year where they suffered a 1-0 loss to Owensboro in the championship game. As a senior, he took a depleted Tomcat team back to the regional championship game and Mullins’ will to win had a lot to do with that.

As a standout basketball player, he started on teams that went to the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons in 1969 and 1970 and reached the state semifinals in ’69 before losing an 82-80 heartbreaker to Ohio County. Playing in the final four is rare air even for Ashland, which has advanced that far only three times in the 55 years since.

Johnny Mullins was a natural athlete and good at anything he tried. He could have jumped off the high dive at Southside Pool for the first time and splashed down into the water after doing a triple flip without creating so much as a ripple, then move over’ to the basketball court and play the rest of the day because his team would never lose – and winners always stayed up at Southside. Then he might go down to the park and throw horseshoes and win there, too. Athletes like him do not come along often. The 1960s were full of them at Ashland and John Mullins rightly stands with the best of them.

The characteristics that made him a good athlete also made him a loyal friend and a loving husband, father, grandfather and brother. Family and friends mattered most to him.

Was he perfect? Of course not. None of us are. But it is what we do with those learning experiences that matter. As a professional, Mullins worked as a counselor at a day treatment center to help troubled youth in Ashland. Helping was what he did best. He related well to those he counseled, and they listened to his advice.

If you were in his circle, you could always count on him to be there in difficult times. He wanted to be that person who makes a difference, just like he did as an athlete.

Ashland lost a treasured friend on Oct. 18, but his legacy as an athlete, friend, and family man will be everlasting. A memorial ceremony to honor John Mullins will take place in the lobby of Paul G. Blazer High School on Nov. 16 from 2-4 p.m.

The 2017 CP-1 Hall of Fame class that included John Mullins who is on the far right of the back row.

Dave Williams would bring passion to Ashland school board

Most of the candidates for the Ashland School Board are familiar names to the community and that is not usual for these races. While my vote does not count in Ashland anymore, I still have an opinion and still care very much about the future of Ashland’s schools and students.

With that in mind, let me introduce you to the least known candidate. His name is Dave Williams, and his agenda is vocational education. His agenda also includes Ashland students who are being limited in their vocational opportunities. The children matter to him.

You may not know his name but please do not mistake that for the passion he carries into this race. I have known Dave casually for several years but became much closer friends the last year I was living in Ashland. We have stayed close for the past two years despite the distance between Ashland and Florence, where I live now.

If you do not know his name, then you have not been to many school board meetings in the past 2-3 years. He has been to more meetings than some board members if that gives you an indication of his insatiable drive. He is like the dog who will not let go of the bone no matter how hard you try to get it from him.

Dave Williams ia a man of integrity and Christian values.

He has researched and studied vocational education opportunities for Ashland, visited and talked with leaders of superior vocational programs in the area, pitched ideas including how to fund, visited Frankfort on multiple occasions to speak with lawmakers and gather information about Ashland and its history with vocational education from more than 50 years ago. He uncovered the original agreement from the State School Board to the Ashland Board of Education concerning vocational education in the early 1970s. The document assured Paul G. Blazer High School students access to the Roberts Drive vocational campus and is potentially still binding if the current BOE works to enforce it. He was relentless in his search for the document, finding it after going through a countless number of boxes. He felt an urge to look in one more box and – Viola! – there it was.

Dave is passionate about the vocational school issue and understands some Ashland students are missing out because of not having the kind of vocational opportunities they need and deserve. Not every student at Ashland, or any school for that matter, is made for college. Some very bright students are made to excel in the trades and need that preparation during middle school and high school. They can take those skills into deeper vocational training after high school and turn it into lucrative jobs, the kind of jobs Ashland needs now and later.

Vocational school gives them a choice and Williams understands that and wants that for Ashland students. He has been a bulldog in school board meetings, speaking as much as the time will allot. Many of his ideas and thoughts have fallen on deaf ears. But his passion remains for the Ashland students who he feels are being forgotten or disadvantaged in their vocational options.

Ashland has an outstanding school system with tremendous teachers at all levels but there’s room for more with vocational training for welders, plumbers, electricians and other trade skills that are not only a necessity but careers.

Wiliams has done a lot of groundwork with his research and has been in one-on-one meetings with lawmakers who hold the purse strings that could make improving the vocational landscape more affordable. It is out there if you look and he will look.

Here is something else noteworthy about Dave Williams. He is a man of integrity and Christian values. If he becomes a board member, your question or request will be heard and considered.

Vote for Dave Williams on Nov. 5. He will serve with passion on every issue that comes in front of the board.

Robbie VanHoose honored by AVB industry with Hall of Fame selection

Robbie VanHoose, a stalwart businessman who grew Big Sandy Superstore into a giant in the furniture and appliance industry, is now a Hall of Famer.

VanHoose, a friend to the Ashland community for decades, was one of three new members inducted into the Associated Volume Buyers (AVB) Hall of Fame during the BrandSource convention on Monday in Dallas.

He started out working in his father’s business, learning the ropes in the warehouse. Barely out of his teens, he and a partner, John Stewart, bought the company when Robert VanHoose Sr. decided to retire young and raise horses instead. 

Rob VanHoose shares Bible truths with a group in Uganda in June. He has been a big supporter of Amy For Africa.

“The only job I ever had was professional golf ball hunter up until about 8th grade and then my dad put me in the warehouse and that wasn’t all that exciting,” VanHoose said. “I started getting into sales in college. He said, ‘I’ll sell you the company. I know you’re a little young, so I’m going to sell it to you and John Stewart, who was 28, because you need a little maturity. But you can be CEO.’”

VanHoose said “that started the journey” as he and Stewart purchased three stores from his father. “That was 1976 and it was game on.”

The company started out as a local, grew to be a regional powerhouse and is now in six states.

VanHoose, who turned 70 earlier this month, said while he was working “9 to 9 and building a business,” his wife, Sandy, was bringing up their three sons. “She raised three great sons and now she’s a great grandma” to 10 grandchildren, he said.

Rob and wife Sandy, who he counts his biggest blessing.

His wife prefers to stay out of the spotlight even though Robbie has put her in a few television commercials against her better judgment. “I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of her name being Sandy,” he said.

Meanwhile, Big Sandy Superstore has flourished in its markets with 30 stores selling more than $400 million in appliances and furniture.

“I’d like to say I was that smart or worked that hard, but I wouldn’t be honest if I said that,” he said. “It’s the grace of God. I don’t understand why He blessed us or smiled on us, but I sure do thank Him for His amazing grace.”

Big Sandy Superstore has become a powerhouse brand in the industry. And, thanks to VanHoose’s three sons  – Trey, Stephen and Jonathan – it continues to operate as a family business operated out of Ashland.

As his boys were growing up, VanHoose coached or assisted on several AAU basketball teams that competed on high levels. All three sons played at the high school level and Jonathan had an outstanding college career, finishing at Northern Kentucky University.  

While most know VanHoose the astute businessman, he has a softer side that isn’t always seen. He has been a man of second chances, hiring countless employees who many others had given up on, and watched them become success stories.

Not only that but he has given generously to Christian causes and missions, including Amy For Africa, and taken multiple trips to Uganda where his heart has melted around the children being educated by AFA. His kindness and love for the Ugandan children has been immeasurable along with his giving to the organization. VanHoose is a faithful member of First Baptist Church in Russell.  

“Robbie has a big heart for the Ugandan children and we love and appreciate him so much,” said Amy Compston, the co-founder of AFA. “He’s a natural born leader and has been an important part of this ministry almost from the beginning. I cannot begin to count the number of lives he has touched in Uganda. God has used him in mighty ways.”

Rob has a heart for the children of Uganda, shown here holding hands as they walk through an area known as “The Ghetto

VanHoose is a shrewd businessman who worked daylight to dark building the Big Sandy Superstore brand. As a community partner, he has quietly contributed to causes or situations that are making a difference.

“When I think about my dad. I think about the ultimate competitor with the biggest heart,” said Jonathan, his youngest son. “Growing up, I didn’t fully understand what he was trying to teach us. It wasn’t until I matured that I realized my dad was teaching us that nothing in life will be given to you. That you have to work for everything. The other thing he taught us was to treat people the way we wanted to be treated – the golden rule, which is what Big Sandy was founded upon.

“His faith and his drive are inspiring. The best thing about dad is that he helps a lot of people and has done a lot of things in different communities that he never takes any credit for. He is man of integrity and faith, and I have never seen any circumstance shake that. It’s an honor to call him dad.”

Stephen Vanhoose, the middle son, said his father always pushed them to be the best at anything they did and constantly look for improvement.

Rob’s sons, from left, Stephen, Jonathan and Trey.

“He’s a natural pusher. It started as kids in sports and naturally transferred over to business. When people talk about Kobe and Jordan mentality, he definitely has that, but his commitment to his morals and convictions are what ultimately make him the GOAT and a deserved Hall of Famer.”

VanHoose is certainly generous. When a local high school choir director approached him one December about purchasing music, he sarcastically asked her, “What do I get out of it?”

 She said, “I don’t understand what you mean?”

He told her, “Well, they can sing, can’t they? Have them come out to the store on Saturday and sing Christmas carols for a few hours.”

She did and they got the music they needed.

Many who are down on their luck have come to him asking for a second chance. VanHoose has said he would rather be “0 for 20, than 0 for 0” and looked for a reason to give them a chance to succeed vs. no chance at all. While some do not succeed, many have gone on to work there for years, advancing from the warehouse to the sales staff and even beyond.

“Man, over the last 20 years I have seen him grow. Through everything we went through, he really grew and changed,” said Jonathan, who battled his own demons. “(He) Spent time at the prison (witnessing to inmates with friend Rob Barber). Learning and understanding. I think that’s the most impressive thing. He humbled himself when he saw he couldn’t fix me, and it changed him. It’s been really awesome to watch.”

The AVB Hall of Fame was created in 2019 to recognize those who have gone over and above in their service to the industry. The award took a one-year hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic.