Those who dare to dream impossible dreams are regarded as visionaries: people who have little concern for reality. This is a tribute to two visionaries who were different. They were determined to see their dreams turn into reality. They are Beula Nunn and Christeen Snavely.

For two mature ladies to dream of transforming a full city block of old commercial / industrial properties into a beautiful cultural center containing a museum of history, a center for cultural arts programs, a genealogical and historical research library, a community meeting place and an art gallery is the type of challenge that might have given pause to Quixote, but not Beula and Christeen! It took almost the last decade of their lives to do all the preliminary work and to lay the foundation on which their dream could be built. But they did it! Everything is now falling into place.

The dream did not actually originate with them; rather it was sort of passed on to them. It was a case of their being at the right place, at the right time, with the right combination of talent, skills, intelligence, gall and persistence, plus a whole lot of luck that enabled them to pick up somebody else's dream, become totally immersed in it, and carry it toward a felicitous fulfillment.

Credit for the dream goes to historians and genealogists Vivian Rousseau and Marion Vance. They were the proponents of a plan to have a small museum in Glasgow with a repository for historical and genealogical materials and memorabilia. They presented their idea to the Chamber of Commerce back in the late 1970's, but the idea didn't take off. In fact, it lay almost dormant until 1987 when it was revived by a larger group of history enthusiasts, genealogists and preservationists.

This group of 17 established the Barren County Historical Foundation, Inc., with broader objectives than those of Mrs. Rousseau and Mr. Vance. They proposed also the acquisition of historic structures in the community by purchase or donation to preserve them as part of the heritage of this area of the state. The names of the 17 incorporators of this Foundation are as follows: Woodford L. Gardner, Jr., Shelley T. Riherd, Charles B. Honeycutt, Beula C. Nunn, Edward B. Hatchett, Jr., James M. Simmons, J. B. Galloway, Bernard Williams, Vivian Rousseau, C. C. Howard Gray, Frances Young Jones, Cecil E. Goode, Sarah Bowers, Christeen Snavely and Katie Maud Smith.

Sarah Bowers, Cecil Goode and Pete Leech were the committee charged with locating a suitable site for a museum. They examined three historic sites in the following order: (1) the house now known as the Hall Place, (2) the Annie Gorin residence on West Washington Street, and (3) property adjacent to Fort Williams. For a variety of reasons none of the three was finally determined to meet all the requirements for the location of the Museum of the Barrens.

In June of 1988, after the resignation of the Foundation's first president, Ed Hatchett, Beula Nunn, vice president, acting on behalf of the Foundation, performed a few maneuvers which, like a series of railroad track switches clicking in proper sequence, resulted in the very rapid financial solvency of the Foundation. At one point Beula bought the old National Store Building, and the Museum was temporarily housed there. She later sold that building at cost to the City of Glasgow for a new City Hall. In turn, she then purchased from the bankrupt Washington Manufacturing Co., for the sum of $95,000, the city block of property bounded by North Race Street, West Main Street, North Liberty Street and West Water Street, with the exception of the buildings occupied by the J. C. Penney Co. and the Riherd Sport Shop. A bad winter storm caused water pipes within the Pants Factory to freeze and burst, resulting in sufficient damage to enable $130,000 to be collected in insurance. Beula later bought the building occupied by the J. C. Penney Co. for $52,000.

At this point, the Foundation owned the entire city block with the exception of the Riherd Store building. Three newly acquired buildings on West Main Street were soon remodeled: one as a temporary site for the Museum, and two as income-producing rental property. In the meantime, the revenue from The Thrift Shop and the rent from the J. C. Penney Co. were producing funds for the work of the Museum and the and the salary of one employee, a secretary.

Everything was moving along fairly rapidly except the grant process. Beula and Christeen would have preferred that the total financial support for the Foundation's project come through broadbased donations by individuals and organizations within the area served by the Museum of the Barrens. When such funding proved to be inadequate, Beula and Christeen, undaunted, turned to the grant process for help. This slowed the development of the Museum because of the red tape involved in complying with the numerous regulations and special requirements, but in finally resulted in providing the Foundation with the funds to do a proper remodeling of the Pants Factory.

Thanks to the valuable assistance of Bernard Williams, an official with the Wilkinson administration and on of the Foundation's incorporators, it was possible to secure a Community Block Grant of $225,000 for the initial "basic" remodeling of the Pants Factory. A few years later, at the suggestion of her good friend Mrs. Brerton Jones, Beula applied for an ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act) grant, which she received, in the amount of $400,000 for the further refitting of the Pants Factory. It was at this time that the name and the scope of the Foundation changed from being The Museum of the Barrens to the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center with enlarged focus. The Foundation also received a bequest from the Donald Boles estate in the amount of $200,000. These grants and the bequest, along with hundreds of smaller donations by individuals and organizations, have put the Foundation on a footing strong enough that it can now proceed toward the complete conversion of the old factory to the Cultural Center.

At Beula's side during these years of activity connected with developing the Cultural Center was her devoted, energetic assistant and confidante, Christeen Snavely. These two dynamic ladies, of dissimilar temperaments but bound by a common goal, developed a mutual symbiotic relationship - an association which, with the onset of serious health problems, proved to be not only advantageous but necessary to both.

Because of their hard work and tireless devotion to the task of developing the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center, they were pivotal players in the Foundation. Other board members generally deferred to the wishes of Beula and Christeen. There was a tacit understanding that since Beula and Christeen were either doing or supervising almost all the work and raising the necessary funding, they would be given relatively free rein to accomplish the Foundation's objectives. They work day and night at times, as if driven by the biological clock. But they seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Theirs was a labor of love. They had a burning passion to help the people of the Barrens preserve their cultural heritage. It was a fulfilling mission for them. It enabled them to give something back to the people of the community - people who had been so supportive of them during their earlier business, professional and political careers.

These ladies were aware of their strengths and their limitations, their lack of expertise in certain areas and the time constraint under which they would have to produce results. Time would not permit them to work through committees not to build consensus. That approach might have ruffled fewer feathers and offended fewer sensibilities than the often unilateral and autocratic modus operandi which they felt compelled to adopt. They would have been the first to admit that they imposed, to a great extent, their personal preservation agenda upon the Foundation. Viewed in retrospect, perhaps "doing it their way" was the only way to get the job done. Right way or not, much has been accomplished by these two ladies, and we need to be grateful and to continue to build upon the foundation which they have laid for us.

Although Beula and Christeen were the prime movers, the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center could not have advanced to this point without the help of many others: city and county officials, board members, legal advisors, volunteer workers, donors of money, artifacts and memorabilia, friends and family. In addition to these, one cannot overlook the significant work of their assistants, Julie Smith from 1989 to 1993 and Holly Travis Carner from 1993 to 2000. All of them deserve much credit for their contributions and support.

Finally, let us observe how practical these two visionaries really were. They were not going to let all their dreams die with the dreamers' demise. They sought out a competent successor who could take over when they had to leave. They found that individual in the person of W. Samuel Terry IV. Both Beula and Christeen begged and pleaded with him to come on board before their deaths. After months of pressure, Sam finally agreed to serve as an advisor and consultant and then shortly after Beula's death in 1995, agreed to become the Foundation's president. He did this in addition to serving in a full-time position as Executive Director of Riverview at Hobson Grove in Bowling Green. Through Sam's leadership and the dedication of its board of trustees, the dream of these two ladies will go on but we need the continued support of the community to continue building upon the foundation so solidly established by Beula and Christeen.