The season premiere of KET’s Kentucky Life gets up close to bugs and butterflies at Idlewild Butterfly Farm in Louisville. Host Doug Flynn also talks to Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles about what makes the Kentucky State Fair so special. Plus, the program explores artist Dan MacPhail’s unique antler creations and shares the tragic story of two Kentuckians’ role in Major League baseball’s only on-field fatality. The program airs Saturday, Oct. 7 at 8/7 pm and Sunday, Oct. 8 at 4/3 pm on KET and Monday, Oct. 9 at 7/6 pm on KET2.

At Louisville’s Idlewild Butterfly Farm, owner Blair Leano-Helvey introduces Flynn to an array of bugs and butterflies and explains the farm’s operations as both a butterfly farm and USDA-certified insectarium. The farm, situated near Louisville’s Shelby Park, imports and  raises tropical insects and provides butterflies for educational presentations, weddings and memorials.

Then, Flynn talks with Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles at the 130th Kentucky State Fair. Quarles leads Kentucky Life viewers on a tour of the event’s many produce and livestock exhibitions, while explaining the importance of Kentucky’s fair – one of the oldest in the country – to the state’s agricultural community.

Next, the program travels to Kevil, in Ballard County, where visual artist Dan MacPhail creates one-of-a-kind creations from elk, moose and deer antlers. MacPhail’s pieces – which range from tables, chairs, ceiling fans, lighting fixtures and even Christmas trees – are in demand and have been displayed in showrooms from Frisco, Colorado, to as far as St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Finally, Kentucky Life explores the tragic tale of Major League Baseball’s only on-field fatality, which involved two Kentuckians: New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays, a native of Liberty, and Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman, who hailed from Beaver Dam. In an August 17, 1920, matchup, Mays’s pitch hit Chapman’s head with force. Chapman attempted to walk to the clubhouse following the throw, but he collapsed and died 12 hours later in a New York City hospital at the age of 29. His death remains the only on-field fatality in league history and had lasting ramifications on how the sport was played.

Kentucky Life is a KET production, produced by Brandon Wickey. Segment producers for this episode are Valerie Trimble, Sean Anderson, Gary Pahler and Paul Smith.

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, where learning comes to life for more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization at KET.org, on Twitter @KET and at facebook.com/KET.

Contact:

Todd Piccirilli
Senior Director, Marketing and Communications
859-258-7242
tpiccirilli@ket.org