For more information:
• Three Ponds State Nature Preserve, Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, Western Kentucky University, Ogden Dean’s Office, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11075, Bowling Green, KY 42101, (270) 745-7005

Producer, videographer, editor: Brandon Wickey
Audio: Noel Depp

Western Wildness

Three Ponds State Nature Preserve

Three Ponds is the only Kentucky state nature preserve that borders the Mississippi River, and its scenery will put you in mind of places much farther down that mighty river. Gigantic bald cypress trees surround three small ponds to form a cypress slough swamp, and sugarberry, green ash, and sweetgum trees dominate a stretch of bottomland hardwood forest that’s also rare in Kentucky.

Two of the three ponds are within the 528-acre preserve (the third remains in private hands), which also includes a bluff where sugar maples keep watch over the river. On this visit, host Dave Shuffett canoes the ponds and hikes through the forest to the river with Lane Linnenkohl, preserve manager for Western Kentucky, and Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission environmental technologist Byron Brooks.

Because of the rarity of the habitats it protects, access to Three Ponds requires written permission.

For more information:
• Cub Run Cave, 15101 Cub Run Hwy., Cub Run, KY 42729, (270) 524-1444

Producer: Jessica Gibbs
Videographers: Alan Miller, Darius Barati, Michael DePersio
Editors: Jessica Gibbs, Alan Miller

Going Subterranean

Cub Run Cave

If you happened to be in Hart County in late 1951 or early ’52, you might have gotten a chance to explore Cub Run Cave. But those who dawdled missed out—within a year of its opening, the cave was closed for 55 years by legal squabbling among three parties with claims to the land above it.

But now, thanks to Terry and Judy Schneble of Lebanon Junction, Cub Run is again open for tours. A pretty show cave with some outstanding decorative formations, it also features a stream, a clear pool where eyeless salamanders and crawfish live out their lives, and even a few bats.

Two young cousins came upon the entrance to the cave in 1950 while looking for the source of a cool breeze they had felt. Then came the land disputes, and the cave was sealed off. Finally, in 2004, the whole 210-acre property was put up for auction. The Schnebles, who own a camp at nearby Nolin Lake, decided to buy it to see whether it could be developed into a new tourist attraction. To protect the cave formations from traffic, they hired Amish carpenters to build an elevated walkway. At the time of our visit, the tour was about half a mile long. But Cub Run is still being explored and mapped, and the Schnebles hope to expand the tour options. They also operate a restaurant on the site, where the specialties are catfish and Amish dishes.

Cub Run Cave (named for the nearby small town) is located on Ky. 88, about 15 miles west of the Munfordville exit off Interstate 65.

For more information:
• Antiques Roadshow

Producers: Carolyn Gwinn, Dave Shuffett
Videographers: Prentice Walker, Matt Grimm
Audio: Roger Tremaine, Brent Abshear
Editor: Dan Taulbee

What’s It Worth to Ya?

Antiques Roadshow in Louisville

When the producers at WGBH in Boston first put out a call for people to bring antiques and collectibles they’d like appraised for a new public television series to be called Antiques Roadshow, they wondered whether anyone would show up at all. Well, they needn’t have worried. The Roadshow rapidly became one of the hottest tickets in every town it visited. And while imitators have come and gone, the original has been going strong for more than a dozen years now.

In July 2007, as Antiques Roadshow made its 12th summer tour, one of the stops was a return visit to Louisville, which had also been featured in the series’ third season. Around 7,000 people brought more than 11,000 items to the Kentucky International Convention Center in the hopes that one of their family treasures would prove rare, valuable ... or at least interesting enough to be on TV.

One of those 7,000 was Kentucky Life’s Dave Shuffett, who takes us along for the experience in this segment. First, of course, he searches his own house for the best things to take, finally deciding on a clock, a telephone, and some artifacts he collected from plowed fields and stream banks. Then it’s off to the convention center for a lot of standing in line—but also a lot of interesting conversations with other hopeful Roadshow fans. Finally, he meets appraisers John Delaney (clocks), Ken Farmer (furniture, folk and decorative arts, and musical instruments), and Bruce Shackelford (Native American artifacts), who give him their expert opinions on the monetary, if not the sentimental, value of his items.