John Snell

John Snell

John Snell

During the early part of the last century , disease killed most American chestnuts, yet one still stands in Adair County. Kentucky Life 's Dave Shuffett joins scientists trying to discover why it survived on the next edition of Kentucky Life , airing Saturday, June 2 at 8/7 p.m. CT and Sunday, June 3 at 4:30/3:30 p.m. CT on KET1 and 7/6 p.m. CT on KET2. The program also features a young Franklin County dancer as well as a trip to a unique place of Kentucky beauty with photographer John Snell.

First, Will Geoghegan is shooting for the stars. At age 15 he's already an accomplished dancer, placing in national competitions and currently performing at the Kentucky Ballet Theatre in Lexington. He attends school at a prestigious performing arts magnet school in Louisville and plans to dance his way to Broadway. In this segment, Dave introduces viewers to a young man determined to succeed.

Then, t he American chestnut was once the giant of the eastern forest; some were eight to 10 feet across at ground level and towered to more than 100 feet. Around 1900, an Asian blight ripped through the chestnut population and by the 1950s nearly all the trees were dead or dying. For reasons that still are little understood, a handful out of the billions survived, including one in Adair County. In this segment, viewers join Dave in a bucket truck to see how the American Chestnut Foundation is studying this old giant and trying to breed blight resistance in new generations of trees.

Finally, viewers can go behind the photographer's lens with John Snell, who takes Kentucky Life along on a shoot in the Red River Gorge.

Kentucky Life is a KET production, produced by Joy Flynn. Segment producers for this program are Dave Shuffett, Jim Piston and Joy Flynn. Some Kentucky Life programs are now available for on-demand videostream viewing at www.ket.org/kentuckylife .