[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 174 (Tuesday, November 15, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7445-S7446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO MR. ELDRED MUSGROVE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and pay tribute 
to a very fine Kentuckian and World War II veteran, Mr. Eldred Musgrove 
of McCreary County, KY. Eldred, who is now 91, has played an 
instrumental role in developing many of the basic services that are 
currently enjoyed by the citizens of McCreary County, KY.
  Eldred was raised in Strunk, KY, in a house just behind the old Lum 
Strunk homeplace. As a teenager, he became familiar with responsibility 
and hard work. The oldest of six, by the time he was 14, Eldred 
remembers having to help raise his brothers and sisters after their 
mother passed away. He recalls carrying his 3-year-old baby brother to 
his grandmother's each morning and returning each afternoon to pick him 
up, before walking a mile himself just to get to school each day.
  ``When I was 16, I worked my first `real' job,'' Eldred explains. At 
the time, ex-county sheriff Neil Stephens owned a sawmill that was 
located up above the Marsh Creek Schoolhouse. ``He paid me 10 cents an 
hour to roll logs down for him to saw,'' Eldred says. As a result, 
Eldred developed a resilient worth ethic, which would eventually help 
pave the way to a long and successful career in community service.
  Eldred met Sophie, who is 90 years old and his wife of 64 years, 
while they attended school together at Pine Knot as kids. ``I didn't 
pay any attention to her when we were in school!'' he recalls. After he 
returned home from the military, though, Eldred got a job working at 
the Ford garage in Stearns and began to see Sophie as he drove home 
from work each day. They began dating and have been happily married 
ever since.
  Not long after they wed, Eldred began taking a more active role in 
the community. ``I became a charter member of the Pine Knot Kiwanis 
Club in 1950,'' he remembers. Eldred and the organization were very 
active for several years, selling stock, helping to establish the 
county's first dial-telephone company, and even playing an instrumental 
role in helping to build the first Pine Knot fire truck. In 1967, 
Eldred helped form the McCreary County Fire Commission and served as 
the board chairman for the South McCreary County Fire Department for 
many years.
  Eldred also served as one of three original water commissioners for 
the McCreary County Water District. Eldred presided over the Pine Knot 
portion of the district he helped create. In his later years, he became 
involved with the McCreary County Development Association, and also 
served as a member of McCreary County's first airport board, where he 
helped develop a local runway. Additionally, Eldred has also been a 
member of the McCreary County Industrial Development Association, the 
first Stearns Museum Board, and the Kentucky Highlands Investment 
Corporation for 31 years.
  These days, the Musgrove home is decorated with countless 
photographs, certificates, and awards including a picture of Eldred 
shaking President Bill Clinton's hand that serve as a reminder of Mr. 
Musgrove's many successes and achievements throughout the years. 
However, Eldred admits that he is not yet finished. ``I still have a 
job to do. My job may be taking care of my wife, writing letters to 
congressmen, or erecting a monument. All I know is that I still have a 
job to do.''
  Mr. President, Mr. Eldred Musgrove's long life of selflessness and 
service to McCreary County and his fellow Kentuckians is truly 
admirable. Mr. Musgrove is a true American patriot and an inspiration 
to the people of our great Commonwealth. A local newspaper, the 
McCreary County Voice, published an article on October 20, 2011, to 
celebrate Mr. Musgrove's many accomplishments in life. I ask unanimous 
consent that the full article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

            [From the McCreary County Voice, Oct. 20, 2011]

                          Making a Difference

                           (By Eugenia Jones)

       You may or may not be personally acquainted with Eldred 
     Musgrove, but if you are a resident of McCreary County, the 
     energetic 91-year-old probably touches your life on a daily 
     basis. Not only did he serve his country in World War II, but 
     Musgrove, throughout his life, has been instrumental in the 
     development of many of the basic services currently enjoyed 
     by citizens of the county.
       Growing up in Strunk, Kentucky, in a house just behind the 
     old Lum Strunk homeplace, Eldred probably did not see himself 
     becoming such a civic-minded adult. At the age of 14 and as 
     the oldest of six children, Eldred helped to take care of his 
     brothers and sisters when his mother died. He recalls walking 
     more than a mile to school each day because there were no 
     school buses. On his way to school, Eldred would carry his 
     three-year-old baby brother to his grandmother's house and 
     then return on his way back home from school to carry the 
     toddler home. Eldred grins, ``I've never had a chance to 
     study, but I still managed to make Cs throughout school. When 
     I got home, instead of studying, I had to take care of the 
     stove wood. My dad was rather thrifty, but he managed to take 
     care of us. Dad worked some in coal, and later, he went 
     together with his brother and bought a 1933 model Chevrolet 
     truck to haul stone for building schools through the WPA. Dad 
     was also good at making moonshine stills and made them for 
     everybody around. He had customers from as far away as 
     Lexington and Cincinnati. I wanted to go into the CCC, but 
     dad wouldn't let me.''
       As a teenager, Eldred was not afraid of hard work. When he 
     was 12 years old, Musgrove sold ``Grit'' newspapers to people 
     all over the southern end of the county. Musgrove shares his 
     memories of one special customer. ``I remember one customer 
     in particular. His name was Andy Galimore. He was a Spanish-
     American War veteran. He lived up on a ridge across the 
     railroad at Pine Knot. He had a vineyard, and he would let me 
     pick all the grapes that I wanted. Andy Galimore must have 
     been a secretary or something like that for his unit, because 
     he had a roster of names that he let me see. The roster 
     listed the names of men and told different types of 
     information about them. It told when the men were absent, 
     when they were promoted, and all of the different things they 
     did in the service.''
       ``When I was 16, I worked my first `real' job. I worked for 
     Neil Stephens, who was an ex-county sheriff living on Cal 
     Hill. His sawmill was up above the Marsh Creek Schoolhouse. 
     He paid me 10 cents an hour to roll logs down for him to saw. 
     The mill used a steam boiler, and they had to get up steam in 
     order to saw. I also carried drinking water. I didn't get 
     money for pay. I got a slip to take to Manuel Creedmoor's 
     (O.K.'s) store to buy things. I bought school clothes.''
       Eldred met the now 90-year-old Sophie, his wife of 64 
     years, while they attended the Pine Knot School together. He 
     laughs, ``I didn't pay any attention to her when we were in 
     school! When I came back home from the military, I got a job 
     at the Ford garage in Stearns. She walked home from where she 
     worked, and I drove home from my work in an old pickup truck. 
     We started meeting. I'd toot the horn and wave at her. 
     Finally, I asked her to go to the show with me. We went from 
     there by going out to a show together and ended up where we 
     are now by being married for 64 years! I don't remember the 
     name of the show, but I do remember going to pick her up one 
     time. There was a store sitting up on the corner of the road 
     going to her house. There was a big long bench outside. The 
     road to Sophie's house was so bad that I couldn't drive out 
     it so she would meet me at the store. One time I was sitting 
     on the bench waiting on her and another fellow was sitting 
     there talking to me. He said he had a date with a ``Meadows'' 
     girl. I said, `Well, I do too!' It wasn't long before Sophie 
     showed up with her sister as a date for the other fellow!''
       After Eldred and Sophie married, Eldred began taking an 
     active role in trying to serve his community. He remembers 
     the influence of the Kiwanis Club during the early 
     development of the county. ``I became a charter member of the 
     Pine Knot Kiwanis Club in 1950. The club was very active for 
     a few years. Pine Knot, at that time, had only 12 telephones 
     on two party lines. The Kiwanis Club started selling stock 
     and formed the first dial-telephone company in the county. 
     The company had 128 customers and was doing well. However, we 
     couldn't afford a full-time maintenance man. When the 
     Highland Telephone Company offered 150 percent on our stock, 
     we ended up selling out to them. We made sure that we sold 
     under the condition that we would get free service all across 
     McCreary County and in Scotty County. I remember some of the 
     board members when the phones were with the Kiwanis. I was on 
     the board, as well as Leon Hayes, Gorman Strunk, Harold 
     Hickman, Smith Ross, Autis Ross, and Ralph Chaney.''
       The Kiwanis were also instrumental in helping to build the 
     first Pine Knot fire

[[Page S7446]]

     truck. Musgrove can remember when Clarence Harmon picked up a 
     pump and gave it to the Kiwanis to use. ``We kept it up at 
     the service station, and it froze and burst. I only remember 
     us putting out one fire with it and that was in a cabin down 
     at the Shell Grove. Later, when Bob Anderson was county 
     judge-executive, there was a salesman with two fire trucks 
     for sale. Bob appointed me and Bon L. Bybee to check on the 
     trucks. Tweedy Hatfield helped too. In 1967, with the help of 
     Mr. Wright from the Bank of McCreary County, we ended up 
     forming the McCreary County Fire Commission and bought a 
     truck for Pine Knot and one for Whitley City. I was the board 
     chairman for the South McCreary County Fire Department for 
     many years. During that time, we built the sub-station at 
     Holy Hill.''
       Musgrove also played a role in the initial development of 
     the McCreary County Water District. Judge-Executive Prince 
     Stephens appointed Musgrove, Bill Gilreath, and Alfred Kidd 
     as water commissioners for the Pine Knot/Revelo area. ``We 
     brought engineers out of Tennessee to help build a water 
     district,'' Musgrove recalls. ``They did a study of the 
     county and recommended that we join together with the Whitley 
     City Water District. Whitley hadn't done much, so we decided 
     to eliminate the two districts and form one new McCreary 
     County Water District. I represented Pine Knot. A.W. Holmes 
     represented Whitley City, and Dr. Winchester represented 
     Stearns. We were the first three water commissioners for 
     McCreary County. The three of us ended up signing a personal 
     note and buying a farm that was for sale. That's where the 
     water reservoir was built. There was a problem, though, when 
     the lake covered five acres of Forest Service land. We had to 
     get a special permit to take care of that!''
       Years later, Musgrove became involved with the McCreary 
     County Development Association. The Association was formed to 
     help the water department and McCreary County. Musgrove 
     remembers when the water department discovered that they 
     could get grants to run water lines to industrial sites. He 
     smiles as he explains, ``I remember those people saying that 
     they hoped we were smart enough to find a site away from 
     town. I guess we went to the extreme! Industrial sites were 
     bought in Greenwood and near the state line. We managed to 
     get a grant that let us lay water lines to those sites on 
     both ends of the county!''
       In addition to busying himself with McCreary County 
     telephone, water, and fire department concerns over the 
     years, Musgrove also turned his attention to the development 
     of a local airport by becoming a member of McCreary County's 
     first airport board. Musgrove can recall early attempts to 
     establish an airport. ``We found two pieces of property where 
     an airport could be built. Both tracts belonged to the Forest 
     Service. When we chose the Pine Knot site, we had to get a 
     special use permit from them. They had clear-cut the site and 
     planted it with pine trees. Burris Smith and I surveyed it 
     and finally got a dirt runway built. ``Doc'' Jim Anderson had 
     a small plane, and he became chairman of that board. We had 
     several people on the board, including Jim Burgess, Harold 
     Hickman, and Burris Smith. We got Bob Gable on there too, 
     because he knew people in Frankfort. Later, there was a land 
     exchange with the Forest Service, and McCreary County was 
     finally able to get the airport turned over to them.''
       After serving on the McCreary County Airport Board for four 
     years, Musgrove went on to serve on the McCreary County 
     Industrial Development Association, the first Stearns Museum 
     Board, and, for 31 years, as a board member of the Kentucky 
     Highlands Investment Corporation Board. The Kentucky 
     Highlands Investment Corporation is an organization formed to 
     help fund businesses so that jobs are created. KHIC began in 
     the old wholesale building (now the Depot) in downtown 
     Stearns and has since moved to London, Kentucky, where it 
     currently serves over 20 counties. Musgrove and Bill 
     Singleton currently represent McCreary County.
       Along with his active participation in the community 
     throughout the years, Musgrove has supported himself and his 
     family through self-employment. Musgrove operated a car body 
     and fender repair shop and was a plumbing and excavation 
     contractor. He and his wife also operated a mobile-home park. 
     Always eager to learn, Musgrove attended classes about 
     business law and small-business management.
       Today, the walls of Musgrove's home are adorned with many 
     photographs, certificates, and awards. Photos of U.S. 
     presidents, including former President George W. Bush, are 
     displayed. One photograph, snapped when Musgrove visited a 
     factory as a KHIC board member, shows Eldred shaking the hand 
     of President Bill Clinton. Musgrove comments on that photo, 
     ``I shook his hand. It didn't make much difference to me that 
     he was the president.''
       Eldred's latest project is an attempt to erect a monument 
     that displays the Ten Commandments and honors veterans. He 
     comments that he still has a job to accomplish in life. ``I 
     still have a job to do. I'm just not sure what it is. My job 
     may be taking care of my wife, writing letters to congressmen 
     or erecting a monument. All I know is that I still have a job 
     to do.'' So it is, that Eldred Musgrove, who was not overly 
     impressed by shaking the hand of the president, still finds 
     great happiness in ``making a difference'' in the lives of 
     his fellow McCreary Countians.

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