<b>By TIM THORNBERRY<br>
Kentucky Correspondent</b> </p><p>

PAINTSVILLE, Ky. — Visitors won’t see acres and acres of tobacco, corn or soybeans grown in Johnson County, but agriculture is still an age-old tradition and is about to play a part in a new agritourism venture, with the help of the county’s Cooperative Extension Service.<br>

The area’s first agritourism loop will showcase a handful of local businesses that are educating and preserving the region’s agricultural roots while finding new avenues for those in the agriculture and agritourism industry.<br>

“Extension is helping people recognize all of the many assets they have that they aren’t capitalizing on,” said Brenda Cockerham, a University of Kentucky (UK) extension agent for family and consumer sciences in Johnson County. “Part of our job is to create the vision and the game plan on how to do it, and that’s what we’re doing.”<br>

Cockerham also said the “Loop” is an area steeped in farming tradition for more than a century. She and Brian Jeffiers, a UK extension agent for agriculture and natural resources in Johnson County, arranged meetings for those interested in being a part of the agritourism loop and chose the sites.<br>

One advantage the area already possesses is its proximity to U.S. Highway 23 – better known as the “Country Music Highway,” named to honor the number of professional musicians born along an eight-county stretch of the road, including Loretta Lynn, Wynonna and Naomi Judd, Billy Ray Cyrus, Tom T. Hall, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Dwight Yoakam, Gary Stewart, Patty Loveless, Crystal Gayle and more.<br>

The thoroughfare will be the major hub of the loop, that will eventually offer tours for the more than four hours of driving needed to see all the current stops.<br>

“We’re starting with four particular sites that are open for business and people are welcome; that was the first criteria,” Cockerham said. “The second thing was the agriculture connection. So there has to be something grown or something made or something that has to do with agricultural products.”<br>

Located in the northern part of the county, the tour offers tourists opportunities to see, shop, learn and do many ag-related activities. Destinations include two specialty shops that sell homemade and Kentucky-made products, a cattle farm and sorghum producers. Although it’s not on the loop, meals and accommodations can be arranged through the Gambill Mansion, a bed and breakfast in the nearby community of Blaine.<br>

Johnson County sits in the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield and is known more for coal mining as opposed to agriculture, but George Ramey, who owns the Rusty Hinge – one stop along the loop and a store that specializes in Kentucky-made products and crafts – said the new project is needed to offset the downswing in mining.<br>

“We felt it would be a great tourist draw and a great opportunity for us, as well as tourists, to be on a location where people can come through and tour farms, tour us and enjoy the countryside,” said Ramey. “With the coal industry down some, we need some kind of industry, and tourism would be a great one.”<br>

He also collects antique horse-drawn farm implements and plans to build a shed to display the equipment, including descriptions of each piece and how it was used.<br>

Spice Ridge is an antique store and another stop on the loop that features collectibles and antiques, where owner Sharon Blanton also grows herbs and makes crafts out of herbs and spices.
“I like for (tourists) to see all the hard work that people put into making just everyday things they had to have years ago, like churning their own butter and making apple cider,” she said.
According to Cockerham, the project features people like Blanton, who is very knowledgeable about the mechanics of the antiques she sells, including many tools that were used to complete everyday tasks in the home as far back as 100 years ago. This knowledge will help tourists understand better how life used to be in this region. She said the project is in full swing, despite being in the middle of winter.<br>

“It’s well on its way already. We have groups scheduled, and it’s not even spring yet,” said Cockerham.<br>

Others involved in the tour include Joe and Jennifer Castle, sorghum farmers educating others about the process of making sorghum throughout the year, even though sorghum is a seasonal crop.<br>

Gary Davis, a cattle farmer, and his family have worked in the area since the 1800s. He relates the history of the area through stories that have been passed down through his family, while demonstrating how to use an antique corn sheller to grind corn to feed his cattle.<br>

“I think kids that grow up in cities and towns don’t know where (food) comes from,” Davis said. “There are still some farmers left, and kids need to see that.”<br>

One of the starting points of the tour will be at the U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum.<br>

“We have a lot of talent that goes far beyond music, so we’re going to merge that in with the whole concept,” Cockerham said.
She added that along the loop will be quilt barns that tell a story of the county’s country music heritage.<br>

The project is still in the middle of a testing phase to see how effective it is and what can be done to improve it.<br>

For more information, contact the Paintsville Tourism office or Cockerham and Jeffiers at 606-789-8108.