I was born on April 30, 1963 to Lauren and Barbara Bowen in Louisville, Kentucky. My dad grew up in Michigan and came to Kentucky to go to Asbury College, where he met my mom. They were married on May 24, 1954 in the chapel at Asbury at the end of their senior year. They both became school teachers.
Dad taught 32 years in the Jefferson County public schools. He started at Eastern High School in the 1950’s, and went on to teach at several different schools within the system. He started his career as an English teacher, then went into speech and drama. Later he became a speech pathologist, helping school children with speech impediments.
My mother was Barbara Wheeler Bowen. She taught 3rd grade for nine years in Jefferson County public schools, until I was born. She then became a stay-at-home mom. When I was born, we lived in Eastern Jefferson County off Westport Road.
Shortly after my sister was born two years later, we moved to Lyndon. I attended Lyndon Elementary, until the school closed when I was in 5th grade. I then attended Lowe Elementary, which was built to replace the aging Lyndon Elementary.
The year before I went to elementary school I got very sick. They took me to the doctor, and he said I needed to go to the St. Joseph Hospital immediately. I was diagnosed with meningitis. They told my folks I might not make it, but if I did live, I would be in a vegetative state. I was a patient there for three weeks. My family joined together, prayed and the Lord Jesus brought me out of that condition. Praise the Lord! The infection went down the left side of my body which resulted in blindness in my left eye, and a dropped foot.
My sister and I were very close and she always stood up for me. We rode our bikes a lot in Lyndon. We would go the Keeling’s Key Market in Lyndon that had a big windmill out front in their parking lot. We rode our bicycles in figure 8’s around the windmill. I was in Cub Scouts. Dad was a pack leader and we met in the Lyndon Baptist Church. Our first dog was named Snoopy, a border collie mix, and she moved with us in 1975 to Oldham County. Dogs have been a big part of my life.
Mom was a good seamstress and made clothing for my sister. When her creations were noticed by others, Mom started making more garments to sell, which resulted in a little shop in our basement. It became quite popular, and Mom supplemented her stock with Polly Flinders dresses. We would go to the Polly Flinder’s outlet store in Cincinnati, where she would buy dresses and bring them home to sell. She would also sew appliques on her dresses that she made. She made her own appliques using the drawings in children’s coloring books. She called her store The Little Laurie Shop after my sister. Mom was a night owl. When the rest of us were sleeping, Mom could be found at her sewing machine.
In 1975, my parents purchased a lot in Oldham County off of Old Sligo Road from Genevieve and Gilbert Winters, building a house that same year. I lived in that house for 43 years. While the house was being built, we planted two big gardens, and that activity cultivated my love of agriculture. Ken Stringer was head of the agriculture department at Oldham County High School (OCHS) and talked to the 8th graders about the ag program. I decided then that I would get into the ag programs and join Future Farmers of America (FFA). Boyd Johnson was my first ag instructor. I was in Mr. Johnson’s first freshman class at OCHS. In my junior year, I began working in the school greenhouse and decided to build a small greenhouse at home. While in FFA, we did seed identification, landscaping and entered county and state competitions.
In my junior year, under Boyd Johnson, we did nursery judging and identification, studying plants at different nurseries and Bernheim Forest. I loved it! We won the region, the state and went to nationals in Kansas City, Missouri. We came in 7th in the nation! The next year, we competed in floriculture competitions at the local, state and national levels.
In the greenhouse at home, Mom and I were like kindred spirits because she always had a love of gardening. We grew annual flowers, vegetables and foliage plants. We even sold a few items to neighbors and friends, such as Mr. Kincaid from the hardware store.
While Mom and I enjoyed raising plants, Dad enjoyed his hobby of fixing bicycles. While living in Lyndon, Dad became friends with the people at Thornsberry Toys in St. Matthews and learned how to repair bikes. Once we moved to Oldham County, he started a bicycle shop on Walnut Street in La Grange, which he and I operated after school hours. He later moved it to Main Street. I think it was where La Grange Coffee Roasters is now.
I was also the manager for the OCHS football team. Coach Jim Kennedy asked me to be a football manager. I don’t even know much about football, but I did it because he had confidence in me. I enjoyed doing that for three years. I graduated in 1981 and went to the University of Kentucky (UK) for two years in the agriculture department.
After two years at UK, I decided to go to work instead. I took a job for Dan Gardiner, Sr. who had a nursery on Liberty Lane, where garden stock was grown for his business in St. Matthews. Soon thereafter, I went to work at Minnish and Potts in Crestwood. My next job started in March 1985 when St. Matthews Feed and Seed opened their new location on Hwy. 146 in Crestwood. Little did I know at that time that I’d still be working on that same property 39 years later!
In 1992, St. Matthews Feed and Seed sold the business to me, and I named it Feed and Seed Depot. Twenty-seven years later, I sold the business to Kathy Reed, and became the store manager.
I never married and I lived with my parents in our home on Winters Lane off of Old Sligo Road. Mom passed in 2014 and Dad passed in 2018. I lived in the house for a year after Dad’s passing but decided to find a smaller place more suitable for me. In 2019, I moved to a house on 5th Street in La Grange and have been there five years. It was that year that I met my dog, Sadie.
Sadie was a rescue from Adopt Me Bluegrass, the animal shelter that operates beside Feed and Seed Depot. Sadie was being fostered by Lisanne Mikan. Lisanne brought Sadie to work and placed her in my lap. After that moment, it didn’t take long for us to become best friends. At first, Sadie stayed in a crate in the store because she was shy. But Sadie has come a long way, and her personality has blossomed. The Feed and Seed is her favorite place to be, as many friends come through the doors and offer her pats and treats. When people sit in the chair in the store, she excitedly jumps in their lap for more attention. Sadie is a great store ambassador.
My personal interests includes walking with Sadie various places, such as Maples Park and downtown La Grange. We love to take Kentucky State Park trips, enjoying new locations and trails. I enjoy unusual dwarf conifers and have a collection in the yard at my house. I also like growing cannas and elephant ears.
On Sundays, I can be found at Bible Believers, the same church that I have attended since I was 19 years old. It is where I met the Lord, was baptized in Jesus’s Name and received the Holy Ghost. I am most grateful for the many blessings that the Lord has given me through the years.