Big Blue Book Club connects with communities across Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 7, 2025) — The Big Blue Book Club, hosted by Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) in the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, is entering a new chapter for the club’s 10th book.
For the first time, the club will host meetings across Kentucky, exploring the state while reading “My Old Kentucky Road Trip” by UK alumni Cameron M. Ludwick and Blair Thomas Hess.
Because “My Old Kentucky Road Trip” includes landmarks and history across Kentucky, taking the book club to some of those places is the “perfect solution to highlighting all that is unique about Kentucky,” said Mindy McCulley, FCS extension specialist for instructional support.
Each meeting will include a discussion of part of the book; a presentation by an FCS expert that includes relevant, research-based information about travel; and an activity to enjoy “the fabulous locations we’re visiting,” McCulley said.
Registration for the book club is open now, though the club’s allotment of free books have already been claimed.
The first meeting, which will take place in Frankfort Thursday, March 13, can be viewed via Zoom, but the rest of the events will be in-person only.
“You really can’t appreciate the beauty of Kentucky from behind a Zoom screen,” McCulley said.
The Big Blue Book Club will host six meetings across the state, all at 11 a.m. local time, with some of the specifics still to be determined. Registrants will receive additional information about each meeting.
About the Big Blue Book Club
The club started in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Extension agents requested a novel way to improve clientele morale and reduce feelings of isolation,” McCulley said. “After the pandemic restrictions were lifted, it was quickly evident that this type of programming resonated with participants.”
The book club continued, featuring books recommended by specialists or participants. Often, like for this next iteration, the format of the club fit the content of the book. For example, the club was asynchronous for “Raising a Healthy, Happy Eater” because parents of young children might find it hard to attend a live event.
The Big Blue Book Club has always included people from across Kentucky, so McCulley is excited to get the community together in person.
“It feels like a natural progression of this program,” she said.
About “My Old Kentucky Road Trip”
The book “My Old Kentucky Road Trip” began as a blog — when friends Hess and Ludwick realized that they hadn’t seen enough of their home state.
“We started this writing journey together as two friends driving around the state together,” Hess said. “The destinations we selected, the stories we chose to tell, were from the experiences that meant the most to us as friends and as Kentuckians.”
The road trip they took together became the first of their five Kentucky-focused books.
Hess, now vice president for marketing and communications at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, graduated from the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in community and leadership development.
Ludwick, now the associate director for books marketing and sales at Duke University Press, graduated from the UK College of Arts and Sciences in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in English.
“With all the amazing work UK’s extension offices do around the state, they’re one of the reasons we’re so proud to call Kentucky home,” Ludwick said. “‘My Old Kentucky Road Trip’ celebrates everything that makes Kentucky a place where communities thrive, and we couldn’t be more excited to meet and join the Big Blue Book Club in all the places where its members make such an impact.”
McCulley said Big Blue Book Club will be a success if participants learn about formerly unfamiliar parts of Kentucky.
“We have so many hidden gems,” McCulley said. “We are just trying to shine a light on a few of them and encourage people to get to know what is available in their own backyard.”
Big Blue Book Club events
- March 13 – Thomas D. Clark History Center – Frankfort, Kentucky
Meet the Authors of “My Old Kentucky Roadtrip”
Discussion topic: Kentucky’s Historical Markers
*This meeting will be available live via Zoom. A link will be sent prior to the event for those who register.
- April 1 – Hickman, Kentucky
Part 1: Western Kentucky and the Jackson Purchase
Discussion topic: Financial Considerations for Local Travel
- April 15 – Horse Cave, Kentucky
Part 2: The Pennyrile
Discussion topic: Traveling with Kids
- April 29 – Midway, Kentucky
Part 3: The Bluegrass and Central Kentucky
Discussion topic: Local and Cultural Eating While Traveling
- May 13 – New Castle, Kentucky
Part 4: Northern Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley
Discussion topic: Traveling for Mental Health Benefits
- June 13 – Lynch
Part 5: Southeastern Kentucky and Appalachia
Discussion topic: Travel Safety
To learn more and to register for Big Blue Book Club, visit https://fcs-hes.ca.uky.edu/BBBClub.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.