The Madisonville Messenger
November 6, 2004
-- Editorial

Thursday was "Brown Badgett Sr. Appreciation Day" in Madisonville. In reality, the community and commonwealth have been appreciating this dedicated and generous individual and his wife Heidi for many years.

Our appreciation of him will go on for years to come, in part because his name is affixed to two athletic complexes, a regional education cooperative and scholarships for students at both county high schools.

Beyond the facilities named in his honor, generations to come will remember him as a man who loved his community and acted on an intense desire to give back to it.

His most recent gift toward improving the quality of life in our town came on Thursday, when it was announced that he had donated $1.2 million to Madisonville Community College. As a result, the planned Energy and Advanced Technology Center, when it is built, will bear his name. The $14 million project is locked in the Frankfort budget battles that sent lawmakers home without adopting a fiscal plan for the state. State Sen. Jerry Rhoads (who is also MCC President Dr. Judith Rhoads' husband) and state Rep. Eddie Ballard were on hand for the announcement. So was Gov. Ernie Fletcher, on the other side of the political fence and the debate over state funding.

Not under debate, however, is Badgett's long commitment to education and the young people of our community.

Most visible are the two outstanding athletic complexes at Madisonville-North Hopkins and Hopkins County Central high schools, which stand today because of the $2.6 million Badgett donated for their construction. These two state-of-the-art complexes are equipped with weight rooms, multipurpose rooms, locker rooms and stadium seating, designed to enhance both player and spectator safety.

His commitment to education resulted, in 1992, with development of the Badgett Regional Cooperative for Educational Enhancement. The facility is equipped for worldwide communication that provides the freedom and resources for educators to grow professionally without leaving the community. The Badgett Center serves 11 school districts and frequently hosts regional and state meetings.

Helping educate and return the best and brightest in our schools is another of Badgett's passions. Each year since 1990, the Badgett Foundation has recognized 10 Hopkins County high school graduates with renewable four-year scholarships. Since 1990, the foundation has awarded over $60,000 in scholarships to deserving students. The college graduation rate for these students is over 90 percent, with many of them returning to Hopkins County in a variety of professions.

At MCC, he provided one of the two lead gifts to the Joe C. Davis Science Building and helped solicit several other major gifts. He also contributed private funds to MCC's Muhlenberg County campus and the Community Improvement Foundation. He is also a major supporter of the college's scholarship program.

The extent of his financial generosity is much longer than what we have or can list here. The sheer dollar amount is impressive, but so is the man who chooses to invest in making this an even better place to live.

He truly believes in the place we call home, and in the future of those who look to our educational system to prepare them. An avid sports fan, he is a fixture at University of Kentucky basketball games. Though obviously a man of considerable wealth, he doesn't take himself all that seriously ... as evidenced by a recent photo we published of him wearing a (Kentucky) blue wig.

His devotion to sports and education were what drew the likes of UK coach Orlando "Tubby" Smith and former UK coach Joe B. Hall to Thursday's Badgett tribute. And besides that, they're lie-swapping fishing buddies.

While tributes were being paid to Badgett Thursday, he quietly and modestly accepted the accolades. He also took the opportunity to place his thumb on the fish-weighing scale in banter with Smith and Hall.

What impresses us about Brown Badgett Sr. is not just his generosity, but also his commitment to our community. Clearly the community has been good to and for him in a financial way. He has chosen to, literally, give back to the community.

The stadiums and educational facilities are more than tributes to his legacy of generosity. They offer a means for others to grow and prosper in our community so they, too, can give back.

Like the many who took the stage Thursday to pay tribute to Brown Badgett Sr., may we also say thank you to this generous man who chose to give back, not only because he could, but also because he wanted to.