Heroes Day Thanks People for their Community Service

Three Central Kentuckians – Letitia Roark from Versailles, Laura Stark of Lexington and Thomas Shaddix from Stamping Ground – have been selected as grand prize winners among community heroes, and today each will receive a Keeneland Heroes Day at Home Tailgate from City Barbecue, $1,000 Visa gift card provided by UPS and other goodies.

The prizes are part of Heroes Day at Home in partnership with UPS and City Barbecue. Designed to honor front-line health care workers, first responders, members of the military, teachers and others, Heroes Day typically takes place at Keeneland, but is being celebrated this year virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeneland fans were asked to nominate deserving community heroes online.

Roark is a surgical technologist; Stark is a physical therapist in the ICU and Shaddix is with the National Guard while he coaches football and has attended classes to become a physician’s assistant.

As part of Heroes Day, 12 other people nominated for the recognition will receive a $250 Visa gift card provided by UPS. From Lexington are Mary Kindred Fuller, Michelle Goggin, Jessica Hatterman and Tara Beth Smith. Other Kentuckians are David Leon Parks of Clay City, Sharon Marie Czarnik of Hebron, Jason Angelle of London, Jeremy Harrell of Shelbyville and Brenton Abshire of Winchester.

Additional nominees were Thomas Kent Anderson of Miami, Ohio, and two residents of Virginia: Lori Rutledge of Disputana and John William Rutledge of Williamsburg.