Uniquely Kentucky with Amber Philpott | Justin Skeens

WKYT News

If you have been wondering where the July episode of Uniquely Kentucky has been, do not worry you did not miss a thing. We decided to hit the pause button out of respect to several major tragedies making the headlines in eastern Kentucky in June and July. First the funerals for the deadly ambush on three Floyd Co county officers and a K9 in early July and then the historic and catastrophic flooding that swept across parts of eastern Kentucky in late July. WKYT''s Amber Philpott is someone who holds eastern Kentucky very close to her heart. It's a place that gave Amber her start in television news, it's the place she got her college education and to her the mountains and its people will always have a place in her heart. This past month has been so incredibly hard on so many of our neighbors in eastern Kentucky, they have endured trauma, lost loved ones and watched as everything they worked so very hard for was washed away by the power of mother nature. The flooding turned creeks like Troublesome Creek, normally mild and meandering into raging torrents of water. Over the last month Amber and the WKYT team has spent time on the ground in places like Perry and Breathitt Counties, the devastation and destruction they have witnessed up close is immense, but they have also seen the kindness of strangers, been able to personally hug those who just needed to know someone cared and watched as a resilient region started to pick itself up and lean on others to get by. In this episode we found it only fitting to introduce you to someone that uses his creative passion and soul to bring to life stories through video documenting eastern Kentucky and its people. Justin Skeens is an award-winning digital storyteller, in fact he is the Director of Digital Storytelling at Berea College. Skeens is an eastern Kentucky native, a former WYMT and WKYT videographer and in the last month he has picked up his camera not to document, but help preserve the history and struggles that have unfolded during this chaotic time. His love for Appalachia and everything it stands for is quite evident when you talk with him or watch one of his beautifully crafted pieces. He is a boy from the mountains living out a dream behind the lens using his talents to share with the world a place so many of us hold dear, Appalachia.