A Venues Veteran Among Us

Q: How many years have you worked for the Kentucky Exposition Center? 

BP: I came here in July of 1976, so this would be 48 years. I’ve been retired once. Red Forgy kept pulling me back in to do odd jobs for him. Then they moved me to something else and they put me back to state in August of 2023. 

Q: What initially drew you to work at the Kentucky Exposition Center? 

BP: I had two brothers working out here. I had just gotten married in April. I was doing odd jobs in security and was looking for something a little more steady. They told me to come out here because they were always needing people. So I came out and put an application in. Before I even walked out, I was hired. 

Q: How has your role evolved over the years? 

BP: I started as a sweeper and general handy-person in Freedom Hall, and then after the fair I got sent over to the East Wing. I stayed over there something like 13 years. I went through about three bosses there, and then they sent me over to the West Wing to work. There we worked cattle shows and expo shows, a little bit of everything. By that time, I was already an operator. I knew all the equipment before I even stepped foot in this place. I grew up around farm equipment, so this stuff is just about the same. Then they moved me over to the stock room. The last 9 years of the 27 started there. Then I retired August 31, 2013. But Red Forgy, he was the supervisor over all the facility maintenance, kept calling me back to do odd jobs and stuff, and it slowly sunk in that I wasn’t going anywhere. I’ve been here ever since. 

Q: What are some of the challenges you see day to day? 

BP: I like doing the work. Some people are easy to work with. The show people who come in that know me, they point me in a general direction and they say “You know what to do, go do it.” I get their equipment in. That’s some of the hardest stuff is getting the farm equipment pulled in. Big equipment, little house, makes it rough. A lot of holding things up for them while they hook things up. A lot of different things, about the time you get tired of seeing one type of show, you get the other type. I was a military brat, and we travelled all over the place, so I was used to seeing changes. I can work with almost anybody. We just keep busy, and I enjoy it. 

Q: I heard that some of your family members have worked here throughout the years. Do you have any stories of working with your family? 

BP: My two brothers [worked here]; they both retired. One of them came back, but his health got bad so he decided to make it a permanent retirement. My other brother, he went to work for the post office. Then my wife worked here with concessions, and all my daughters have worked concessions. They’ve been on these grounds since they were babies. They sold lemonade, popcorn, caramel corn, cotton candy, caramel apples. Unfortunately, I’d get dragged into that every once in a while to help them. It was always interesting.  

Q: The KEC has hosted a wide range of events over the years, from concerts to trade shows to sporting events. Which type of event do you enjoy working on the most, and why? 

BP: It’s hard to say. I enjoyed a lot of the University of Louisville stuff when we had that, especially the basketball. I got to meet a lot of nice people. I was here with Pervis Ellison, and my wife was working a restaurant over by U of L. She said, “I almost called you, but you would have brought half the county cops in right behind you because you would have been chased.” I loved that kid. He was really a super nice gentleman, and they did some nice work with him. I enjoyed talking with him.  

The farm shows are dear to my heart. My father’s family is from central Illinois and that’s all farm/agriculture. I was always drawn to that. But I didn’t want to do it out in the field. A couple of my cousins out that way have tried to get me to come up and do some stuff but uh, no thank you.  

Q: What do you think sets the Kentucky Exposition Center apart from other event venues, and what keeps people coming back year after year? 

BP: The variety of things we can do for people. There are not very many exposition centers that will allow people to tear up your grounds or dig or put boulders in the ground. We’re willing to work with people and that word gets spread.  

Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting their career in venue operations? 

BP: You’re going to have to learn to do the procedure the way the facility wants it. You can’t try to change it or think you find something different. I’ve seen many people try and change things but give it about 4-6 months and it’s right back to the way it was. They think they have a quicker and better way, but they don’t. We’ve already worked it out. Some people think it’s broken but it’s not. It may look awkward, may not seem practical, but it’s been proven that this is the way it’s done the quickest and most efficient with less breakage. That’s one of the big things too: you have to take care of their equipment. They don’t want you to stick a forklift through a box or something like that.  

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share? Any favorite memories? 

BP: I lost a great friend, Red Forgy. He brought all three of us boys together. It upset me very much when he died. He was important to everybody. I just wish they’d put his name up on something. He put a lot of years into this place. He came from the old fairgrounds, and he taught people to work by getting it done and getting it done right. The three of us boys got to know him and my brother even cut his grass. It upset us when he died.  

Thank you for sharing your experience with us Billy!