By Rebecca Stern for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for West Virginia News Service for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration In the halls of Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College during the day, and on the grounds of Cowan Community Center at night, the Cowan Creek Mountain Music School [CCMMS], referred to by staff and participants as "Cowan," did more than just celebrate Appalachian music. After two years of Covid-19 prevented a safe in-person learning experience, Cowan returned, this time with a renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion. The overall structure of the program has not changed. .
This past weekend Eastern Kentuckians lost a prominent Appalachian activist and healthcare pioneer as Pike County native and Floyd County mainstay Eula Hall passed away.
On Saturday, May 8, Eastern Kentucky said goodbye to Eula Hall, as she passed away at her residence. Hall, age 93, of Craynor, widow of McKinley Hall, was born Oct. 29, 1927 in Greasy Creek, Pike County and since, has often been referred to as a âhero,â âlegendâ and many other celebratory adjectives for the trailblazing role she played throughout Eastern Kentucky.
Hall, who founded the Mud Creek Clinic, dedicated her life to helping others, a mission that took her from the picket line on strip mining jobs back in the 1960s to picket lines in Floyd County, when she was working to ensure all students had the right to free and reduced-priced lunches at school. Along the winding back roads of Floyd County, she transported people to and from medical appointments and other places they needed to go. Sh