The Secret Service took Danny Smith around the world; when he came home to Kentucky, he chose Midway

Then-Vice President George H.W. Bush signed this photo of himself and Danny Smith in Beijing (then Peking).

Smith shows his Secret Service ID. (Photo by Madison Dyment)

By Madison Dyment
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

In a town as small and close-knit as Midway, it’s easy for the phrase “everybody knows everybody” to roll off your tongue. But given a closer look, how well do we really know our neighbors? So many peoples’ stories float around Midway, often not getting the recognition they deserve. So, Midway, meet your neighbor since 1985, Danny Smith.

Despite coming from humble roots in Lebanon, Ky., Smith found himself along a different life path as a member of the Secret Service.

“After Bobby Kennedy’s assassination in 1968, President Lyndon Johnson ordered Secret Service protection for presidential candidates, which is kinda how I found out about it,” said Smith. “I met some FBI and Secret Service agents through my brother, Jack Smith, who was a federal prosecutor, and they asked if I would be interested in it.”

Smith went through rigorous study and was “off and running” in 1969, he said. His work had him stationed across the country through some of the most defining historical moments.

He was stationed in D.C. during the anti-war demonstrations at the end of the Vietnam War, went through the resignation of President Nixon and Watergate and personally served and protected every president from Richard Nixon to George H.W. Bush, who served in 1989-93.

Smith, who graduated from Western Kentucky University in 1967 with a double major in history and political science, a minor in German and taught history at Lebanon High School for two years, found the position intriguing for someone with his interests.

“It was a very serious employment and, especially as someone who had an interest in history, political science and world affairs, it was an exciting career for me,” said Smith. “It was just a very interesting period of history.”

Smith was stationed directly in the White House in an “intelligence role” during the Nixon administration from 1971 until 1974.

“If people came up and were exhibiting irrational behavior, the White House Police would get ahold of them and the intelligence guys would come out and deal with the situation,” said Smith.

Although Smith declined to comment on any personal opinions or stories regarding the presidents he served, he holds the utmost respect for them and others he protected. His basement is filled with photos and notes, including a photo of Smith and George H.W. Bush in China, signed by Bush with an accompanying note thanking Smith for his service. A framed collage of Jimmy Carter hangs on the wall as a memory of his time serving and traveling with that president, who appointed his brother U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Golda Meir, then prime minister of Israel,
autographed a picture of her for Smith.

“I don’t like to talk about their personalities or little stories,” said Smith. “The protectee has to have utmost confidence that what they do will be kept private. You have to have respect for their privacy, official and personal.”

Smith protected other interesting figures, such as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, King Hussein of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and Pope John Paul II.

“To be able to meet and be around these people was just fascinating to see and interact with these historic world leaders,” said Smith.

Despite the close interaction with political figures, Smith never allowed his experiences to sway his political views or opinions. Professional to the core, he took his job seriously and never let anything come in the way of his duty.

“I’m proud of the agents from my era, we were pretty apolitical,” said Smith. “It didn’t make any difference if the protectee was a Democrat, Republican or foreign dignitary, we had a job to do and we did it.”

Smith credits the Secret Service for bringing him to Midway in 1985. When the service opened an office in Lexington, he jumped at the opportunity to return Kentucky. He had previously visited Midway and enjoyed the small-town feeling and proximity to Lexington.

In this position, he worked on intelligence cases at the Federal Medical Center on Leestown Road, with individuals such as Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme of the Charles Manson family when she was detained for trying to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975.

In 1989, Smith left the service and took up work with the Department of Justice through the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, in Lexington. He served as a coordinator of law enforcement efforts, bringing together law enforcement officers from all levels to address initiatives such as anti-terrorism, gun violence, or drug laws. He retired in 2006.

“I was very fortunate that I was able to have two great law enforcement careers in two different agencies that I enjoyed,” said Smith.

Smith served on the city's water-sewer task force in 2011. (Photo by Dick Yarmy)

Now, sitting on his front porch talking with his neighbors is just the level of excitement the 74-year-old Smith wants. Having raised his three daughters in Midway, he and his wife, Georgette, enjoy the small-town atmosphere and homey environment of the town.

“I’ve always known everybody on my street, Gayland Drive, and in my neighborhood and I think that’s fantastic, I really enjoy that,” said Smith. “We would sit on our porches and talk with each other at night and that small-community feel of Midway is just lovely.”

Smith promotes these neighborly values in his everyday life. Between going to breakfast every Saturday with neighbors and friends, to cherishing the opportunity to see people at the post office, and promoting local shopping and support of local business, this worldly person has become a Midway man through and through.

“Staying in contact with your neighbors is so important,” said Smith.

You may wonder what the one big takeaway is for a man who has seen so much in a lifetime. To Smith, it’s a simple mantra that he’s repeated countlessly.

“Be prepared for opportunity when it knocks, because it will knock several times in your life and you need to be prepared for whatever comes to your door,” said Smith. “I hope we don’t lose that message in our future.”

Doris Leigh leaving local government after 46 years

Editor's note: Monday evening's council meeting will be the last for Leigh as a member.

By T.J. Walker

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Every vote counts.

But to Midway City Council Member Doris Leigh, every vote matters. That's why when she wasn't re-elected in November, she wasn't upset for long.

Leigh, a Midway resident born and raised, wants what her fellow citizens want.

"It was fine, if that's what the people wanted," Leigh said in an interview last week. "It hurt at first, and it hurt the next day, then I got over it. I had done all I could do, and if that's what they want I've done all I could." (Photo by Dick Yarmy)

At 83, Leigh has no plans to run for office again. She said the initial pain to losing the election came because she was had been told she had won, in a race where the top six vote-getters were elected.

After all the votes had been counted, Leigh was told she would be re-elected, getting two more votes than fellow incumbent Daniel Roller to get the sixth spot. But the absentee ballots were forgotten, and when those votes were counted, Leigh was ousted by only four votes.

"I was shocked," Vice Mayor and Council Member Sharon Turner said. "We had all thought she had won."

Leigh won't be in office, but she won't soon be forgotten.  She worked in the Woodford County Courthouse for 42 years as the chief deputy in the property valuation administrator's office, then retired and was elected to the council in 2008. Over the years she has made a lot of friends. She'll even help the three new members of the City Council, she said.

"I wish the three new ones well," Leigh said. "I'll help them because this is a good town to live in. They'll do well." The newcomers are Sara Hicks, Grayson Vandegrift and Bruce Southworth, who respectively placed second, third and fourth in the election, behind Turner and ahead of incumbent Aaron Hamilton.

Leigh has become an icon in Midway. She feels connected to the town and said she knows everybody. Before working at the courthouse and running for office, she worked in the Midway Post Office and as a nurse. She's given half the people in Midway their baby injections, she said.

Leigh has loved every job she's ever had, she said, and even if she's not working in the government she plans to continue helping others.

"Midway means more than anything to the world," Leigh said. "I love Midway and I've done everything I could do."

Volunteering will be the next step for Leigh. She'll spend most of her time at Woodford County High School and at the library. She wants to help any way she can.

City Clerk Phyllis Hudson is inspired by Leigh's commitment and dedication to Midway.

Hudson has been around Leigh long enough to know that she's rare, and that her commitment to her town is one of a kind.

"Doris is absolute gem," Hudson said. "You can't help but to love her. She gives 100 percent at everything she does. Doris treated this community like her family. She truly loved everybody."

Leigh is proud of having known her community. Hudson said in order to do a good job in a government position you have to know what the people want, and Leigh did.

"We need someone like Doris Leigh to be out there to understand everyone's views, so they can make informed choices," Hudson said.

Leigh doesn't look back at one specific accomplishment she and her fellow city council members made during her time in the courthouse or city government. She's more proud, she said, of all the small things she accomplished.

And in an elevator.

When they needed to steal her away for a few minutes of insight, a judge or county attorney often would take an elevator ride with Leigh. It became a valuable brainstorming space.

"Every once in a while I would get a call saying, 'Let's ride the elevator'," Leigh said. "The judge would have something he would want to get settled; the county attorney would do the same thing. We rode the elevator a lot and it was fun. The judge called me the other day saying, 'I miss those days in the elevators, and we solved a lot of problems.'"

John McDaniel's eclectic and interesting life is wrapped all around Midway

By Martha Groppo
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Few people are more thorough experts on Midway than John William McDaniel III.

“He has stories that few have heard or known about,” said his good friend, Midway Mayor Tom Bozarth. “He has a lot of knowledge about Midway and our history.”

McDaniel with a big pencil, all about his writing. Mayor
Tom Bozarth (in background), his friend, calls him "Scoop."

But few in Midway are thorough experts on John McDaniel. Even he struggles to remember everything he has done. It would take much time to know everything about McDaniel, a lifelong Midway resident who has been a police officer, sold carpets, jailed in a jail he helped run, and ridden his horse down Main Street.

“He dabbles in a little bit of everything,” Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Turner said. “He knows everybody.”

“I just seem to be in the most weird places at the strangest times,” McDaniel said, coming to the same conclusion others seem to reach after hearing a few of his stories.

McDaniel started his eclectic life in the Woodford Memorial Hospital on June 11, 1949, 63 years ago today.

For the full story, click here.