One year after publisher and historian Charles Hayes started the mammoth book project about the memories of Breathitt County, it’s finally here.

After hundreds of stories from people in the past and present were printed, after putting in over 850 historic photographs in the project, and after splitting the book into two large volumes, it’s finally complete.

And for the next two weekends, it’ll finally be on sale.

“From War Creek to Lost Creek and in between, this book gives us a glimpse of the life and times of our county during the last century. I had a lot of help putting this book together,” Hayes said Tuesday morning after showing off the first copy of the book he edited. “I just wished that some of the old timers who contributed to me, like McCreary Roberts, J. Gordon Combs, Hollis Gibson, Grover Miller and George Daniel, could be alive today to see this book.”

Titled “Breathitt County Memories”, the two volumes come in at 528 pages each. They’ll sell for $20, and they’ll be available at a book-signing by Hayes this Saturday at the Breathitt County Museum on Broadway, from 2 to 4 p.m. If you’re not able to make it this Saturday, another book-signing by Hayes will take place during the 30th Annual Breathitt County Honey Festival next weekend, under the big tent in Downtown Jackson.

The book primarily goes back to show people, places and life during the hundred year period we called the 20th Century. The articles are recollections from people either Hayes has met along the way in his historical work, or from current-day persons who live in Breathitt County, or had roots here. “Several people who left the area and moved away still remember Jackson just like it was forty or fifty years ago when they left it. Many of those who contributed to the book wrote excellent articles about places like Highland, Riverside, and Mt. Carmel. But I’ve discovered in working on this book that every corner of Breathitt County was represented in this book well.”

Those who contributed to this printed record of a special time in our history were many. A lot was covered within those hundreds of pages, and Hayes told the Voice that no stone was unturned. “We have stories on politics and hangings. There’s articles on entertainment, sports, religion, the railroads and the sawmills. One of our writers, James Clell Neace, had over 40 articles in this book, which chronicled how our lifestyles have changed from the turn of the century to the later years.”

And with over a thousand pages overall, you’d think it’d be a massive job overseeing the editing work on the book.

Not to worry, said Hayes. “It was”.

“Just keeping track of everybody’s work, and hoping to use all of the articles was the biggest challenge in putting this together. I thought I could do all this in two months, but I was definitely surprised.” Hayes checked the window to see if a truck carrying a big load of his new books had arrived under the rainy sky. It hadn’t arrived yet. Then he added, “It is a tremendous job, and it’s expensive to do this. In fact, I’m not looking to make money on this. I’m selling the book at cost. What’s important to me is what’s inside the two-volume set. Those memories, which are priceless.”

Which is why Hayes did the project in the first place. As Editor of the popular magazine The Kentucky Explorer for many years, he has an available audience for the articles about our state’s history, both locally and worldwide. And like the his magazine, he notes this new book is about preserving our past for our future. “I’ve done this more for the next generations more than anything else. I thought recording Breathitt County’s history needed to be done before I die, and I finally waited to put this in book form. It’s a big book, that’s for sure. I could have written a third volume, but I thought two volumes would do. And hopefully someday, someone will do a follow-up book on this, maybe later in this century - the 21st Century.”

So far, almost 50 orders have been filled for a copy of the new book. And over the next two weekends, more people will take their place in line to have Charles Hayes put his signature on the printed pages. No doubt many orders will be placed under the Christmas Tree later this year. And like the efforts of this hunter and recorder of history, what a treat that book will be.

“The book is not about history, as it is about memories. You and I can go cover an event for the news, and we’ll probably write about it differently. we’ll see it through our eyes, and recall what stood out the most. The time of day it was, or what the weather was, or who we were with. It’s the memories we recall. And that’s what we have on paper to see now. For others to enjoy and learn later.”