Telling a crowd of some 75 persons that “The sky’s the limit, but you face great challenges,” former Governor Paul Patton came to Oakdale Christian Academy on Tuesday to fire up students about succeeding in life.

The man who headed Kentucky’s government from 1995 to 2003 - and whose admistration was credited with the term “Education Pays” - said inside the gymnasium at the Beacon Center that the way to that success is through education.

“I’ll say this to you students. You have an unprecedented opportunity. But you’re faced with destructive forces that I didn’t know existed fifty years ago. Dealing with those forces is your challenge today,” the Eastern Kentucky native commented. “You’re fortunate to be in a country where you have the opportunity to be free and succeed. Fifty years ago, physical work would get you to succeed. Today, it takes mental work. Intellectual work. And that means a good education to succeed.”

During the special program, Patton mentioned that the real wealth for a person was not by material goods, but by loving and helping others. “What really brings contentment is doing things that brings happiness to other people. I’m happy to look around Eastern Kentucky and feel that I left the area I came from, and their people, better off.”

A native of Lawrence County, Patton would later move to Pikeville and became successful in the coal industry. Later he was elected Pike County Judge-Executive and Lieutenant Governor, before being elected two terms as the state’s 59th Governor. Always recognized as a man of the mountains, Patton brought up his roots to those in attendance, which included Oakdale students and faculty, CLEP (Cadet Leadership Education Program) Center students, and local residents. “My grandfather was born on Quicksand about 140-150 years ago, so I feel a kinship for Breathitt County,” he noted.

Patton then gave the audience a little taste of growing up near the Fallsburg community, where he was raised. “We lived pretty far up the head of the hollow. We ate an awful lot of squirrel and rabbit. We set a trot line to catch catfish, and raised a garden. It was my job to raise the garden. And you may have heard of lye soap. I made lye soap, and took a bath in lye soap. On Sunday we went to a little church with a pot-bellied stove in Fallsburg. But I was wealthy, because that a village that raised children well.”

College life meant a new world to Patton, and a newer challenge away from home. “When I went to school at the University of Kentucky, I hadn’t been no farther west than Lexington; no farther north than Columbus, Ohio; no farther east than Huntington, West Virginia; and no farther south than Pikeville.” But he perservered and graduated from UK with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1959, and began his long career in business and public service. Patton then stressed to the Oakdale crowd the importance of self-discipline, which helped him achieve his goals. “If you learn self-discipline, you’re on your road to success. Taking responsibility for your actions and moving ahead. It’s what you make of your life that’s important. And that you can succeed in life.”

After his speech, Patton spent time talking to some of the students and those in county government who made the trip from Jackson. And while he’s aware of the situation in the State Capitol today, the former Governor told the Voice he’s content to watch from the sidelines. “I read about what’s been going on in Frankfort, but I don’t miss it. I enjoy the slower pace of life in Pikeville,” where he and his wife Judi now live.

Earlier in the program, Patton was introduced by OCA President Dan Fisher, who thanked Patton for his accomplishments. “We appreciate all you have done for us during your time as governor, and especially what you’ve done for Eastern Kentucky.” Patton returned the favor by saying, “You don’t have to realize that Oakdale is a very special place. This institution provides that, and I can see the successful mission that you have.”

Breathitt County Court Clerk Tony Watts introduced the former Governor, calling him “a wonderful friend of mine. He’s only one of two governors who’s ever succeeded himself…He got us the money to build the new four-lane part of Highway 15, to remodel the old Jefferson Hotel into the Life Skills Center, and reorganized the Juvenile Justice system. He put the ‘Education First’ icon on the state’s logo. I believe that, and I urge all of you to get a good education.”

Also attending the program were present Breathitt County Judge-Executive Harvey Jason Richardson, former County Judge-Executive Cecil Clair, County Attorney Brendon Miller, and the Breathitt Detention Center’s Interim President, Gary Sewell. After the welcoming remarks made by President Fisher, Oakdale’s Principal Rodney Clark, gave the prayer before a musical interlude was played by three of the OCA students. With Do Yeon Kim on piano, Mike McKinnon and Garrison Thomas sang “How Great Is Our God” and “More Than Enough”.