On Augst 5th, 2010 KAMP member Robert Rennick passed away. Many of you may remember his presentation at the KAMP meeting October 2008 at Morehead University on the Kentucky place names that were his passion.

Here is his obituary as it appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Robert M. Rennick 78, of Prestonsburg, an authority on Kentucky place names and post offices, died Thursday at Highlands Regional Medical Center in Prestonsburg. Memorial services were held on August 7th and 8th. He was laid to rest in Gethsemane Gardens in Prestonsburg.

Mr. Rennick wrote a number of books, including Kentucky Place Names and From Red Hot to Monkey’s Eyebrow: Unusual Kentucky Place Names, as well as a series on post offices in various regions of the state.

Mr. Rennick was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and taught at a number of colleges and universities before moving to Kentucky in 1970, when he took a position at Prestonsburg Community College.

Mr. Rennick’s wife, Elizabeth Rennick, said he had an avid interest in folklore, and in the 1960s and 1970s became interested in people’s names, such as “strange combinations, like Rosie Bottom, and people who wanted to change their names, like Adolf Jones after the Second World War.” She initially suggested that her husband begin researching the origins of place names, and he took the idea and ran with it after they moved to Kentucky. (Quoted from Lexington Herald-Leader)

He invested over forty years of, most of his free time, in much needed preservation of Kentucky Names history. In addition to visiting libraries and studying old maps, he traveled the state, interviewing people about the origins of the names of the communities where they lived. He believed the most important data lay within the stories of the local people and oral traditions that preserved through the tongues of many generations. “The only way to study the place is to go to the site and see what’s there and ask the people who live in that area about the history,” he said in a 1997 Herald-Leader interview.

In 1970, Mr. Rennick also helped form, along with Tom Fields, the Kentucky Geographical Names Committee and served as Chair until his passing. He also served as Kentucky Authority for the Council of Geographical Names Authorities (COGNA).

Mr. Rennick was employed by the state Division of Licensing and Regulations from 1972 until his retirement in 1997. Upon retiring from his position with the State of Kentucky, he began a full time writing career and served as main historical consultant for several state, regional, and national organizations, which included United States Geological Surveys’ (USGS) Geographical Names Information System (GNIS) Phase II in cooperation with the Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy at Morehead State University’s College of Business and Public.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Rennick is survived by a sister, Marjorie Rennick Cohen, of Madison, Conn.

Obituary info and quotes are from Karla Ward of the Lexington Herald-Leader, kward1@herald-leader.com

To view and sign Guestbook.

Canon has an incredible offer on their iPF 8300 44 inch, 12-color printer that Lynn Imaging would like to share with the membership.  This machine normally sells for $5,995, but can be purchased for only $4,115.  For more details, click here.

This offer is only good through the end of September 2010.

The Geographic Information Advisory Council and the Division of Geographic Information are charged with completing a statewide Commonwealth Geospatial Strategic Plan, and we are seeking YOUR input to help guide and inform the elements of the plan. We are inviting all members of the Kentucky geospatial community–anyone involved with the production, management, distribution, or use of mapping data in the Commonwealth–to communicate their ideas to the committee.

Two regional listening sessions are planned at Area Development District offices, for whose support the Strategic Planning Committee is grateful. At each of these sessions, information about the strategic plan process and the supporting grant will be available. Representatives of the committee will be available to listen and record your ideas and feedback. No formal presentations are scheduled at these sessions.

Big Sandy ADD, Monday, August 30; 10:00AM – 4:30PM ET

110 Resource Court, Prestonsburg, KY 41653; http://www.bigsandy.org/

Map and directions to the facility are under the Introduction/where_we_are tab on their website.

Pennyrile ADD, Monday, September 27, 2010; 10:00AM – 6:00PM CT

300 Hammond Drive, Hopkinsville KY 42240; http://www.peadd.org/Default.aspx

Map and directions to the facility are under the PADD Info & Links tab on their website.

Another listening session is planned during the Kentucky GIS Conference for Friday, October 15, GIS Conference, during the lunchtime meeting. There will be a short overview presentation on the strategic plan process, then we will listen to ideas and feedback from those in attendance. The Strategic Planning Committee greatly appreciates the opportunity to participate in the conference, and appreciates the assistance and support from KAMP in setting up this session. More information on the conference (held in Frankfort this year) can be found at the KAMP website.

For those who are unable to attend the listening sessions or conference, but who wish to provide feedback, a web-based survey will be posted, hopefully no later than Friday, August 27. A distributed announcement similar to this one will include details for accessing the survey.

I hope you will take advantage of at least one of these feedback opportunities, or you may contact me at any time before October 15 with your ideas and suggestions.

Sincerely,

William “Drew” Andrews

The 2010 Kentucky GIS Conference Registration is open.  We’re planning an exciting conference and hope that you will be able to attend.

The conference is from October 13 – 15th, 2010 at the Capital Plaza in Frankfort.  There is a block of rooms reserved for the conference.  The cost per night is $82.

For more information:

Agenda

Keynote

The website submittal form is now in place and you can begin submitting your application entries.  All entries submitted will eventually be posted on the Contest Facebook picture/discussion page.  As it stands now, the contest will be held just before and probably during the Wednesday night social hour and developers will be provided with a bar table or something similar for setup, which will allow casual “round-robin” viewing and discussion of the applications.  From there, conference attendees will vote on a winner, much like the popular poster contest that is held every year.