This story is excerpted from an article that first appeared in Cross Roads (June 2005),
the official newspaper of the Diocese of Lexington.

New Catholic, New Farm Manager
Jay Damron Committed to Dispelling Appalachian Stereotypes
By Margaret Gabriel

Jay Damron, a native of Kentucky's Pike County and a 2005 graduate of Morehead State University, is a new Farm manager.

As the newest manager at the Glenmary Farm in Vanceburg, Ky., Jay Damron has set himself a goal to help volunteers overcome their misconceptions of folks who live in Appalachia. A native of Pikeville, Ky., and a soon-to-be graduate of Morehead State University, Damron is rare among Farm managers: one who comes from the Appalachian region.

Jay's experience as a Farm manager started during one of the busiest weeks of the summer. Groups of volunteers had come from Chicago; Jersey City, N.J.; Midland, Mich., and from a Glenmary mission in Eupora, Miss. Jay and fellow managers Mike Dorn and Dave Turner were responsible for transporting volunteers to their work sites, making sure that they were safe and helping them to have an enjoyable and valuable experience.

"It was good to be thrown in like that," Jay says, and during his first week, he was able to share much about the culture of the region with which the groups had had little experience.

"The guys from New Jersey loved my accent," he says, "and somebody else asked me if we were in the land of 'sweet tea.'"

Jay comes from a family that placed a high value on education. That gives him the ability to step back and observe the cultural differences between the people who live and grow up in the mountains and those from the "outside."

"People look at the stereotype of 'Billy Bob,' who doesn't have a lot of education and drinks too much and gets into trouble, and they think we're all like that," Jay says. "I'm not saying that there aren't people like that around here, but sometimes I wonder why, when they think of people in the mountains, they think of 'Billy Bob' and not 'The Waltons.'"

Jay is outside the mold of the "typical" Pike County resident because of his conversion to Catholicism. There are a few Catholics in his extended family. But he has a distant cousin Father Bob Damron who is pastor of St. Martha Parish in Kentucky's Floyd County.

Like many natives of Eastern Kentucky, Jay knew little about Catholics when he was growing up. "We didn't think they had horns, we just thought they were a little odd," he said. He became more acquainted with the faith through his cousin, Linda Tackett Wright, a member of the parish in Prestonsburg, Ky., and he frequently attended Mass with her when he was in college.

He recalls a discussion in a sociology class that focused on school prayer. During the course of the discussion, an older member was of the opinion that prayer should definitely be allowed in public classrooms. "At some point, though, she changed her mind," Jay says. "She said, 'Why, some Catholic could come in and teach 'em to pray their way!' I told I'd gone to Mass many times and there was nothing they would hear at Mass that wouldn't follow the Christian faith, but I never could convince her."

During his years of attending Mass, Jay observed the strength that Linda drew from her faith. When he asked Father Damron how to learn more about Catholicism, he recommended RCIA. At the time, Jay was living in Sandersville, Ga. While the community had a Catholic parish, it did not have an RCIA program. So Jay enrolled in the program when he returned for college to Morehead, Ky., in 2003. He received the sacraments of initiation at the 2005 Easter Vigil.

Knowing that Jay is interested in service and ministry, Octavia Fleck, the youth minister at the Morehead parish, suggested that he contact Glenmary to investigate volunteer work. Jay found himself attracted to the Farm because of the opportunities it gives him to "dispel stereotypes," he says. "I know the culture of the people here and I really want to work in a rural setting," he says. He majored in psychology and is considering a career in that field. He considered attending seminary before his baptism and continues that discernment.

He feels comfortable with the rustic quality of life at the Farm, "because I've lived this way before. The people here in Lewis County remind me of the people I grew up with in Pike County."

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