SOKY HAPPENINGS MAGAZINE - BOWLING GREEN ADVERTISING

Our June Guess Who subject is none other than SOKY Happening's very own Tim Hurst. Tim has been around these parts for most of his life and has been a business owner for many years. He's currently the co-owner and publisher of SOKY Happenings and also runs an advertising agency, T. Hursts & Associates. Tim's wife, Twila, helps run both businesses and also helps keep Tim sane. Although he spends most of his waking hours working, Tim is also involved in various organizations around town including Aviation Heritage Park and tries to find time for his passion... photography... which, of course, sometimes shows up in the pages of SOKY Happenings. 

 

What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?

Captain Kangaroo. I always loved the ping-pong balls falling on the Captain when Mr. Moose would tell a knock knock joke.

 

When you were in elementary school, what did you want to be when you grew up? Why?

I wanted to own my own business because I have always been bad at taking orders.

 

Where did you go to high school?

I’m a Purple. Bowling Green High School class of 1973.

 

What is one of your best childhood memories?

Working on my uncle’s farm. He would leave my cousins and me a list of chores to do when he left for work in the morning and when we finished we could take the old, beat-up farm truck and drive it to the creek for swimming. That’s when I learned to drive a straight-shift vehicle and became familiar with the term… “Grind them until you find them!”

 

What was your first job?

I started working when I was 12 as a paperboy. I learned some of my first business lessons about buying a product, newspapers, selling them at a profit to my route customers and repeating the process.

 

How many states have you been to? Which was your favorite to visit?

I have no idea… probably not half of them. As corny as it sounds, I truly love Kentucky. My wife and I often travel, and I have never found any place I would rather visit, much less live, than right here.

 

How many countries have you been to? Which was your favorite to visit?

Not many… maybe three. I really enjoyed Jamaica.

 

What do you do to relax?

I am very bad at relaxing. My wife and I are both workaholics and a 60-hour work week is like vacation for us. But I also love to read. I usually go through at least one book for entertainment each week and escaping in those pages is about as relaxed as I ever get.

 

What stresses you out?

Nearly everything. I am a detail person, and when things are not lined up and on time and going properly I am stressed. So, in our world, I am stressed most of the time.

 

What hobby would you get into if money and time weren’t an issue?

I’m blessed in that I already do that hobby. I love photography and have been shooting pictures for fun and for work for many, many years including work for TV stations, newspapers and magazines all around this part of the country.

 

What is your favorite book, and why is it your favorite?

Again, it will probably sound a bit corny to some, but my favorite book is the Bible. There is no more important set of rules and guidelines and it is as timely today as it was thousands of years ago.

 

How long have you lived in South Central Kentucky?

Over 50 years. My dad’s company moved him here when I was in the second grade and other than a short time in Benton and Henderson, I have lived in either Bowling Green or Glasgow all the rest of those years.

 

What do you enjoy doing around town or in this region?

Nearly everything. I love all the great attractions in this area, which is one of the reasons my wife and I love SOKY Happenings. We love how it helps tell people what a great place this is to live, work and play and helps them find those attractions through the SOKY Events Calendar in the magazine and the SOKY website.

 

Describe your most embarrassing moment.

I guess I have been pretty lucky or careful and as an adult I have not run into many truly embarrassing moments. However, in my high school days I was out with a very nice young lady one time and we stopped to have a quiet chat… I think maybe in a cemetery. Truly, we were just holding hands and talking, when there was a rap on the window and a stern policeman wanted to know who we were visiting… his attempt at humor with two terrified kids. The young lady was the daughter of a local, prominent person and the policeman recognized her. He promised not to tell “daddy” if we left and never returned. Since I am still alive, I assume he kept his word and didn’t tell “daddy”! Honestly, I can’t say the same about us!

 

Describe the most frightening thing you’ve ever done.

In my early media career I worked in the news and creative departments at WBKO. The head of the creative department had the idea of using a hot air balloon to promote the station and wanted aerial film (yes… we were still shooting film in those days) of the balloon. I was “volunteered” to shoot the film and we took off in a small plane to get the footage. However, trying to shoot out the window of the plane just was not working. The pilot took us back to the airport where they removed the seat of the plane, took the door off, got me a pillow and strapped me, sitting on the pillow, to the floor of the plane. Off we went and the view out that open door was beautiful and terrifying. I got great footage of the balloon and was so proud that I didn’t throw up or ruin the pillow.

 

If you could have dinner with anyone (alive or dead), who would it be and why?

My Mom and Dad. By the time you read this I might be a grandfather. After 62 years on this planet I have learned many things. One of the most important is how blessed I was to have such great parents. They were not perfect but they gave me so much and are mostly responsible for whatever I have become and accomplished… such as it is. They taught me about hard work, the value of money and, most of all, the importance of being fair and honest with folks. I miss both of them every day and just hope and pray that I have been half as good to my son and that my wife and I are successful and supportive grandparents.

 

Tell about something in your life that you are proud of.

My reputation. I’m sure it would not be hard to find folks who don’t like me. Where our clients and team are concerned, I can be very forceful in defending them and advancing their businesses. But I always try to do what I say I will do. When I am wrong, I admit my mistake and do my best to make it better. And I never lie about important things. If your shirt is ugly… I’m likely to fudge on the truth a bit and tell you how creative or colorful it is. But if your business is in trouble because you are making bad marketing decisions, I will look you in the eye and tell you the truth. I would like to say I don’t lie because I’m such a good person. But I suspect the truth is I’m just not creative enough or a good enough actor, or have a good enough memory to be successful at it.

 

What is your greatest strength and/or weakness?

My greatest strength is my faith, my friends and my family. Yes, I know it is corny but any small success I have had is because God has blessed me, my friends have encouraged me and my family has supported me. My greatest weakness is, according to my good friend Alvin Ford… I write too much!

 

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

I cry. I will cry at the touching message in a good TV commercial. I love sappy movies and love it when the good guys win and the bad guys get what they deserve. What can I say… I’m just an old-fashioned guy who is too vain to wear a white hat.

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The answer to this month's SOKY Happenings Guess Who is none other than SOKY Co-Ower/Publisher Tim Hurst. It took an act of congress to get him to agree to do it but as you have no doubt realized... Alvin Ford is correct... he surely does like to write... a lot!