La Grange Faces — Kathy Calderon

1. Name: Kathy Calderon
2. Occupation: Senior at Oldham County High School and part-time employee of McDonald’s in La Grange.
3. Hometown: Lima, Peru.
4. Current Neighborhood: La Grange, near downtown.
5. Number of years in La Grange: Four years (Kathy was 14 when she moved here to live with her father, Oscar Calderon, and she could barely speak English. She now speaks English fluently and will graduate from OCHS in May!).
6. My favorite annual event is: Light Up La Grange.
7. I would love it if: More people would visit La Grange.
8. My favorite local secret is: Shopping on Main Street and looking at old stuff.
9. Tell us something we don’t know about La Grange: La Grange is the only town in the country that has an operating train tracks running literally down Main Street.
10. I want: More activities in La Grange!
11. I’m working on: I’m working on going to college after coming back from a visit to Peru.
12. My perfect evening involves: Going to the movies with my friends.
13. My favorite La Grange restaurant is: Cracker Barrel, because it has a lot of old stuff and good breakfast food.
14. My favorite retail shop is: Any on Main Street because of all the cute stuff to buy.
15. I like to hang out at: The park or skate park.
16. My favorite local artist is: Sam “Tio Loco” Stringer, of course!
17. The best thing that’s happened to La Grange is: I don’t know the best thing that has happened to La Grange, but the best thing that’s happened to me in La Grange is different culture and food. Plus, all my new friends.
18. La Grange is special because: My step-mom’s (Christie Stringer Baisis) family grew up here and she told me a lot of history about La Grange.
19. I love La Grange because: It’s a small town, everything is green and pretty, and is not like the city where I used to live.

Sam and Elaine Stringer of Stringer Photography (web site) snapped this image of Katherine A. Calderon. Sam snaps photos of wedding cakes, weddings, people, and La Grange from a 105′ fire truck ladder. Whether it is a high school senior portrait session, a family or children’s portrait session, or any other excuse that you can create for being photographed, they can help ensure that not only will you love the photograph, but you will also remember the experience as being relaxing and pleasant. You can find Sam (and his partner and wife, Elaine) at their Facebook page, too.

Kathy wrote her answers to the questionnaire by hand, so Sam and Elaine typed them up and also added a few of their own remarks to provide more of an idea of her story. Sam and Elaine photographed Kathy with the “Flying Duchess.” Elaine thought of a title for the image, “The Two Immigrants,” since both Kathy and the little engine are both from foreign countries. Kathy became a U.S. citizen just before her 18th birthday this past November.

The Louisville Harrods Creek & Westport Railway Foundation, owner of the Flying Duchess, recently agreed to loan the steam locomotive to the Ohio Valley Railroad Historical Foundation, Inc. for 20 years with an option to transfer ownership to OVRHF at any time.

The steam locomotive 7745 (MEA No. 2) named “Flying Duchess” was built in England by the Robert Stephenson & Hawthorne Company in 1952. Upon close inspection it may seem clear that the Flying Duchess was built upon the same design as the famous children’s TV character, Thomas the Tank Engine. The Flying Duchess was delivered to town in summer, 2011, and sits on the grounds of the old railroad depot that currently houses the Oldham County Chamber of Commerce.