The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Breeding, Stivers to be co-grand marshals





 

 

The theme for the 35th Mountain Heritage Festival is “Back Where I Come From”, and Dr. Van Stanley Breeding and Regina Combs Stivers have accepted the 2017 Festival Committee’s invitation to serve as co-grand marshals of the festival parade.

Dr. Van Stanley Breeding is the son of the late Van and Joy Wray Frazier Breeding of Isom. He was graduated from Whitesburg High School in 1980 and attended the University of Kentucky medical school and completed his residency there in 1991. With the opportunity to practice medicine in many other places, he chose to come back where he came from to practice medicine. He said, “Going somewhere else was never ever a thought. I grew up in this town. I went to high school in this town. All of my family is in this town. My patients are either family or friends of mine.”

Dr. Breeding has dedicated his career to helping the people in Letcher, Harlan and Perry County. He begins his day at 5 a.m. making rounds at the Whitesburg hospital. After taking time to walk for exercise, he starts his day at Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation by 8:30 a.m. and sees as many as 40 or more patients in the clinic. He often makes rounds at Letcher Manor Nursing Home or Tri-Cities Nursing and Rehab in the evenings, putting in 16 to 18 hours a day caring for his patients.

Dr. Breeding is instrumental in the development and support of Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation’s FARMACY Program, that began in 2015. Since then, this program has provided qualified families or individuals who have dietary restrictions with “prescriptions” for fresh, local fruits and vegetables to be redeemed at the Letcher County Farmers Market.

Tireless in his commitment to Letcher County, Dr. Breeding can often be found conducting fundraisers and supporting local arts and cultural programs such as the Carcassonne Community Center square dances and the Letcher County Central High School Drama Program. Despite his busy workday, he attends sporting events, local festivals and other community events. A lifelong member of the Isom Presbyterian Church, Dr. Breeding, his wife Pauletta and their three daughters, Vannah, Cassidy and Kennedy, are active in their church.

Dr. Breeding was recently named the 2017 Country Doctor of the Year. The award was established as a way to recognize rural physicians and has been presented annually by Staff Care to a deserving physician since 1992.

Regina Combs Stivers was appointed Deputy Secretary of Kentucky’s Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet by Governor Matt Bevin in January 2016. She assists Secretary Don Parkinson in overseeing 17 diverse agencies.

Ms. Stivers has many years of experience in Kentucky public service at both the state and federal levels. Most recently, she served as the central Kentucky field director for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell since 2011. She also held a similar position in eastern Kentucky for former U.S. Senator Jim Bunning from 2008 to 2010 and served as Executive Director for Economic Development for Rockcastle County following her work with Senator Bunning. Ms. Stivers worked in Governor Ernie Fletcher’s administration as Executive Director of Boards & Commissions for the Commonwealth.

Ms. Stivers is the daughter of Bennett and Linda Combs of Ice. She is a 1980 graduate of Whitesburg High School and a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University.

Ms. Stivers and her husband, Senator Robert Stivers, share their time between Manchester and Frankfort. Together they have seven children and eight grandchildren.

In accepting the 2017 Festival Committee’s invitation to serve as co-grand marshal of the festival parade, Ms. Stivers will be “back where she came from” among friends and family in Letcher County.


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