History

A portion of the Martin-Gatton CAFE's E.S. Good Barn has been renovated with gifts from the family of Eugene and Margaret Culton.

Looking at what is now the Culton Suite in the college's E.S. Good Barn, it is hard to imagine that it once housed dairy cattle.

The story of how this space was transformed started with the marriage of Eugene and Margaret (Maggie) Culton in the early 1900s. The Cultons began raising their family and moved to the Boyle County farm they inherited from Eugene Culton's father. Both the Cultons had some formal schooling, and they both believed in education – they helped establish the Parksville High School in Boyle County, Mrs. Culton was a charter member of the Parksville Extension Homemakers Club, and the family was active in many other extension programs. The Cultons passed on the torch of education to their 10 children.

“We were expected to do well and go as far as we could,” Bob Culton, one of their sons, says now. “Our parents gave as much encouragement, aid and support as possible.”

Whatever the elder Cultons said, or did, it took. All of their children were active in 4-H, and nine of them went on to college, seven earning bachelor's degrees from the UK College of Agriculture.

In the 1980s, members of the Culton family began making various gifts to the college, mostly for scholarships. Among the donors were two of the Cultons' 10 children: Bob and Ann Culton, who contributed funds for the Governor's Scholarship, and Helen (Culton) Price and her husband, the late Bruce Price (see “Couple Honors Long-Time Family Connections with Planned Gift” in the Ag Magazine, Spring-Summer 2003.)

Eugene and Margaret Culton

They then began directing gifts to the renovation of the center section of the Good Barn to create a third jewel to go along with the already renovated Weldon Suite and Gorham Hall.

The surviving children committed to finance the renovation, and gifts from the family started coming in. The first was from a great-grandson of Eugene and Margaret Culton. Gifts in memory of one of the deceased Culton siblings were also added to the renovation fund.

The Culton Suite was dedicated in the fall of 2004. “It's a beautiful room,” said Bill Sheets, director of development. The Culton Suite is paneled in walnut, and sconce light burnishes the paneling to a soft, deep glow. Pocket doors, frosted and etched with the UK logo, separate the suite's two sections and can divide or expand the space as needed.

Among other functions, the suite serves as a meeting place for the board of directors of the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and Human Environmental Sciences Alumni Association.