As Hurricane Helene blew itself out over Lexington on Friday night, another Southern tour de force took the stage.
Former Vice-Mayor Isabel Yates celebrated her 100th birthday with friends and family a few days before the Oct. 1 date.
She shares a 100th celebration with former President Jimmy Carter.
October is Isabel Yates Month, according to a proclamation that will be announced by Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton on Oct. 10. As the proclamation notes, Yates “learned the importance of public service from her father, a town doctor, who told her, ‘You better be proud of the place where you live, and you should live so the place is proud of you.’”
Yates grew up in South Carolina, but relocated to Lexington in the 1960s, with her husband, Wilson and soon, four children. Nonetheless, Yates turned to a host of civic projects, including a swampy old industrial area that through years of her advocacy became McConnell Springs.
It would be easier to find things she didn’t volunteer for than list them all, but let’s say she was involved with following organizations: the Arts and Heritage Festival, Kentucky Mother’s Association, Lexington Philharmonic Guild, the Lexington Tree Board, the United Way and Kentucky Educational Television.
She worked on such glamorous projects as restoring the Kentucky Theatre, and much less glamorous ones, like Lexington’s incessant storm water problems, becoming known as “the Stormwater Queen” because of her attention to runoff issues, according to spokeswoman Susan Straub.
She served on Lexington’s Urban County Council from 1991-2002, and along the way became the city’s first female vice-mayor. Another aphorism she was fond of made her get through many thorny civic issues: “No matter how thin the pancake, there are always two sides.”
Former Mayor Jim Gray, who coined Yates as the First Lady of Lexington, called her a force of nature.
“Whatever she set her mind to she accomplished it, and always with Lexington in mind,” he said.
Yates’ son, Glenn Yates, said his mother’s real strength is her sincere interest in people and making her adopted community better.
“She loves Lexington and the State of Kentucky, but mostly loves all the people and the power of what has, and will be, accomplished by working together,” he said.
So on Tuesday, raise a glass to the First Lady of All Things Good in Lexington or if you want to send her a birthday email, she’s at imyates3@gmail.com.
