Two fire hydrants now display the Glasgow Tartan

By Allyson Dix, Managing Editor/Barren County Progress

The old expression of painting the town red has a new meaning for Glasgow except now it includes blue and green.

Two high school seniors have taken the lead on a project to paint the Glasgow Tartan on two fire hydrants on the west side of Glasgow. Madeline Prichard, a Barren County High School senior, and Sheree Fraleigh, a senior at Glasgow High School, worked together to execute the project that highlights the blue, green, and red colors of the tartan.

The initial idea was born two years ago after the City of Glasgow took on a rebranding project with a new logo and slogan. Alongside the Downtown Glasgow Business Association (GDBA), former fire chief William Rock gave the green light for the project for the downtown area.

The project itself hasn’t really had a jump start with anyone undertaking the project and while The Peoples Bank is not in the official downtown area of Glasgow, the bank’s President and CEO, Terry Bunnell, said he wanted to take on the project and successfully assigned it to Prichard. Bunnell also shared that the new fire chief is also supportive of the project.

Fraleigh, a girl with many talents, volunteered to take on the painting of the hydrants. The two girls are connected through their friendship and their church.

“I reached out and asked Sheree if she’d be interested, and she was willing and excited about it,” Prichard said.

Prichard said a lot of research went into the Glasgow Scotland Tartan as well as ensuring the correct paint was used, regulations were followed, and no code violations would result from the project.

“She’s done a great job,” Prichard said of Fraleigh’s work.

Both fire hydrants are located near The Peoples Bank with one being at the intersection of West Main Street and Industrial Drive, and the other is at the intersection of West Main Street and GL Coomer Road.

Eight different tartan patterns were options taken into consideration; however, Bunnell said the Glasgow Tartan was chosen to highlight Glasgow’s heritage.

“There are a host of tartans, but we are focusing on the Glasgow Tartan to draw light to our Scottish heritage,” Bunnell said.

Painting fire hydrants isn’t something anyone can just take to doing, and one of the things that must remain is the top color of the hydrant. If anyone is interested in taking on a similar project, especially in the downtown square area, Bunnell encourages to reach out to the Downtown Glasgow Business Association and Glasgow Fire Chief Lucas Tinsley.

Bunnell concluded that these projects and others are just a part of being in a community.

“There are a lot of activities occurring in our community, they’re very positive,” Bunnell said. “People are volunteering, people are taking on and doing projects, and this is just another example of us helping the City of Glasgow to have fun, make it look a little different, and take some pride in our community. It’s a small item but yet it can generate a lot of good, and that’s what we want to do.”

GDBA’s treasurer, Jeff Jobe said the former fire chief had given the non-profit organization the approval to help paint the hydrants in the downtown area.

“The idea of painting tartans on them was discussed because it proved to be difficult because of the different styles of hydrants and needs for color coding the tops to them,” Jobe said. He added that in a recent meeting, it was briefly discussed and agreed to explore the possibility of a more simple “tartan band” painted around each of them but no plans have been finalized.

However, Jobe commended the artistic work done by Fraleigh as a first of its kind in the community.

“It looks very nice and sure to accomplish our goal of creating a unique aspect of our city,” Jobe said.

A tartan is a woven pattern of two or more alternating colored stripes. When combined vertically and horizontally, they form a repeated checkered pattern. The Scottish Tartans Authority has indexed over 7,000 entries and none of them are the same. Some of the others Bunnell said are considered include the tartans of the State of Kentucky, Coalminers, Firefighters, Law Enforcement, Music, the United States, and even a Whiskey/Bourbon Tartan.