Edmonson Voice Celebrates 10 Years With Roast of Owner Darren Doyle

Edmonson Voice owner Darren Doyle reacts to being roasted in celebration of 10 years running the Edmonson Voice at the Hidden Homestead Tuesday September 10 in Brownsville.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
​“Well, you won’t believe what happened next,” WDNS D93 radio host Tony Rose said would be the lead for the story about the Edmonson Voice’s 10-year anniversary, as the dinner and roast host at the Hidden Homestead Tuesday, September 10th in the Chalybeate community.
 
After 10 years of providing Edmonson County with free, always accessible--with an internet connection--news and community information, owner and most of the time sole operator Darren Doyle, 48 of Chalybeate, felt he wanted to say thank you to his sponsors and friends by celebrating his milestone of a decade with dinner and a roast.
 
A roast in Edmonson County? 
 
Yes, and this isn’t your Tom Brady’s Roast.
 
With a lineup of speakers like Edmonson County Superintendent Brian Alexander, District 19 State Representative Michael Meredith, Edmonson County Circuit Court Clerk Daniel Priddy, Bowling Green Public information Officer Debi Highland West and retired Edmonson County Sheriff and current little brother Shane Doyle, what would happen next as they were called to the stage to roast its owner, would indeed be anyone’s guess.
 
“Reading the Edmonson Voice is like getting a news update from your grandma,” Rose said.
 
Rose noted he has known Doyle for over 25 years.
 
“The TMZ of Brownsville,” Rose said of the Edmonson Voice. 
 
The model the Edmonson Voice uses for news and information dissemination is what other small counties and communities all over the world want, Rose said too.

WDNS D93 radio host Tony Rose is the master of ceremony in celebration of 10 years running the Edmonson Voice and the roast of its owner Darren Doyle at the Hidden Homestead Tuesday September 10 in Brownsville.

​Alexander met Doyle when he was coaching 7th grade basketball at Edmonson County Middle School when Doyle was in the 8th grade, he said.
 
“I didn’t know Darren had the musical talent that he had at the time when he was in eighth grade,” Alexander said. “I didn’t know he would go on to sing at the Opry. I didn’t know that he had the business mind that he had. I didn’t know he was gonna go all the places he was gonna go. I just knew his basketball work ethic wasn’t gonna take him anywhere.”
 
Alexander had been able to enjoy “a lot of fun stuff with Darren over the years,” he said.
 
Darren has made the happenings of Edmonson County accessible by only a click, and brought things like sports into the homes of folks who aren’t able to get to games but still enjoy the Wildcats and Lady Cats athletics, Alexander said.
 
“He has made us relevant in the world of information,” Alexander said.

“Small business in this community, family is everything,” Meredith said when he arrived to the podium.
 
Having grown up with all  the Doyles, each of Darren’s brothers, including Darren could be described with a “T,” he said.
 
Trouble for Dustin, technical for Shane, and “tall” for Darren,
 
Despite not winning a district basketball tournament in decades, and then being surpassed in his basketball winnings, Meredith doubts someone will pass him with what he has done with the Edmonson Voice, he said.
 
“I think it’s going to be a long time before somebody surpasses what you’ve done here in 10 years with the Edmonson Voice,” Meredith said.
 
Priddy met Doyle when he was the public affairs officer for the Kentucky State Police Post 3 and took the stage with a spoiler for the crowd--Clark Kent is a disguise.
 
“I have never met a man who pretended to be someone like a superhero pretending to be,” Priddy said about Doyle, who’s haircut, glasses, and job all pointed to the possibility.
 
Going so far as to create a media company to call himself a journalist, Priddy said in air quotes. Though if he was really Superman in disguise, he would not swing a golf club like Charles Barkley. Priddy went on to poke more fun of Doyle's terrible golf game.
 
In a time where there always seems to be tension between law enforcement and the media, it was always great to have someone like Darren Doyle, Priddy said.
 
“It’s no surprise it’s been a successful 10 years,” he said.

Edmonson Voice owner Darren Doyle responds in kind after being roasted in celebration of 10 years running the Edmonson Voice at the Hidden Homestead Tuesday September 10 in Brownsville.

​When Debi West first met Doyle she was not thrilled because she thought, as the only police beat reporter in the area for her paper, she was worried about competing for information in Edmonson County.
 
After talking to him and seeing his work, she developed respect and admiration for him “living the journalist dream, being the workhorse and shot caller,” she said.
 
Being both could be a burden to some.
 
West tells it is differently with Doyle and his level of integrity is a “testament to the kind of human Darren is,” she said.
 
Covering a horrible topic no one likes to cover, the kind that “hurt your heart and they hurt your soul,” West described a scenario where the delicate nature of a particular news story was handled with such care by Doyle, it impressed her.
 
Darren didn’t care about being first with the story, he cared about the impact on his community, she said.
 
The world could use more Darren Doyles and if there were more like him, maybe there would be more trust in the media, West said.
 
If you don’t know how talented Darren Doyle is, “Go ask him," his brother Shane said.
 
The world gets the same Darren no matter what he is doing, Shane said. Professional, courteous, and honest.
 
Though there were some experiences Shane thought, as the younger brother, would be unique only to him.
 
“I hope that I am the only person in this room that was tied to a tree and then just left there,” Shane said. “I am an expert in untying knots.”
 
Despite Shane’s four years of “indentured servitude” to Darren for an incident of quoting out loud a profane bumper sticker both boys would have gotten in trouble for, Shane still respects and loves his brother.
 
“He is as authentic as they come, he is as honest as they come and I am proud to call him my brother,” Shane said about Darren’s achievement of now 10 years running the Edmonson Voice.

The crowd gathered stands and applauds for host, roastee and Edmonson County Voice owner Darren Doyle upon completion of the 10 year celebration and roast for the the Edmonson Voice at the Hidden Homestead Tuesday September 10 in Brownsville.

​After everyone one had said their piece, there was only one thing left for the night.
 
Darren’s retort. 
 
A rebuttal that went down the line displacing the ego of each previous speaker with what was described as lies, jokes and half-truths by Rose as both a warning and invitation to tag along as the night opened.
 
Like a suction-cup-arrow toting Robin Hood, Darren stuck each with metaphoric harmless, yet sharpened barbs, and proud anecdotes. He had more than the three in his quiver he once gave to Shane when they were boys.
 
Darren thanked everyone in attendance but had extra thanks for his first clients. Patton Funeral Home, Bank of Edmonson County and Gravil Funeral Home.
 
Times were tough back then and after receiving his first advertiser's check from Roy Gravil, Darren bought groceries, he said.
 
“If Roy Gravil hadn’t written the first check I don’t know if any other checks would come,” Darren said. 
 
If it hadn’t been for those three folks believing in him, he doesn’t know if the people in front of him in the room with him would be celebrating Edmonson Voice’s 10 years, Darren said.
 
“From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate every single one of you,” Darren said. “I hope that we can be here 10 years from now.”
 
Bless y’all’s hearts.  

Editor's Note: I want to thank everyone for making the first 10 years with the Edmonson Voice so great. I've learned a lot since first creating this business, and while I'm far from doing the job perfectly, I've tried my best to do it the right way. I want to thank our host, guest speakers, advertisers, supporters, and family and friends for an entertaining and humbling night. Special thanks to Scott and Michelle Skaggs, owners of the Hidden Homestead, for allowing us to host our event there. We love our community and look forward to doing this again in another 10 years.
-Darren Doyle, founder/director