‘He was always there:’ A look back at how Sam Dick dedicated his time to central Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Over the last few days, we’ve shown you Sam Dick’s career over the years, the stories he’s told, and the impact he’s made on the anchor desk.

We’re focusing on the work he’s done outside of the studio and in the community.

Though most of Kentucky knows Sam Dick as the professional who they counted on to inform them every evening, there are others who also depended on Sam and knew him as the guy who was always there.

“Sam will always say, ‘yes, I would love to. Please let me know that enough time in advance and let me see if I can fit it in my schedule,’” said Phillip Blankenship with Boy Scouts of America.

“He had to check his schedule, but he was always there. He added a great deal to what we were doing,” said Chip Armishaw with Blue Grass Council.

Sam’s love of the Boy Scouts started at a young age and hasn’t stopped to this day.

“Asked somebody at counsel, ‘what rank did he make it to?’ They said ‘oh, Sam’s an Eagle Scout,’” Blankenship said.

An Eagle Scout who now uses his position to inspire others. Blankenship said he first met Sam about 10 years ago and he’s become a go-to speaker for them.

“Sam is a person, if you invite him out, you feel like you’ve known him all your life. The people instantly connect and he’ll very quickly tell you, ‘don’t sit back there in the audience, pull chairs up, let’s talk. I don’t want to lecture, I want to talk to you,’” Blankenship said.

The scouts aren’t the only ones who knew they could rely on Sam.

“From day one, he made it so easy for all of us. Anybody who was involved, Sam just made it easy on you,” said Jenny Wurzback with Easter Seals Cardinal Hill.

Starting in 1988, Sam was one of the hosts of the yearly Easter Seals Cardinal Hill telethon, until it ended in 2015.

“One of the things I will always admire him for is how much effort he took to make sure that the patients and the families that we were working with, how respectful he was. He wanted to really understand who they were, what their journey has been, and how would the telethon wind up helping other people like that?” Wurzback said.

Over the years Sam has said yes to hundreds of events, filling countless needs. No matter how busy he was at work, or what was happening outside of it.

“There were times that the telethon would either fall on his birthday, or very near it, didn’t matter. Sam was right there. It wasn’t about him. It was about the patients and the families we were representing. And the work that was to be done that day to help raise funds for Kentucky Easter Seals Cardinal Hill,” Wurzback said.

Now that he’s retiring, his news schedule may slow down, but knowing Sam, helping others won’t.

“That’s just the kind of guy he is, you know. Being an Eagle Scout, you do a good turn for other people. And I think Sam embodies that,” Armishaw said.

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