Local talent leaves tragedies behind

Monday, January 03, 2005

The slaying changed Scott Day forever.

He was shot nine times, he said of his brother, James ONeal Proctor, who was killed in Bowling Green when Day, now 36, was still a teen.

I think thats when death and those things became real to me, Day said. I remember when the call came and my mom thought the person telling her Neal was dead was joking. Then, I remember the scream. Ill never forget that.

But Day has forgiven his brothers killer.

I consider myself a half angel, he said.

And he thinks everyone else is, as well.

Depending on the situation, people shift their values of right and wrong, Day said. If you steal, thats bad. If you steal because youre hungry, thats more acceptable. If I show the guy that killed my brother some mercy, maybe later, when I need it, Ill get it.

Last year, Day founded Half Angel Productions here. Through the theater company, hes written a screenplay called Little Chicago about the days when mafia-like connections here were well-publicized all over the United States.

Now, Days planning to stage the play as a dinner theater at Mariahs on Jan. 24, in partnership with Broadforest Theatre Company. Anthony Benberry, a Western Kentucky University student, is turning the play into a movie.

Brandon Bradshaw, who founded Broadforest two years ago, said Day has many great ideas.

Hes an all-around good guy whos very ambitious, and I believe if he put his mind to it, he could do anything, Bradshaw said.

Day and Bradshaw plan to make Little Chicago into a series of dinner theater productions that follow the Little Chicago story into present-day events that center around college students.

Theyre also planning to present school day productions about tough issues that arent often addressed on high school stages. Day hopes they will help teenagers.

Theres a lot of stuff that goes on, he said simply.

Day was born in Bowling Green to Lillie and the now late William Day, and in addition to his late brother, Neal, hes a brother to Richard Proctor, Stanley Proctor and Ernie Day.

Lillie Day said Day could read when he was 2.

He would get the newspaper down in the floor and would pick out words, she said.

The family lived right down Center Street, here in the riverfront area, Day said. Wed play football in the (Pioneer) cemetery here. Wed look at the tombstones and be amazed at how old some of them were.

He went to Potter-Gray Elementary School, Bowling Green Junior High School and Bowling Green High School, where he enjoyed music.

After high school, Day married and joined the Army.

I was a medic, he said. I liked the traveling part in Texas, Korea and New York.

Through the years, Day and his wife had three girls, Chasity, Whitney and Amber Nicole. In 1990, Amber Nicole, died of sudden infant death syndrome.

Day said he and his wife blamed ourselves.

He thought his daughter had been punished for his bad deeds for every unkind word hed said to his wife.

It took him years, he said, to forgive himself. In the meantime, Day and his wife divorced. Hed also left the Army after three years.

There was a part of me that was a little more free-spirited than the military would allow, Day said. I came back (to Bowling Green) and went to tech schools in order to work in the nursing field, including being a certified medication administrator.

I liked that, Day said. I liked helping people more than anything else.

He worked at Greenview Regional Hospital, Mediplex Rehabilitation Hospital and Bowling Green Biologicals.

Then, a friend who worked at WBKO-TV encouraged him to apply for a job there.

Day did because I wanted to do everything, he said. I didnt want to do one thing as a vocation.

At WBKO, Day was trained to be a cameraman and master control operator. He stayed at the job for two years and said it turned out to be really cool.

He especially liked working on the evening news. But a friend who lived in Apple Valley, Calif., encouraged him to move out there. He did, and enjoyed making use of the juggling skills a roommate had taught him years before.

I taught juggling and a stage performance class for Apple Valley Community Recreation Center in California, Day said, and also worked at a restaurant.

Day said he loved life in California.

It rocks, he said. I love the sunshine and the mountains. Its warm and the people are really down to earth.

But after his father died in September 2003 after a long illness, Day moved back to Bowling Green to be closer to his mom.

Now, he said, hes glad to be here.

When I came back I really had a love for the place and realized how deep-rooted my connection to the place is.

In May, Day helped Martha Madison organize An Invitation to Dance, which was a fund-raiser for the Capitol Arts Center, and he realized he had a knack for putting on shows.

Now, in addition to his other plans, hes hoping to stage Kabuki theater at RiverWalk at Mitch McConnell Park, which is near where he grew up.

Being at riverfront park would be kind of like a homecoming, Day said as he sat in the Daily News building, where he works in the packaging department, in addition to working at Lemox book stores. Id be looking at the same place that kind of molded me.

And hed be giving back to his old haunts.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700