DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

 

Augosto Valverde crouches beside a cow at Chaney’s Dairy Farm. He squeezes milk from a teat. The Chaneys smile on.

“This is ‘Global Child,’ Bowling Green, Kentucky!” he says cheerfully.

It was one of about a dozen places in the most recent episode of the widely watched “Global Child: Travel With Purpose” – featuring Bowling Green. The Crossland Church auditorium, at the Fairview Shopping Center, held the episode’s public premiere, which was attended by Valverde, numerous Bowling Green area partners cast throughout the episode, and others.

Valverde sums up his show as traveling the world while showcasing best experiences, sharing positive life lessons and giving back to the places visited.

The “Global Child” team shares footage with community partners. The episode’s free on Tubi and available on other streaming platforms. One stop is the Christian community center The Foundry. And, ReachTV, which programs on the most in-airport screens nationwide, has taken the show – where the episode has surpassed 22 million impressions, according to Valverde.

The roughly one-hour segment follows Valverde as he meets people across the greater Bowling Green area, sharing themes of compassion and faith. Activities include rappelling down a cliff at Hidden River Cave, tuning into live music from Jac Ross of the Angel Oak Music Group, swinging a baseball bat at Bowling Green Ballpark, taking a golf cart through Park Mammoth Golf Club and checking out the National Corvette Museum. For much of this, he’s accompanied by Western Kentucky University Spirit Master Genevieve Robinett, who takes the role of co-host – the first student to take a role last held by Miss Universe, Forbes instructors and actors, Valverde said.

The idea to spotlight Bowling Green had been conceived by his longtime friend Mary Propes Reynolds, who then introduced him to others. That it was community-organized made it different from usual episodes, which get sponsored by big tourism boards such as those in Dubai and Chile, Valverde added.

Buddy Steen, senior administrator of the Western Kentucky University Innovation Campus, helped provide destination recommendations and “really produced the show,” Valverde said.

“What a wonderful place (this) is,” said Steen, who said he’s lived here since 1984. “We have a great university … The people here are compassionate … It’s got that small town charm but now it has all of the assets that we need to grow technology companies.

“The key to getting companies like the one I would start is now to have a place like Bowling Green where … talented people want to live.”

Episode viewers can see Bowling Green from an outsider’s perspective, said Jeremy Jacobs, a tech entrepreneur at the innovation campus. He likened it to taking in the beauty of the outdoors from the passenger seat of a car rather than driving home from work without thinking about surroundings.

The episode features him for being a tech entrepreneur who lives beside Shanty Hollow Lake – “in the middle of nowhere,” as Jacobs describes it.

“What is Bowling Green to me?” he said. “It’s innovation, and it’s also tranquility.”

The episode also featured renowned local restaurateur and chef Sasha Mandrapa, owner of multiple Bowling Green restaurants, including Novo Dulce, Pub by Novo and The Bistro. For him, it stood out for the offerings highlighted across the area.

Jim Scott, featured in the episode as the owner of the Olde Stone country club, described the episode as “a great program for Bowling Green,” one that “lets other people know what’s happening here.”