U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., stopped by South Warren High School on Monday morning to congratulate senior Gavin Wilson on his appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Some things can’t be replaced. But an exact copy doesn’t hurt.

Second District U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., visited Bowling Green on Monday morning, making a stop at city hall to replace a treasured award that was lost in the December 2021 tornadoes.

Guthrie said constituents would often tell him about the special items they lost to the deadly storm, and most of the time nothing could be done.

But not for Natalie Williams.

Back in 2007, seven women’s basketball players from Bowling Green and two from Owensboro made the trip to Shanghai to represent the United States in that year’s Special Olympics World Games.

The offense ran through Williams at point guard, and the Kentucky-based roster earned gold medals. But Williams lost the physical reminder of her Olympic achievements when her parents’ home was destroyed by the vortex.

“They were a direct hit by our tornado and lost most everything,” Guthrie said. “… If somebody sees this and they find it, it’d be great to have the original (medal) returned, it could be in a field somewhere.”

Thanks to Guthrie’s congressional connections, another medal was tracked down for Williams.

The Special Olympics were created by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister to former President John F. Kennedy, in the late 60s. Guthrie explained the situation to Kennedy family member Joe Kennedy III, currently serving as U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, who got in touch with Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics and son of Eunice.

“We thought we’d have this done pretty quickly. I thought for sure they’d have extra medals,” Guthrie said.

That was not the case, but Guthrie said Shriver tracked down the office the Special Olympics used in 2007 and a gold medal was found sitting in a drawer all these years later.

“I get a text back from Joe: ‘Here’s my cousin Tim’s number, we found a gold medal for you,’ ” Guthrie said.

As far as Guthrie knows, the replacement medal is the last one out there from the 2007 games.

Williams’ second gold medal ceremony looked a lot different from the first – no National Anthem, the Bowling Green City Hall foyer steps acting as podium – but Williams was all smiles.

“It was amazing being in the games with my friends, and taking care of everyone and loving on them and making sure they had the best experience,” Williams said. “Thank you.”

Williams will have her new medal framed and displayed just like her original.

Guthrie also made a stop at South Warren High School on Monday to recognize senior Gavin Wilson, who received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Applicants have to be nominated by a member of Congress before service academies can consider them for entry. Guthrie’s Second District Academy Board chose Wilson.

“One of my favorite things to do as a member of Congress is to nominate people to attend one of our service academies,” Guthrie said. “It is just extremely difficult to get into these schools these days.”

Guthrie, who attended the military academy of West Point, told Wilson to expect an experience that was “100% military and 100% college.”

Wilson said it was a long process to receive an appointment, joking that it was slightly annoying to deal with the sheer amount of paperwork it required.

“You have to take a physical fitness test, you have to take the ACT, SAT, those sorts of things, then you also have to apply for nominations,” Wilson said. “I did several of those through Brett Guthrie’s office and Sen. Rand Paul’s office.”

Wilson also had to take a medical exam. Once everything was shipped off it turned into one big waiting game.

“That was the big part of it for me, the fact that I sent my stuff in and all you could do is just wait, and thankfully I got a good response,” he said.

Neither of Wilson’s parents served, but “both of my parents’ parents were in the military,” he said. Seeing his grandfather’s passion for his time in the service rubbed off on Wilson.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, probably since I was in elementary school; or at least it was in the back of my mind,” Wilson said. “But once I got into high school I kind of realized that is something that I really wanted to pursue.”