Meredith Smith, disabled by a brain hemhorrage when she was 4 days old, spends the first half of the day in Dorsie Livers' special education class at Bardstown High School, and the other half at Sister Mary's house.

Meredith Smith, 18, waits for her mother, Debby Smith, 50, to finish preparing for the day. In addition to working back-to-back shifts as a 6th grade teacher and a cook at the family restaurant, Smith must bathe and clothe Meredith, who is developmentally disabled.

Debby Smith, 50, greets her daughter, Meredith, 18, in the morning. In addition to preparing herself for a back-to-back shift as a 6th grade teacher and a cook at the family restaurant, Smith must bathe and clothe Meredith, who is developmentally disabled.

Debby Smith takes some time in the early morning to organize her lesson plans for the day. In addition to preparing herself for a back-to-back shift as a 6th grade teacher and a cook at the family restaurant, Smith must use her mornings to bathe and clothe her 18 year-old daughter Meredith, who is developmentally disabled.

For some special needs students, like ten year old Jacob Culver, even touching the ball can be a challenge. Teachers and their aides offer some assistance, along with a ramp provided by the bowling alley.

In preparation for the Special Olympics in November, the special education classes at Bardstown Middle and High schools attend a weekly practice. 18 year-old Meredith Smith, a Special Olympian in the past, owns her own bowling shoes and ball. Dorsie Lyvers, head of the program, has been taking her classes bowling for over 20 years.

A cement truck fills up with water. The limestone blasted at the quarry, sold at $0.00 a ton, is used in everything from gravel driveways to interstate blacktop.

A sliver of rusted metal, long ago torn away from the hull of a water tank.

Pieces of worn out machinery, discarded and abandoned, dot the landscape at the quarry.

Worn and stripped tires are part of the landscape at Bardstown Quarry, which occasionally resembles a machine graveyard.

Steam from a blacktop refinery rises behind a pile of recycled asphalt.