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Joyce Fletcher, Oldham County

Negotiating rough waters

You might think 15-year Oldham County school board member Joyce Fletcher is something of a daredevil: skiing, flying a plane, whitewater rafting.

But she says it’s more about love of family than love of adventure.

Her husband, physician Eugene “Rick” Fletcher (pictured in the raft with her), and their four now-grown sons love outdoor sports, she explained. “He just has an extreme sense of adventure and the boys are likewise. So if I want to do anything with this family, I had to develop the same interests,” she said.

The family backpacks, camps and snow skis and Fletcher acts as co-pilot for her husband in their private plane.

Most recently, the family has taken up whitewater rafting. After several years of entering the permit lottery for individuals rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, one of their sons hit the jackpot for 2016.

“I need to get in shape and I need to be able to put that boat where I want it to go,” Fletcher said. “The trip is 16 days, and in July it’s 120 degrees in the Grand Canyon and it’s over 200 miles of river. And I guess it has some of the most serious whitewater rapids in the country.”

Fletcher, a nurse, admits she is more fearful of whitewater than the rest of her family. But she said that is offset by her love of the outdoors and her family, especially since their sons now are scattered across the country.

“What I really love is the time I have to spend with my family and those activities bring us together,” she said.