Henderson County High School has named Corky Taylor, Shannon Sandefur and Scott Crick, Ph.D. as its 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award recipients. Additionally, Kelsey Hargis was honored as the Outstanding Young Alumna Award recipient.
Taylor has a long and successful business career, and most recently resurrected the Peerless whiskey brand which his great-grandfather founded in Henderson more than 100 years ago.

Sandefur, a 1990 HCHS graduate, is the executive director of the Henderson County Public Library. Sandefur has been a part of numerous community programs and initiatives, a sample including Henderson Leadership Initiative, Education, Workforce, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Rotary Club board and president of the Ohio Valley Art League.

Scott Crick received his PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. In 2018, he worked with colleagues to start a company, Auragent Bioscience, LLC (now called Brightest Bio) where he leads a team of engineers, programmers, and scientists to build advanced testing platforms that enable biomedical researchers and clinicians to measure important proteins involved in disease, including neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.

Kelsey Hargis is the Community Enrichment Officer at Independence Bank, serves as a Henderson City Commissioner and a bevy of leadership and volunteer roles, including chair-elect for the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, past president of Rotaract, the Downtown Henderson Partnership Committee, HNS Alumni Committee, Inner City Economic Development Committee, Rotary and treasurer for Bluegrass in the Park.

“These recipients embody Colonel excellence,” said Amber Thomas, HCHS principal. “We are so proud of their impact on our community and the model they provide for current and future Colonels. Their accomplishments will now be permanently written into Henderson County High School history.”
To read more details about the new inductees, click here.
The induction ceremony and dinner will be held in the Preston Media Center at Henderson County High School from 6-7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24.
The event is open to the public and tickets can be purchased through Thursday, November 20 by clicking here.


















