BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Christmas in the Mountains has named its 2025 royalty, honoring two longtime pillars of the community. Everett Horn Jr. of Inez will serve as Mr. Christmas in the Mountains, joined by Lovely’s Carol Sue Mills as Ms. Christmas in the Mountains. The pair will be crowned Sunday, Dec. 7 during the Merry Little Christmas Party at the Collier Center.
The celebration, set for 6 to 8 p.m., will offer dinner, dancing and live music, creating a holiday evening built around community and tradition.
Tickets, $15 for singles and $25 per couple, must be purchased in advance at Paula’s Hair Images, Spirit Shop or via PayPal at citmfunds@gmail.com.
Horn: A lifetime of service
Few people have influenced as many corners of Martin County as Everett Horn Jr., whose years in education, athletics, community action and business have now led to his selection as the 2025 Mr. Christmas in the Mountains.
Horn was born at home on Rockhouse on May 3, 1939, to Clara and Everett Horn. When he was six, the family moved to Stafford on Route 40, about a half mile from Tomahawk School. He attended Tomahawk Grade School through eighth grade before beginning his freshman year at Inez High School.
“I loved playing basketball, and I was selected to play with the freshmen team,” Horn recalled. “I continued to play basketball and, in my junior and senior years, I was fortunate enough to be selected as a Kentucky All-State basketball player.”
That talent carried him beyond Martin County. After graduating from Inez High School, Horn received a full basketball scholarship to Eastern Kentucky State University. But being far from home was more difficult than he expected.
“While at Eastern I was not allowed to come home until Christmas,” he said. “As an old country boy, I was homesick. I told them I would finish the semester, but then I was leaving.”
A second scholarship, already secured at Pikeville College, offered a path back home.
“I knew that I already had a scholarship to Pikeville College,” Horn said.
During Christmas break he visited Pikeville, where college officials confirmed he could transfer midyear.
“They told me to come in and bring my grades, and I could start in the second semester, so I finished my college education at Pikeville College.”
Years later, he saw that same homesickness in his daughter Nancy, then a student at the University of Kentucky.
“Her mother wanted her to stay, but since I knew what it was like and how hard it is being homesick, I went and brought her home,” said Horn.
He asked his daughter to promise to return within four years to finish her degree.
“She kept her promise,” he said. “She not only went back but she continued to finish college and went on to graduate from pharmacy school.”
Horn married Carolyn Preece in June 1960.
“We have four wonderful children: one son, EJ, and three daughters, Leslie, Nancy and Clara,” Horn noted.
Horn graduated from Pikeville College in 1961 and immediately stepped into a coaching career.
“I was fortunate to be hired as the head coach at Inez High School after graduation,” he said.
His team lost only five games that first season.
“One of those losses was to Ashland High School, which won the Kentucky State tournament that year,” Horn recalled. “Another one of those five losses was to Virgie High School in the semifinals of the 15th Regional Tournament by one point.”
He coached one additional season before transitioning into school administration.
“I went to Venters Branch Grade School as principal,” he said. “I was principal there for about two and a half years.”
In 1964, national change soon reshaped Horn’s career. President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty. By 1965, the Big Sandy Community Action Program was operating across Martin, Magoffin, Johnson, Floyd, Pike and Lawrence counties.
“I was hired as director of the Big Sandy Community Action Program and worked out of the main office in Paintsville,” Horn said.
Many of the programs born in that era still exist today.
“Head Start, which is a wonderful program for children, is one,” Horn said. “Also, the senior citizens program.”
The agency also funded local jobs and infrastructure across the region.
“Each district in each county had a program to hire unemployed workers, and they were paid minimum wage,” Horn said. “Some worked on county roads and other workers were hired to build bridges.”
Many of those bridges remain in use.
“Some of the men working on bridges chiseled rocks out of hillsides and used the rock for the bridge piers,” he said. “There were at least 100 bridges built during this period… Many of those bridges, especially the piers, are still standing today.”
The program also remodeled homes for elderly residents and helped start businesses in Inez.
“During the time I was working as director we started a business in Inez,” Horn recounted. “We bought Inez Cleaners and Laundromat. The children were still at home during this time and when they got old enough each of them worked at the cleaners.”
By 1985, Horn decided to leave the Big Sandy CAP and focus fully on business ownership. He launched a series of enterprises.
“The second business was a convenience store at Milo called Horn’s BP,” he said. “Next was Inez Pump and Shop, which I purchased from John Clarke, then I purchased the Impala Motel and Car Wash. The last business I built was a truck stop on Route 23 about 2 or 3 miles from the intersection of Route 645, called Horn’s Truck Stop.”
Over time, he sold all of the businesses except the convenience store at Milo, which he still operates today.
Now 86, Horn reflects on a life marked by service, entrepreneurship, family and unwavering loyalty to his home county. His connection to local athletics continues as he serves on the board of the Martin County Hall of Fame & Museum, helping to recognize outstanding local athletes and preserve the county’s sports history. He was also a first-round inductee into the Hall of Fame himself.
Mills: 25 years as clerk and decades of service
Former Martin County Clerk Carol Sue Mills has been selected as the 2025 Ms. Christmas in the Mountains, an honor that recognizes a lifetime of service to Martin County.
Mills devoted 25 years to the people of Martin County as their elected clerk, a constitutional office that demands precision, integrity and a deep command of state law. County clerks oversee elections, deeds, mortgages, vehicle registrations, marriage licenses, fiscal court records and millions of dollars in public transactions each year.
The role placed Mills at the center of courthouse operations. She guided the office through multiple administrations, earning a reputation as one of Martin County’s most trusted and knowledgeable public officials. She also served as the fiscal court’s recorder during her tenure.
Her career extended further. Mills worked six years for Kentucky District 12, served five years as financial officer for Judge/Executive John B. Callaham, and spent 13 years as office manager for Peter Cave Coal Company.
Mills’ involvement in community service ran just as deep. She led the Kiwanis Club of Greater Martin County as president for 15 years.
During that same period, she served as president of the Martin County Pumpkin Fest, the long-running predecessor to today’s Harvest Festival. Her work with the Kiwanis Club’s food basket and toy drive earned her recognition as a WSAZ-TV Hometown Hero.
A member of Lovely Freewill Baptist Church for more than 50 years, Mills has deep roots in the community she continues to call home. A native Martin Countian, she is the daughter of the late Rev. Russell Melvin Kirk and Dora Davis Kirk.
Mills was married to Leroy Mills for 46 years before he passed from cancer, and together they raised three daughters: Tonya, Tamny and Tina. Today she is the grandmother of two granddaughters and the great-grandmother of two great-granddaughters and two great-grandsons.
Mills says she has always loved Martin County and feels blessed to be living in the homeplace on the hill in Lovely. She is the daughter of the late Rev. Russell Melvin Kirk and Dora Davis Kirk.