WILMORE — More than 2.5 million people around the world learned something today that those at Asbury University in Wilmore have known for a long time: Wilmore is the nicest place in Kentucky.

“We are excited to be recognized as a nice place to live,” Wilmore Mayor Harold Rainwater said. “From our outstanding schools and universities, Thomson-Hood Veteran Center, Wesley Village, our parks and recreation program, outstanding police and fire department to our Festivals (we are) proud to be the home town of great people and nice events and to protect and serve.” 

In a story released on the “Readers’ Digest” Web site about the “Nicest Places in Every State,” Wilmore was chosen as the nicest place in Kentucky.

What set Wilmore apart from other cities in the Bluegrass State for the editors this time? The ways in which the city and Asbury University are working to fight against the local opioid crisis. 

The publication praised Asbury University’s new Joe Pitts Center for Public Policy and its inaugural conference “The Opioid Crisis: Seeking Solutions” for addressing the issue, as well as Dr. John McDaniel for donating close to $70,000 of the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone to Jessamine County Emergency Management. “Reader’s Digest” could have also talked about a plethora of other things Wilmore has to offer such as the city’s historic downtown, hundreds of acres of horse farms (including Asbury’s 350 acre equine center), community events like the annual Old-Fashioned Christmas, Highbridge Film Festival and hundreds of other events at both the University and Asbury Theological Seminary that attract students and guests from all over the world. 

Read the full article at rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/the-nicest-places-in-every-state.

Learn more about Asbury University here: www.asbury.edu.