Plaque memorializing longtime director Hellard unveiled     

The late Vic Hellard Jr. of Versailles, longtime director of the state Legislative Research Commission, was memorialized with the unveiling of a large bronze plaque in the Capitol rotunda on Wednesday, April 12.
     The plaque was unveiled by Hellard's widow, Ellen Hellard, and sculptor Ed Hamilton of Louisville. 
     The plaque, which calls Hellard "A shepherd of legislative independence," was mounted outside the third floor office between the House and Senate chambers, where the former legislator from Versailles ran the staff of the legislature for 18 years. He retired in 1995 and died in 1996.
     Below Hellard's likeness on the plaque is a tablet quoting a statement he made in 1995: "We are told that government is the enemy. But government does not exist outside ourselves... The plain fact is, we are government."
     Robert Sherman, current LRC director, presided at the unveiling ceremony, and several legislative leaders, including Senate President David Williams, House Speaker Jody Richards, Senators David Karen and Ernesto Scorsone, and Rep. Joe Barrows, spoke. Also speaking were Mary Helen Miller, Nick Kafoglis, and Walter Baker.
     "The fact that he will be out here with a watchful eye, as a legislator's guardian angel, makes me feel great," Scorsone said.
     Williams said he remembered Hellard for "random acts of kindness," and Richards said Hellard helped make the General Assembly "much more attuned to the will and the needs of the citizens." 
     Baker, a former state senator, said that without Hellard's guidance, the legislature would not have passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990.
     Hellard's role in strengthening the legislature's independence was a recurring theme in the speakers' remarks..