Throwback Thursday: 20+ years as a cavewoman, Rho Lansden’s story

Thirty years ago, a community gem had fallen into disrepair and been turned into a garbage dump. Lost River Cave was a dumping ground for Nashville Road travelers. In April of 1991, the Friends of Lost River non-profit was officially incorporated, with a mission to operate for educational, scientific, literary, and historic features of the Lost River Cave and Valley area.

For the first decade of the nonprofit’s existence, it strived to clean up the cave, the river, and the valley, making it a natural haven for wildlife and natural features. The team from the biology and geology departments at WKU was instrumental in the cave’s clean up and studies, while the Landmark Association was heavily involved in the historic preservation of the valley and its wonders.

Then in 2001, Rhoella – or Rho – Lansden, became the new director of Lost River Cave. Rho has spent the past 23 years building the cave back into a community gem and attraction. In her tenure at the cave, nature programming, cave boat tours, the Wildflower Gift Shop, and cave event rentals have blossomed. Rho also worked tirelessly with City and County efforts to better connect Bowling Green’s walking and biking community to the valley, creating the Greenways trail that ends at the bark park on the edge of the valley’s property.

Now, Lost River Cave and Valley’s 72 acres are preserved. Thousands of visitors walk the trails and take boat tours annually, and thousands of visitors attend events at the cave. Rho raised her family in the cave, instilling the importance of nature and green time in her children, and now grandchildren.

Look back through Lost River Cave’s memories of the past two decades and you will find Rho Lansden’s heart in all of these endeavors, as a member of the tourism and hospitality community, a resident who lives and plays in Bowling Green, and as an advocate for nature programming and preservation.

Rho has officially retired as of this year, and Justin Jennings is the new CEO of Lost River Cave. Justin has spent almost 20 years in cave and valley maintenance, and his heart for service and conservation was shaped by Rho’s for almost her full tenure at the helm. Bowling Green thanks Rho for her service and is looking forward to continuing to support Justin and the cave’s efforts.