Dr. Allyson and Dr. Ryan Kathalynas, a husband and wife team of Chiropractors, did not hesitate for a moment when they decided where to set up their team practice. They are aware of the general economic slump in southern Illinois but he, from West Frankfort and she, from Benton, expressed faith in the area where they grew up and unhesitatingly settled in to set up their practice in the Franklin County Chiropractic building located at 310 W. St. Louis St. West Frankfort, across from J&S Pharmacy.
They get along remarkably well considering their union is one of a Ranger and a Redbird. When answering the all-important question about which side of the stands they will sit on at sporting events, Ryan opted for diplomacy. “I'm sitting on the Redbird side. I can't speak for her.”
Despite the levity, the traditional cross-county rivalry did actually play a role in their young, romantic lives. Ryan, then an FCHS junior, was attending a game in Ranger-land (would you believe, on Valentine's Day?) with his younger brother, Tim.
Little Bro was teasing the opposition in grand Redbird fashion, which made the future doctor Ryan notice one of the Benton cheerleaders, a sophomore named Allyson, whom he considered very attractive. The rest of the story, in Chiropractic lore, is history.
Dr. Allyson is a 2004 graduate of BCHS, the daughter of Dennis and Kim Followell of Benton, Illinois, and granddaughter of Horace and Bonnie King, also of Benton, and Billie Bradley and the late Lester Followell of West Frankfort.
For more on this story, pick up a print copy of the Wednesday edition of the Daily American.
