American Legion Post 42 event celebrates ‘Bourbon, Patriots & Veterans’
At right, State Rep. Tim Moore presents Vivian Fleenor with her Presidential Lifetime Volunteer Award at Tuesday’s Bourbon, Patriots and Veterans event sponsored by American Legion Post 42. Pete Trzop looks on from left.
By SYVLIA HORLANDER
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Monday, Sept. 17, 2018 — The second annual Bourbon, Patriots and Veterans event brought another sold-out crowd to the Great Hall at My Old Kentucky Home State Park the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 11th. The evening revolved around patriotism with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Bardstown councilwoman Kecia Copeland, the singing of My Old Kentucky Home by Angela Stowe and the National Anthem sung by Whitney Ballard from St. Gregory School.
Pete Trzop, the event’s founder, coordinator and emcee, said the goal was to bring patriots together to celebrate.
“Our job is to figure out how to raise money for veterans’ issues and their families and get the community involved. Of course, Bourbon is King in Bardstown, and we wanted to tie the event with the celebration of bourbon,” he said.
Bourbon, Patriots and Veterans is about recognizing people’s efforts for veterans and their families in our community, he explained.
“When we bring so many good people together, it’s like Christmas,” he said. “These people love the country, and when you get that many positive people together, it’s exciting, proactive and successful.”
The evening had heroes present from across the country, like Purple Heart recipient Jim Lish who travelled from Billings, Mont. Lish said the American Legion saved his life.
“I could’ve easily been a 22 a day” (referring to 22 veterans who commit suicide a day),” he said. “I went from being an IED trainer in Iraq and hunted them (IEDs), to taking off the uniform and wondering how I could still help.”
Lish was a part of the first ever mobile observation team and then helped to write the route clearance manual for the U.S. Army. Lish is now Montana’s American Legion Membership Chairman. He served for 14 years and retired from Fort Knox. The legion’s first overseas deployment trip to Djibouti, Africa in 2016 reunited Lish and Trzop, whom he considers his brother.
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes speaks to the crwod durng Tuesday’s Bourbon, Patriots and Veterans event.
The evening’s speaker of honor was Skipper Culpepper, who served as Commanding Officer at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba from April 2015 to June 21, 2018.
“Cuba is a very unique environment to live in, as it relates to both American Legion and Boys and Girls State,” Culpepper said. “Both have such a big impact on the youth.”
Culpepper said last year’s graduating class was 12. “It really helps those kids get a perspective of what else is out there.”
There are about 2,000 active duty sailors stationed at Guantanamo, and American Legion helps the majority of them with VA-related issues.
The evening was complete with socializing, bourbon tastings and a silent auction. Guests were treated to a sit-down dinner prepared by Bob Pyle, and were later entertained with music from Stephen Foster Story cast member Gary Vidito of Bardstown.
The event also took time to recognize American Legion supporters, which included WBRT, former eight-team NBA player Larry Robinson and Bardstown’s own Vivian Fleenor, who won the Presidential Lifetime Volunteer award.
Well-known names in the political world stopped by, including Democratic Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and Paducah Republican State Rep. Tim Moore.
According to Trzop, the event raised more than $12,000. All proceeds go to help veterans at American Legion Post 42 in Bardstown.
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