You won't be forgotten....
Faithful readers will recall that last year at this time friends Scott Davis, Terry Johnson and I [along with a lot of help!] staged what we called The West Texas Troop Salute at Rockhounds Stadium. Organized in only 2 months time, the event exceeded our wildest expectations with over 4,000 people showing their gratitude and support for our troops. We had intended to repeat the Troop Salute this year.
But, after a great deal of heartfelt consideration, we decided that the same event might not draw the crowd it did last year, the old "we've seen that" syndrome, which we understand. And we wanted to do something a little more directly appreciative for some troops needing a lot of support.
So...this year we are doing "Hero Appreciation Day" at the rehab unit of Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. The rehab unit is where the most severely wounded troops spend months..even years getting their bodies, minds and spirits healed. We want to give them a break from the hard work of healing by hosting a barbecue on the lawn at the hospital.
What started out as a simple plan to take a "BBQ trailer" down and cook some hot dogs ourselves has turned into a large, but worthwhile, undertaking. And the support, as usual, is phenomenal. Luckily, last year I had met the Chief of Staff of US ArmyNorth at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio and he has been a major boost on the ground there helping us to put this together. He has the Army volunteering tent canopies, chairs, tables and man power. What started as a dog cookout now has Rudy's Famous Barbecue catering the event for what we think will be between 3-400 patients and their families, guests, VIP's and just plain folks.
Support and offers of assistance are coming from all over. Larry Gatlin is on board and this week we were contacted by C&W recording artist Roger Creager...he'll be there. The Lucky Tomblin Band signed on today. A shuttle astronaut I met in Midland last month is flying in from Canada for the event. A major radio station in San Antonio is live broadcasting the proceedings. CBS7 in Odessa is sending a news crew, Borden's is donating all the ice cream we can eat and the list goes on...
Last month my phone rang...."hi this is Connie Nelson, I'm Willie Nelson's ex wife, I heard what you're doing and I'd like to help. I can serve, clean up...whatever". Well Connie is helping now....a lot. I talk to her several times a day. She's still in the music business, knows everyone and is working on several more entertainers. And, of course, she called Willie. Willie is now a major sponsor and started off by sending 300 of his new CD's and 300 special "Willie Bandannas".
Rudy's Barbecue is giving us a large first class barbecue for 400 people at cost, but they have to pay for their overhead so there still was a chunk of change to cover. I told Connie we were looking for a sponsor for the meal, she said don't worry. She called me back an hour later and told me she had a friend who was interested in helping and to email the Rudy's contract to her. I did, and this morning I received a call from one of the family member/owners of a major western wear company. Five minutes later, deal done, the entire meal picked up by Cavender's Boots.
We will have some name entertainment, VIP's, and other notables attending, but the main goal of the whole affair is to have a crowd there to let these troops know how much we appreciate their sacrifices for us and that we won't let them be forgotten. So, if you can be in San Antonio on May 21st we'd love to have you, we kick off the festivities at 6 pm. The link above is our press release.......
But, after a great deal of heartfelt consideration, we decided that the same event might not draw the crowd it did last year, the old "we've seen that" syndrome, which we understand. And we wanted to do something a little more directly appreciative for some troops needing a lot of support.
So...this year we are doing "Hero Appreciation Day" at the rehab unit of Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. The rehab unit is where the most severely wounded troops spend months..even years getting their bodies, minds and spirits healed. We want to give them a break from the hard work of healing by hosting a barbecue on the lawn at the hospital.
What started out as a simple plan to take a "BBQ trailer" down and cook some hot dogs ourselves has turned into a large, but worthwhile, undertaking. And the support, as usual, is phenomenal. Luckily, last year I had met the Chief of Staff of US ArmyNorth at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio and he has been a major boost on the ground there helping us to put this together. He has the Army volunteering tent canopies, chairs, tables and man power. What started as a dog cookout now has Rudy's Famous Barbecue catering the event for what we think will be between 3-400 patients and their families, guests, VIP's and just plain folks.
Support and offers of assistance are coming from all over. Larry Gatlin is on board and this week we were contacted by C&W recording artist Roger Creager...he'll be there. The Lucky Tomblin Band signed on today. A shuttle astronaut I met in Midland last month is flying in from Canada for the event. A major radio station in San Antonio is live broadcasting the proceedings. CBS7 in Odessa is sending a news crew, Borden's is donating all the ice cream we can eat and the list goes on...
Last month my phone rang...."hi this is Connie Nelson, I'm Willie Nelson's ex wife, I heard what you're doing and I'd like to help. I can serve, clean up...whatever". Well Connie is helping now....a lot. I talk to her several times a day. She's still in the music business, knows everyone and is working on several more entertainers. And, of course, she called Willie. Willie is now a major sponsor and started off by sending 300 of his new CD's and 300 special "Willie Bandannas".
Rudy's Barbecue is giving us a large first class barbecue for 400 people at cost, but they have to pay for their overhead so there still was a chunk of change to cover. I told Connie we were looking for a sponsor for the meal, she said don't worry. She called me back an hour later and told me she had a friend who was interested in helping and to email the Rudy's contract to her. I did, and this morning I received a call from one of the family member/owners of a major western wear company. Five minutes later, deal done, the entire meal picked up by Cavender's Boots.
We will have some name entertainment, VIP's, and other notables attending, but the main goal of the whole affair is to have a crowd there to let these troops know how much we appreciate their sacrifices for us and that we won't let them be forgotten. So, if you can be in San Antonio on May 21st we'd love to have you, we kick off the festivities at 6 pm. The link above is our press release.......
