Will Summers Keynote

Imagine what it would be like if you could talk to George Washington and have him tell your group what it was like winning The Revolutionary War; or sitting around a table with Dwight Eisenhower planning D-Day—To be seated in the front row learning our military history. That’s exactly what it is like when you invite the ODA 595 members to attend your event as they tell THEIR story about defending our Country after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Heroes themselves–telling a story that many in your group have not heard. Some of your attendees may have seen the Hollywood Movie Twelve Strong—and some may have read Horse Soldiers (Doug Stanton)—the first publication that chronicled their story. However, to hear the story—LIVE from the guys who were there-is one of the most incredible highlights of my 20-year career in the Chamber World.

On Tuesday, May 23rd, it was cooling down in temperature just in time for the 5:30 start of the event. Without a cloud in the sky, around 70 members of the Denver Country Club gathered on the East Lawn to enjoy complimentary Hors d'oeuvres accompanied by a whiskey tasting featuring the Horse Soldiers three different whiskies.  Sergeant First Class Will Summers mingled with the members, many of the members were veterans themselves so they we happy to meet Mr. Summers. 

After an hour of socializing on the lawn, it was time to move inside into the ballrooms for the presentation and formal tasting.  It was like “hearding cats” to get all the members to move inside because they were having such a good time on the lawn. Soon enough, we had everyone seated and attentive in the ball rooms.  Thanks to Mr. Summers and his colleagues, the room was all set and ready to go. Mr. Summers was extremely engaging and professional.  He did an excellent job leading the group on how to properly taste whiskeys and was great explaining the ends and outs of the whiskey making process and industry.  In addition to the whiskey tasting, he also shared several extremely fascinating stories of his time in Afghanistan as well as his experience after returning.   He was very observant of the members and happily answered any questions they had.  After the presentation he was kind enough to personally sign a lot of bottles for the members.  All-in-all, it was one of the best events I’ve ever witnessed at the club and the members raved about the experience for months after (and still do time to time).  I don’t think there is anything that could have been improved on for the presentation, it was amazing and truly unforgettable.

I wanted to send you a quick note and thank you for all did at the horse soldiers whiskey dinner last year. I just really enjoyed listening to all of your stories of your time in the military and especially the events after 9/11. I really do appreciate the fact that this was more of an educational experience, and not a political one. I have had many customers come up to me in the last six months, asking if we were ever going to do another one of those events. 

The Horse Soldier presentation exceeded our expectations, was engaging and informative for our law officer dinner and the information presented was extremely well received by our community with numerous comments reflecting a job well done.