|
2009 TTR Awards
Congratulations to the following for receiving
the Tennessee Tourism Roundtable's highest awards for 2009.
Awards were announced during the
2009 Tennessee Governor's Conference on Tourism in Murfreesboro.
|
| Walt Baker
2009 Knight of the Roundtable
Walt Baker was involved with, supported, and played a key role in the Tennessee tourism industry for over 30 years. At the time of his receipt of this award, he was serving as the CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association, active on the national level with the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and was also involved with ISHAE, International Society of Hotel Association Executives, serving on the Executive Committee, among others.
Walt was also a partner in a marketing and public relations company, MERCATUS Communications. In addition to his many responsibilities state-wide, Walt was involved in his community, serving on many committees for the Nashville Area Red Cross and assisted with the Pandemic Plan, which was utilized during the threat of the H1N1 virus. During the Katrina Hurricane crisis, Walt enacted the "Together We Prepare" emergency hotel housing plan, which assisted tens of thousands of evacuees with low or no cost hotel rooms. At one point, some 40,000 hotel rooms in our state were being used for this reason. Walt had been an active member of the TTR Board of Directors for several years, served on the TTR Executive Committee, and was Chair of the TTR Government Relations Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and enjoys playing golf, listening to the Beatles and bowling.
|
| Roger Brashears
TTR Excalibur Award
Roger Brashers is such a truly unique indiviudal that TTR had to create a truely unique award to honor him. The result was the awarding of the first TTR Excalibur Award, a special award presented to Tennessee tourism legends upon their retirement from the industry.
As the official resident spokesperson and historian for the Lynchburg's Jack Daniel's, he has also overseen the distillery's tour program, which entertains about 250,000 visitors a year. According the Jack Daniel's Web site, he has logged quite a few air miles to be interviewed by news media from all four corners of the world. He has been a loyal partner with and supporter of the state's tourism industry and is well-known and much loved by those in the industry from across the state. His support of the industry and of the Tennessee Tourism Roundtable led to his previously being honored as one of TTR's Knights of the Roundtable.
Following are excerpts from an article on Roger, his style, and his influence from the Preserve America Gatekeepers of History Web site, which chose Roger as one its honorees for 2009:
Roger has held his position at Jack Daniel's for over 46 years. When he began with the company in 1963, he gained entrance as a “temp” after passing a typing test. Shortly after Roger was hired as a permanent employee, his easy-going, down-home personality and soothing voice were determined to perfectly portray the image carefully tended for Jack Daniel Distillery by Brown-Forman Corporation, the corporate owners since 1956. Roger has many titles: Storyteller, Official Historian, Spokesman, Publicist, Promotion Director, and Director of Public Relations. "I have every title you can get without getting a raise", jokes Roger."
Although Roger's job is to share his knowledge of the history of Jack Daniel, the distillery, and Lynchburg, Roger himself has become a very important part of that history. There are vintage "Brashearsisms," such as his answer to the question, "How many people work at the distillery?" Roger's reply is "about half of us." When asked to comment on how young Jack Daniel came to live with Reverend Call, the Lutheran minister who made whiskey, Roger quips, "I guess you could say Call was Lynchburg's leading spiritual advisor." And he likes to say, "We got some good old boys down here who make barbecue sauce so good it'll make your tongue jump out of your mouth and slap your eyebrows off." Roger's comment, when asked why the company stuck so close to its roots, is, "We don't believe in kicking a pulling mule." His self-deprecating humor is evidenced as he relates how a Tennessee senator walked into his office one day and exclaimed, "You have the messiest damn office!" Roger simply laughed, as he is known for being a pack-rat with papers and memorabilia piled high on his desk and surrounding tables - that is part of the charm of Roger Brashears.
"I am, and always have been, a country boy," says Roger. He has spent a lifetime in one idyllic place and raised a family there with his wife of nearly fifty years. His work, which has an element of fun about it, educates a global audience about an aspect of American history steeped in Southern tradition.
The Tennesssee Tourism Roundtable and the entire Tennessee tourism industry are proud to award the inaugural Excalibur Award to one of our industry's true legends and true friends, Roger Brashears.
|
|
