As I’m writing this in my warm office, my thoughts are with many of our Western Kentucky restaurant owners, their employees and families and so many impacted by the storms and tornadoes just a few days ago – a few weeks ago as you are reading this. Our KRA Chairman Daniel Carr and his family lost their two restaurants, Carr’s Steakhouse and Carr’s Barn, both located on Broadway where the tornado did major damage. They are safe while so many were not, and for that they are thankful. Daniel told me about going to look through the rubble hoping to recover some items from their office, and he found his Restaurateur of the Year award from 2018 in pretty good shape. His National Restaurant Neighbor Award didn’t fare as well, so we’re getting that replaced. Our Board and I acted swiftly and created a GoFundMe fundraiser, “Western Kentucky Restaurant Relief Fund,” and donations have been pouring in. We will distribute these funds to restaurant workers affected by the tornadoes and storms. While there is a lot to be concerned about there is also much to celebrate. Going into year 3 of our lives and businesses being impacted by Covid – now the Omicron variant – we have seen so much resiliency and good in people. We will gather on January 24th at our Restaurateur’s Gala at Savor to enjoy being together, and making it through so far. I hope you will join the party! Tickets can be purchased on our website here: https://securepayment.link/kyra/2022-restaurateurs-gala/, or you’re welcome to call Karen in our office at 502-400-3736.
January also brings Kentucky legislators back to Frankfort. Please take a minute to look through the Front Burner article – I’ll be contacting members as issues arise. I know how limited your time is, and I hope you are able to contact your Senator and Representative whether we’re for or opposed to a bill. They can’t know how things impact restaurants unless you/we communicate that first hand.
It’s a busy first quarter, kicked off with the Gala on January 24th, then our Kentucky ProStart Invitational on February 26th (you can volunteer or watch amazing high school students compete – contact Jim Lyon!). Chapters will hold meetings and I’m sure other things will pop up as they always do! If you’re not receiving my emails please let me know and I’ll add you to my lists. I sometimes apologize for being “the email lady” – but hey, I’d rather you have the information and you can always hit that delete key!
Happy New Year, friends, and thank you for supporting the Kentucky Restaurant Association. If you’re not yet a member, please consider joining. I’m always happy to talk or meet with you!