Our First Troopers Assisting Troops Retreat & Fundraising Event
Operation Song® conducted its first Troopers Assisting Troops Retreat & combination fundraiser, Nashville’s Salute to the Troops, held May 10-11, 2023. The event was held in beautiful Clayton, NY at the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel.
Operation Song® was warmly welcomed by the entire community who went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed, including allowing myself and Adam Swenson a 20-minute interview on the local Froggy FM radio station. The Retreat was held the first day, producing four incredible songs, and the performance/fundraiser on the second day, which was attended by more than 100 guests, as well as local media. Everyone was blown away at the caliber of songs created — Steve Williams, Jamie Floyd, and Skip Black did an exceptional job. The community was definitely star struck at having Nashville Songwriters perform in their town.
Overall the event was huge success, solidifying our relationship with Troopers Assisting Troops and the Clayton community. Between ticket sales, merch, and auction items, we grossed $12,652. Once expenses are tallied, the net will be split with Troopers Assisting Troops, who did a wonderful job coordinating the retreat. Veteran, Jeffrey Fran, and his wife, who wrote with Operation Song® in 2013 attended the event and served as volunteers. They manned registration and the merch table and are life-long supporters of Operation Song®; we are truly grateful for their support and couldn’t have done it without them.
Participants included Robert Loughhead, Darren LeMorta, Greg Burzinsky and Del Rodriguez, who produced the following songs:
“The Forgotten 40” (Robert/Steve)
“Special Kind of Crazy” (Greg/Jamie)
“The 1%” (Del/Jamie) LISTEN BELOW!
“Purple Heart” (Darren/Skip)
The event also included a silent auction with a NY Giants Helmet signed by Lawrence Taylor; a Tactical Helmet signed by Rob O’Neil; a framed account of Bin Laden raid with mission pics and signed by Rob O’Neil; an American Flag, made by on of the veteran participants; a Fishing Charter Trip sponsored by Adam Swenson; and Gift Baskets provided by 10th Mountain Distillery were all up for grabs.