Dinners, speakers and a good deal of bourbon.

Our speaker was George E. Hall, Executive Chairman of SportBLX, owner of Ruler on Ice, winner of the 2011 Belmont Stakes, and owner of a farm in Versailles, Kentucky.

SportBLX is a financial technology company that built a marketplace where fans and investors can buy digital shares of sports assets, from a fractional interest in an athlete's earnings to equity in teams. The company made a big push in basketball at launch, featuring a number of University of Kentucky alumni, and with both founders passionate about horse racing, it set out to rethink ownership models in the sport.

Tickets were $125 per person with an open bar. The club dress code is business attire, with coat and tie for gentlemen.

Our spring dinner, sponsored by Jim Beam, featured James Higdon, author and co-founder of Cornbread Hemp Co., as our speaker.

Our fall dinner was sponsored by Willett Distillery. We were privileged to welcome Mayor Dick Heaton of Bardstown, Kentucky, and Britt Kulsveen, President of Willett Distillery.

Dr. Everett McCorvey, director of the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre and Artistic Director of The National Chorale at Lincoln Center, was our honored speaker. He was joined by former students from the UK Opera, who provided an evening of musical entertainment.

Our honorary speaker was Steve Wilson, philanthropist, art collector and co-founder of 21c Museum Hotels with his wife, Laura Lee Brown. The couple opened the first 21c in Louisville hoping to revitalize the city's art scene, and it did that and more, drawing national attention and growing to seven hotels, with three more in development at the time. Each hotel showcases contemporary work by emerging artists that Steve selects personally.

Our special musical guest was Erin Hill, a harpist and singer from Louisville. She reached #1 on the Billboard World music chart in 2009, won the Vox Pop Award in 2013, and has performed at the US Open Tennis Championships and with artists including Enya, Cyndi Lauper and Jewel.

Our honorary speaker was George Vecsey, author of six national best-selling books and New York State Sportswriter of the Year six years running. His work includes Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner's Daughter, which became an Academy Award-winning film, and Baseball: A History of America's Favorite Game.

As a national and religion reporter for The New York Times, he interviewed the Dalai Lama, Tony Blair and Billy Graham, and for nearly thirty years he covered sports around the world, including the Tour de France, more than a dozen Wimbledons and eight consecutive World Cups. His latest book is Eight World Cups: My Journey through the Beauty and Dark Side of Soccer.

He was introduced by Cameron Mills, former University of Kentucky basketball player and host of "Cameron Mills Radio" on iHeartRadio WLAP 630.

Our honored speaker was Penny Peavler, President and CEO of the Frazier History Museum in Louisville. A Frankfort native with more than 25 years in the museum world, including roles at The Speed Art Museum, she spoke about the Frazier's expansion, its partnership with the Kentucky Distillers' Association, and its new designation as the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

We also recognized Neil Key as our new University of Kentucky Representative, thanked Jack Demsey's for the donated Woodford Reserve, and welcomed special guest JP Davis, VP of the Fund for the Arts. John Austin Clark, Georga Osborne and Jesse Malgieri gave a spectacular performance of "My Old Kentucky Home."

This evening was a chance to network with fellow Kentuckians and meet our new president, Sean Riddle, who had been very active with the University of Kentucky Alumni Association.

Our guest speaker was Paul E. Patton, former Governor of Kentucky. Elected in 1995 and re-elected in 1999, he was the first Kentucky governor in 200 years to win a second consecutive term. He chaired the Southern, Democratic and National Governors Associations, led the Higher Education Reform Act and the "Bucks for Brains" program, and later served as President of Pikeville University.

Ghislain d'Humières, Director of The Speed Art Museum, joined us to discuss the Speed's unprecedented expansion and its impact on the Louisville community and the national stage.

We welcomed Wes Henderson, COO of Angel's Envy Bourbon, for a three-course dinner with bourbon pairings.

Our fall event, sponsored by Brown-Forman, poured Woodford Reserve and Old Forester, with live bluegrass from Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, an opening set by the MSU Mountain Music Ambassadors, and catering by Owensboro's Moonlite Bar-B-Q.

[Details from this dinner to be added.]