This year’s Annual Conference Board of Directors Dinner is scheduled to take place Sunday, June 26th, at Tom’s Town Distillery Co.
Busses will leave the Marriott Hotel at 6:30pm CT, and dinner will be served at 7:15pm CT.
If you have any questions, please email Julie Ann Schmidt.
Tom’s Town Distillery Co. is a sample of the history Kansas City carried through to today. Tom’s Town is named after the country’s most corrupt political boss, Tom Pendergast. Pendergast started as a saloon keeper and the founder of a wholesale liquor company but during prohibition he became a bootlegger and ran the town of Kansas City.
Under Tom, Kansas City ignored Prohibition and emerged as the “Paris of the Plains.” Money, jazz, and spirits flowed in the open. When asked how he justified ignoring Prohibition, Pendergast quipped, “The people are thirsty.”
Both of the founders have family ties back to Tom; one founder’s grandfather was a rival bootlegger that Tom Pendergast put out of business, and the other’s great uncle was the District Attorney that took down Tom for tax evasion.
Today the people are still thirsty. Tom’s Town satisfies that thirst by producing premium craft spirits. You can taste their high standards and attention to detail in every sip of the gin, vodka, and bourbon they make mixed with a bit of history. Learn about the tight relationship between Tom Pendergast and President Truman as we go upstairs for dinner.
We will have cocktails in the first-floor bar with green leather wing back chairs and deep velvet couches before heading upstairs for dinner. Check out this video link to learn why there are rabbits and goats on the bottle labels.