Sarah Palin Visits Kentucky For Fundraiser
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The Headley-Whitney Museum in Lexington hosted Sarah Palin on Sunday at their annual fundraiser brunch. The former Republican Vice Presidential candidate was on hand and spoke to LEX 18 about her experience in the Bluegrass, including her first trip to the Kentucky Derby.
Sarah Palin got the full Kentucky experience, albeit a rainy one. Saturday she was at the Kentucky Derby. On Sunday,a post-Derby brunch event at the Headley-Whitney Museum.
The former VP candidate and former Alaskan Governor joked that she didn't even mind the rain. "Oh the weathers so pleasant. I mean we had left Alaska in a snow storm, so this is wonderful," says Palin.
In fact, Palin gave a speech recently at the National Rifle Association in Houston and then flew directly to Kentucky to experience the Derby.
"A weekend in Kentucky versus being entrenched in the political world, for a weekend, it's heavenly, it's wonderful," says Palin.
Palin, known while campaigning for chanting, "Drill baby drill," said she bet on the horse, "Frac Daddy," a thoroughbred named for fracking, a type of oil-drilling.
The fundraiser brunch aims to bring in about $50,000 dollars and that money goes towards the museum's operating costs."The world's eyes are on Kentucky and seeing the work ethic that goes into the sport of horse racing, the majestic athletes that are the horses, and then the appreciation that people have for something so culturally iconic and traditional, I think it's just really good for the country," says Palin.
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From Kansas City Star
STARGAZING
At 'heavenly' Derby, Sarah Palin says she bet on Frac Daddy, of course
May 5
BY GREG KOCHER
gkocher1@herald-leader.com
Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Sunday that her first Kentucky Derby experience was "heavenly."
The former Alaska governor and her husband, Todd, spoke about the Derby while attending a fundraiser for the Headley-Whitney Museum in Lexington.
The Palins were the guests of socialite and museum supporter Marylou Whitney and her husband, John Hendrickson, at the annual Brunch and Bibelots party on the museum grounds. Hendrickson knows Palin from when he lived in Alaska during the 1990s.
The Palins attended the Derby as guests of Whitney and Hendrickson.
"That was a blast," Sarah Palin said of the race. She said she and her husband had been to the Belmont Stakes with Whitney and Hendrickson, but this was their first Kentucky Derby.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Sarah Palin said. "It was heavenly."
Palin, who was known for her "Drill, baby, drill" catchphrase in support of more domestic oil-drilling during the 2008 presidential campaign, said she bet on Frac Daddy. The horse was named for "fracking," the nickname for hydraulic fracturing, the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at high pressure to fracture shale rocks and release natural gas or oil."
"Frac Daddy, the name alone warranted a bet," Palin said. The horse finished 16th in a 19-horse Derby field.
Palin said she also bet on Politicallycorrect, which ran in a race on the Derby Day undercard. The colt, ridden by jockey Joel Rosario, who went on to win the 139th Kentucky Derby, finished sixth.
Palin said Hendrickson "was the only one who actually won out of our whole group over the weekend."
"To have grown up watching this iconic event on TV all these years, then to actually be there and be among people who are so passionate about these amazing athletes, who have accomplished so much, it was a wonderful experience," she said.
Palin said it "reminds me, on a much smaller scale, of the dog mushers with the dog sleds with the Iditarod" annual race in Alaska.
Organizers expected about 220 people at the museum fundraiser. Linda Roach, chairman of the museum board, said she expected the event would raise $50,000, which would be used to pay operating costs.
Palin said she was happy to help the "worthy cause."
"Certainly we get a sense of this wonderful part of our nation," she said. "This area is gorgeous, aesthetically, the people are gorgeous, they're fun, they're practical, they're grounded."
Despite steady rain, guests were kept dry beneath a tent next to La Belle, the 1936 house where jewelry designer George Headley lived. The museum has put the house up for sale.
Roach said there has been interest from potential buyers, "but whether that translates into a closing, I don't know."
Organizers and attendees emphasized that the event was not political. Tracy Farmer, former state Democratic Party chairman, said the fundraiser was attended by Democrats and Republicans alike.
"This is an equal opportunity event," Farmer said.
In his conversation with Palin, Dr. Ron Saykaly said he "kept it nonpolitical."
"I just greeted her to Kentucky, asked whether she was having a good time, and how she is enjoying herself," Saykaly said.
Political or not, there were some Palin admirers in the audience. Among them was Kot von Unrug, a retired professor and director of rock mechanics laboratories in the University of Kentucky department of mining engineering.
"She has guts, which no one has any more," von Unrug said.
Here is the original notice of the event
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., Saturday, March 16, 2013. Diehard activists at the three-day conference are already picking favorites in what could be a crowded Republican presidential primary in 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
From;Kentucky.com LINK Carolyn Kaster — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sarah Palin to attend fundraiser in
Lexington Sunday
Published: May 2, 2013 Updated 1 hour ago
- STORY PHOTOS:
Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin will attend a fundraiser Sunday for the Headley-Whitney Museum in Lexington.
Palin and her husband, Todd Palin, will be guests of socialite and museum supporter Marylou Whitney and her husband, John Hendrickson, at the annual Brunch and Bibelots party.
The $150-a-seat event is held the day after the Kentucky Derby each year. Museum director and curator Amy Gundrum Greene said she doesn't know whether the Palins plan to attend the Kentucky Derby.
The museum's board members and supporters regularly invite celebrity guests, but Palin "is one of the more high-profile ones," Greene said.
Palin made headlines and history as the first female governor of Alaska, from 2006 to 2009, and the first woman to run on the Republican party's presidential ticket. She was the vice-presidential pick of U.S. Sen. John McCain, who lost to Barack Obama in 2008.
Palin has continued her celebrity as a reality television star and a controversial Republican figure who has established a political action committee, SarahPAC.
The Palins have attended equestrian events with Whitney and Hendrickson in the past, notably the Belmont Stakes. According to a 2010 Capitol Confidential report, Hendrickson knows Sarah Palin from when he lived in Alaska in the 1990s.
Whitney, who has homes in Lexington and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has been a prominent supporter of The Headley-Whitney Museum, which her family helped found.
Brunch and Bibelots will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday under a canopy on the museum's lawn, at 4435 Old Frankfort Pike. About 200 people are expected to attend the sold-out event.
Brunch will be catered by Selma's Catering of Lexington and will have a "slightly Mexican" theme, since this year's event falls on Cinco de Mayo, Greene said.
"We just look forward to Brunch and Bibelots every year," she said. "It's a wonderful way to end the Derby weekend."
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