President George W. Bush to speak at The Olde Farm

By: Daniel Gilbert | TriCities.com
Published: August 17, 2010

BRISTOL, Va. --

BRISTOL, Va. – George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States, will speak next month at The Olde Farm in Bristol to benefit two Buchanan County professional schools.

Friday-night football notwithstanding, Bush will speak on the evening of Sept. 24 to raise money for the Appalachian College of Pharmacy, in Oakwood, Va., and the Appalachian School of Law, in Grundy, Va. The event includes a dinner “followed by remarks from President Bush about his tenure as president,” according to a joint statement released by the schools. Tickets are on sale for $10,000 a couple, and the venue can accommodate about 150 to 160 people.

“We are pleased and excited to have a person of President Bush’s stature and background appearing at a benefit on behalf of the schools,” Terry Kilgore, dean of institutional advancement at the pharmacy school, said in the statement.

Kilgore, a senior Republican state delegate from Gate City, Va., said in a telephone interview Tuesday that most of the money raised would go toward scholarships at both schools; some of the money will be reserved for capital expenditures.

Kilgore credited Jim McGlothlin, owner of The Olde Farm, with facilitating the event. McGlothlin, who founded the United Coal Co., knows both President Bush and his younger brother, Marvin Bush, according to Kilgore.

“It came about that [President Bush] wouldn’t mind to come to Virginia and help us do a little fundraiser,” Kilgore said. “Jim helped us make the contacts and everything.”

McGlothlin’s brother, Mickey, is president of the pharmacy school.

President Bush has kept a low profile since leaving office. In April, the publisher of his forthcoming memoir, “Decision Points,” stated, “Since leaving the Oval Office, President Bush has given virtually no interviews or public speeches about his presidency.”

Kilgore was unsure if Bush’s speech in Bristol would mark his first public reflections on his tenure as commander-in-chief. Bush’s presidential office in Dallas, Texas, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment Tuesday.

Kilgore said the discussions to bring the president to Bristol began in mid-June. The Friday night engagement was unavoidable, he said.

“In Southwest Virginia, that’s a night you’d like to probably stay away from,” said Kilgore, whose son is a senior at Gate City High School and plays for the football team.

Crown Publishers, which will publish Bush’s book in November, has described the work as a “groundbreaking new brand of memoir” that “will be centered on the fourteen most critical and historic decisions” in his life, including Sept. 11, 2001, launching the war in Iraq, and responding to the crises of Katrina and the Wall Street meltdown.

dgilbert@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2558

FOR TICKETS, CONTACT