Habitat for Humanity of Owensboro-Daviess County will honor two “snow birds” with a cause this month at the group’s annual Banjos & Brunch fundraiser.
Logan Shown, age 83, and Charles “Gabby” Hill, age 77, spend most of the year in Owensboro helping build houses for low-income families. But right after Christmas, they pack up and head south, bringing their construction expertise to Habitat chapters across the southeast. In honor of their work, they will be inducted into Habitat’s “Hall of Frame” during the event.
This year’s Banjos & Brunch fundraiser will take place Saturday, Aug. 20, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, 4700 Highway 56 in Owensboro.
The morning will feature a southern style breakfast buffet, silent auction and bluegrass music by Randy Lanham & Friends.
Tickets are $50 per person or $350 for a table of eight.
“Banjos & Brunch has become an annually anticipated event in Owensboro,” says Habitat Executive Director Virginia Braswell. “The morning provides a unique opportunity to celebrate the work of Habitat in our community as well as raise funding for the coming year.”
This year’s theme is Habitat Superheroes, which recognizes the contributions of so many volunteers who go above and beyond to make homeownership a reality for hundreds in our community. For Shown and Hill the honor will be a bit more special. They will receive a limousine ride to the event, honorary gavels from Daviess County Judge Executive Al Mattingly and keys to the city from Owensboro Mayor Ron Payne.
Shown has served with Habitat Owensboro for 18 years. A Beaver Dam native, his first Habitat experience was a statewide “blitz” build in Fordsville, where volunteers built a house in seven days. In addition to serving with Habitat projects in Kentucky, Shown has joined three Jimmy Carter Work Projects in Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan and served on international builds in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and India. Shown retired from the Air Force after a 20-year career with the Strategic Air Command. He returned to Beaver Dam and bought the shoe repair shop he had worked at as a young man. He retired from the business in 1999.
Hill began volunteering with Habitat Owensboro in 2006. He participated in a Jimmy Carter Work Project in Alabama, and has helped local Habitat affiliates in Louisiana, Florida and Texas. Originally from Beaver Dam, Hill spent two years in the U.S. Army serving in Texas and Germany. After returning to the states, he began working in commercial and industrial construction in California and across the United States. He returned to Kentucky in 2005 and now lives in Paducah.
“These two volunteers give of themselves every day, not just to the people of Owensboro and Daviess County, but to hundreds outside our community who are in need,” said Braswell. “That is why we are so pleased to honor them this year as superheroes and the newest inductees in our Hall of Frame.”
Those interested in learning more about the fundraiser, buying tickets or donating an item for the silent auction should call the Habitat office at 270-926-6110.
Tickets also will be available for sale onsite the day of the event.
