Tis the season to take home a piece of the Jack Daniel Distillery for a good cause. Jack Daniel’s annual “barrel tree” auction is now live, raising funds to help junior-enlisted service members and their families travel home for the holidays as part of the Tennessee whiskey brand’s Operation Ride Home program with the Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA).

The distillery built its first 26-foot tall tree from 140 American white oak whiskey barrels in 2011 in Lynchburg to bring holiday cheer to local residents. This year, eleven replicas were constructed nationwide in Nashville, Tampa, Miami, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee. The top barrel of each will be auctioned to help junior-enlisted service members and families travel home from their place of military service, often for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each charred oak barrel, which was entrusted to mature Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey only once, will be signed by Master Distiller Chris Fletcher and customized with laser engraving.

Since 2011, Jack Daniel’s and ASYMCA have helped send over 10,000 individual service members and their families home – including this year’s travelers – while raising more than $2 million in donations. Men and women from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard have been assisted with travel to all 50 states.

The Operation Ride Home barrel tree auction concludes December 21 at 2 p.m. To bid on a barrel and support military families, click here. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}