Each year, Jack Daniel’s Barrel Trees pops up in Lynchburg as well as cities around the globe. It’s a fun, holiday tradition that supports a great cause, Operation Ride Home, which helps help junior-enlisted service members and families travel home.
The first barrel tree went up in 2011. It was 26 feet tall and made from 140 American white oak whiskey barrels. After all, since no barrel is ever filled with Jack Daniel’s twice, we’ve got plenty of them around. All the barrels used to made the famed Jack Daniel’s Barrel Trees were once entrusted to mature the famed Tennessee Whiskey.
It brought folks from all around Tennessee, the U.S., an the globe to tiny Lynchburg. Today, replicas also go up in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Dallas, Boston, Las Vegas, Tampa, Cleveland, and Nashville.
As part of its “Operation Ride Home” program, the famed distillery and partner, the Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA), will auction off the top barrel of each tree with proceeds helping junior-enlisted service members and families travel home from their place of military service. Due to the current pandemic, travel for these heroes is on hold due to Department of Defense restrictions but will commence as soon as they are lifted. Since the program began in 2011, ORH has helped send a total of 8,583 individual junior-enlisted service members and their families home while raising $1.8 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 Jack Daniel Distillery barrel tree has always brought people together to celebrate the spirit of the season and remind us of the sacrifice of so many heroes and their loved ones” said Chris Fletcher, Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller. “We hope our friends will stop by and join us to reflect on this special time of year. After all, we all need some extra cheer this holiday season.”
The barrel tree auction kicked off on December 1 and if you ‘d like to learn more about taking home one of the the barrels from this year’s trees, 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.}