GOOD MORNING AMERICA'S SAM CHAMPION TO SPEAK AT FESTIVAL'S KICK-OFF LUNCHEON

2011-03-25

The Kentucky Derby Festival is pleased to announce that Good Morning America Weather Anchor Sam Champion will be the guest speaker for the 55th annual They're Off! Luncheon on Friday, April 15. Champion will address more than 1,800 Festival supporters and patrons in attendance for this grand community tradition, which begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House East Hotel, site of the festive event since 1974.

Sam Champion is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in Broadcast News while interning at WKYT-TV in Lexington. Prior to joining WABC-TV in New York City, he was a weekend weather anchor and news reporter at WPSD-TV in Paducah, Ky. Champion joined ABC News in September, 2006, where he has covered weather and environmental stories, including a 20/20 special chronicling the tornado that devastated Parkersburg, Iowa, in 2008, and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

"Sam Champion brings a highly personalized and professional approach to his reporting that is enjoyed by millions of television viewers across the country," said Mike Berry, Kentucky Derby Festival President and CEO. "We're very excited to have such a talented broadcast veteran with deep Kentucky roots as speaker of this year's They're Off! Luncheon. Sam is well known for his pioneering on-site reporting from a variety of locales and we feel sure he'll have some very entertaining stories to relate to the luncheon audience."

First held in 1957, the second year of the Derby Festival, the They're Off! Luncheon serves as the time-honored kick-off to each year's Festival. Erving joins Dick Vitale, Terry Bradshaw, Bill Walton, Greg Gumbel, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Larry King, Bob Costas, Robin Roberts, Cawood Ledford, Phil Simms and Howard Cosell in a long list of luminaries who have entertained They’re Off! Luncheon audiences for the past 55 years.

Tickets for the event cost $76 each or $608 for a table of eight and are available on a very limited basis. For tickets or more information, call (502) 584-FEST. The Luncheon is sponsored by Norton Healthcare. The contributing sponsor for the event is Business First.