Fundraiser set up to support iconic Winchester figure

By Matt Cizek | The Winchester Sun

Whether at the Beer Cheese Festival, a Legacy Nights Event, or at the summer’s Rock the Block events – which he played a key role in cre­at­ing – Wallace “Gator” Harrison is a fix­ture in the Clark County com­mu­ni­ty. Now, indi­vid­u­als have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to come togeth­er to sup­port the long-time sound engi­neer. A fundrais­er for the ben­e­fit of Harrison will occur on Saturday, October 18, as orga­nized and first men­tioned in a Facebook post by local real­tor Dale Hatton.

“I’m so excit­ed to put this on for my great friend,” Hatton said in a post dat­ed September 20. “If any busi­ness or indi­vid­ual wants to donate for the silent auc­tion let me know.” 

Harrison, a for­mer night club own­er, got inspired by music at a young age. Creating a band while a senior at George Rogers Clark High School, Harrison – as a lead vocal­ist and bass play­er – lat­er accom­plished such feats as serv­ing as an open­ing act for late musi­cian Charlie Daniels – best known for his #1‑hit “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

One year after the Lexington Music Awards Hall of Fame award­ed him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, rec­og­niz­ing his dis­tin­guished con­tri­bu­tions in sound engi­neer­ing, The Academy of Local Musicians – which rec­og­nizes peo­ple of all music gen­res – induct­ed Harrison into its Hall of Fame in 2022. 

However, Harrison recent­ly fell upon hard times. Noting that Harrison was in need of sup­port for med­ical aid for pro­ce­dures not cov­ered under insur­ance, a GoFundMe page by the title “Support Wallace ‘Gator’ Harrison” was created.

While more than $3,000 has been raised out of near­ly 30 dona­tions, locals such as Hatton hope even more sup­port can be pro­vid­ed. Thus, the October 18 fundrais­er – titled “Jammin’ for Gator: Let’s Party with Purpose!” – will be tak­ing place. The event is to be at Winchester Elks Lodge, locat­ed at 255 Shoppers Drive, from 4:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Along with a $10 cov­er charge, there will be a silent auc­tion, cash bar, and 50/50 raf­fle – though all pro­ceeds go to help cov­er Harrison’s med­ical expens­es. The kitchen will be open for pur­chas­es, and a num­ber of dif­fer­ent musi­cians will appear. Among them are fel­low Winchester fix­ture Jon Curtis, Ronn Crowder, Them Lasses With the Old Dog, Anthony Wells, Ralph Wayne Curtis, and Lark Watts. 

Thus far, a num­ber of local busi­ness­es and indi­vid­u­als are already show­ing sup­port and appre­ci­a­tion for Harrison with items donat­ed for the silent auc­tion. Among them are a bot­tle of Weller Special Reserve Bourbon, with sup­port from Broadway Liquor Store at 137 E. Broadway Street, in addi­tion to a pair of Hard Rock Café pil­lows, and a gift card for Local Roots café. 

T‑shirts with the state­ment “Jammin’ for Gator” are also avail­able at a cost of $20 each, or $23 for sizes 3x and 4x. Individuals are wel­comed to pro­vide sup­port by attend­ing a night of music, hon­or­ing a man who has pro­vid­ed so much music enter­tain­ment in his own right to the Clark County community.