Thursday morning’s Rooster Booster breakfast was more than just another monthly gathering — it marked a milestone 65 years in the making. The Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce celebrated the anniversary with a special panel featuring former Chamber President and Owensboro Mayor Dave Adkisson, longtime emcee Kirk Kirkpatrick, and current President and CEO Candance Castlen Brake. Together, they reflected on the breakfast’s legacy and the role it has played in shaping the community for more than six decades.
The story below originally appeared in the inaugural edition of the Owensboro Times quarterly newspaper.
How does a monthly breakfast meeting grow from a handful of business leaders at a Ponderosa Steakhouse to a powerhouse event drawing hundreds each month? For 60 years, Rooster Booster has been more than just coffee and conversation — it’s been a catalyst for major announcements, economic development, and community connections in Owensboro. Today, it stands as one of Kentucky’s most influential chamber gatherings, proving that sometimes, the best ideas start before 8 a.m.
From humble beginnings to a vision for growth
Rooster Booster’s roots trace back to the early 1960s, when executives from Owensboro’s General Electric plant visited a GE facility in Alabama. There, they attended a morning networking event called the Booster Breakfast. It sparked an idea to bring the concept back to Owensboro. With support from local business leaders at the time including Mayor Waitman Taylor and JR Miller of Green River Electric, the first Rooster Booster was born.
But by the mid-1970s, the event had lost momentum. Meetings at Ponderosa Steakhouse drew dwindling crowds, often consisting of little more than pastries, coffee, and an occasional school choir performance. In 1976, a young David Adkisson joined the Chamber as project manager and was tasked with revitalizing the breakfast.
“We decided to reinvent Rooster Booster,” Adkisson said. “We moved it to the basement of Gabe’s Restaurant and introduced an element of entertainment and newsworthiness. Dr. Don Neel and Martel Wightman performed lighthearted comedy skits about current events in Owensboro, similar to Johnny Carson’s monologues. More importantly, we committed to ensuring that each Rooster Booster included a major announcement.”
That shift was a gamechanger. Attendance climbed from 50 to 100, then soared to an average of 300 within a decade. For more than 10 years, the event was even broadcast on two AM radio stations.
A platform for major announcements
One key factor in Rooster Booster’s longevity and success has been its role as a platform for breaking news and community initiatives. Adkisson recalled a pivotal moment in the early 1980s when William Koch, founder of Holiday World, used the event to introduce the concept of a four-lane highway connecting Owensboro to Lafayette, Indiana. The vision became reality with the completion of the William H. Natcher Bridge and the four-lane U.S. 231, creating a vital transportation link between Owensboro and I-64.
Similarly, Rooster Booster has been the launching pad for numerous other initiatives, including the creation of Owensboro’s community college, the RiverPark Center, and the Owensboro Convention Center. The annual State of the City and State of the County addresses, first introduced in 1989, also originated at the event.
The evolution of Rooster Booster
While Rooster Booster’s format has changed over the years, its core purpose remains: to bring together business leaders, elected officials, and community members to exchange ideas and celebrate progress.
“Our team continues to tweak, adjust, add, and subtract,” said Candance Brake, Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce President and CEO. “We are committed to continuous improvement. As our crowd changes generationally, we need to change as well. Formats and speakers that engaged audiences in the 1980s are different from what works in the 2020s. We have to adapt.”
Recent changes have included a greater emphasis on conversational formats, such as panels and interviews, as well as a commitment to featuring diverse voices from across the community.
Another defining element of Rooster Booster has been its emcees, most notably Kirk Kirkpatrick, who led the event for 37 years before handing the microphone to Chad Benefield in 2014.
Kirkpatrick’s tenure saw many memorable moments, including a 1978 event featuring then-Senator Wendell Ford at Gabe’s Restaurant and a 2008 appearance by Governor Steve Beshear. At that latter event, Kirkpatrick humorously handed Beshear $1.60 in change, saying Owensboro liked to “pay the tolls” for its speakers. Just months later, Beshear announced the early removal of tolls on the Audubon and Natcher Parkways.
Kirkpatrick estimates that he emceed more than 400 Rooster Boosters, sitting directly next to many speakers over the years.
“They all said the same thing: ‘How do you get this many people out at 7:30 in the morning?’ And there is no better calling card for Owensboro than when a guest speaker sees that turnout,” he said. “They go back to Frankfort or wherever they came from, and they’ll say, ‘You won’t believe what this city is doing.’”
Benefield said he always admired Kirkpatrick for his commitment to Owensboro. “I was a huge Kirk fan,” Benefield said. “I love that he was a cheerleader for Owensboro, and I strive to carry that same energy. Rooster Booster isn’t just about business – it’s about celebrating the people who make it happen. Humor, engagement, and energy are key to keeping it fresh and exciting.”
Benefield said he appreciates the commitment to a variety of voices at Rooster Booster and considers it paramount to the event’s success. “One thing that people appreciate, at least I hope they do, is that you can come to Rooster Booster and hear a perspective that maybe you haven’t heard before from somebody you haven’t met before,” he said. “I feel like that diversity has really served the effort of inviting people to the table who didn’t always feel like they had a seat.”
The future of Rooster Booster
More than just a breakfast meeting, Rooster Booster has become an essential networking event for the Owensboro business community. “People know that if they go to Rooster Booster, they can catch up on phone calls and emails — in person,” Brake said. “In 90 minutes, you can connect with an incredible cross-section of the community, from CEOs and small business owners to faith-based leaders and tradespeople. It truly is a tapestry of Owensboro.”
The event’s sponsors also play a crucial role, often using their time to introduce innovative ideas and engage the audience in creative ways. Brake said a long waiting list of businesses eager to sponsor Rooster Booster speaks to its continued value.
As the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce looks to the future, Rooster Booster remains a vital tradition that continues to evolve while staying true to its roots. “Through the years, people have come to expect that going to Rooster Booster keeps them in the loop,” Brake said. “It has long been the venue for major community announcements, new business ventures, and emerging initiatives. From job announcements to festivals and programs, Rooster Booster is where you ‘get the word out,’ and we intend to keep it that way.”
Whether it’s the excitement of a major economic announcement, the humor of an engaging emcee, or simply the opportunity to shake hands with a fellow business leader, Rooster Booster continues to fuel Owensboro’s economic and social engine — one breakfast at a time.
