Westport Village, at the corner of Herr Lane and Westport Road, has been the focal point of numerous weekend concerts and special events. Friday, September 23 Westport Whiskey & Wine, at Westport Village, will host a fall concert in the South Village beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The event will feature the band Dick Dastardly, with a sound self-described as Vinyl Rock and Southern Fried Soul™; Early Times MAN DAY featuring special pricing on Early Times Whiskeys; special men’s seating provided by Pools Plus; corn hole games; $2 beers, $3 craft and imports, $3 wine and special Early Times cocktails; pork sandwiches and pig roast provided by Mike Best's Meats; and Cut & Light cigar event from Crossfire Cigars.
Crossfire Cigars is a newly-formed Louisville company with a unique business model. The company is supported by G.O. Ministries, a non-profit Christian ministry supporting Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The net proceeds from the sale of Crossfire’s cigars go back to the ministry and its mission to provide education, medical care, housing, and other support to these underprivileged communities.
Scott Menefee, President and CEO of Crossfire Cigars and board member of G.O. Ministries, has been involved with G.O. Ministries for over ten years. After numerous mission trips to the Dominican Republic, Menefee discovered a new way to give back.
“It’s kind of a God-thing,” says Menefee. “Going to the Dominican with the mission organization all these years and looking for Kingdom businesses that we can get into to generate money for a ministry,” Menefee continued. “We have teams and people come down on short-term mission trips all the time and they’re always asking for cigars, so we kind of put the two together and decided to try to make a cigar.”
Crossfire Cigars was born. Master cigar maker, William Ventura, resides in the small town of Tamboril, less than 10 miles outside of Santiago in the Dominican Republic. The Crossfire Cigar factory is also located in Tamboril. As a community member with years of experience in the cigar business, Ventura was an obvious candidate to produce the Crossfire cigars.
“Our success is really tied to our cigar maker, which is William Ventura, who has been in the business for forty-three years,” said Menefee. “He worked for the largest cigar company in the world, which is called Davidoff, and learned the trade from them.”
Crossfire Cigar’s goal is to provide a better life for the Dominican community that is home to their product. In addition to the jobs created in Tamboril by the production of Crossfire Cigars, sales of the cigars help the many G.O. Ministries projects which benefit the still struggling earthquake stricken Haitian community, the Dominican Republic, and Mongolia. In Tamboril, G.O. Ministries has plans to create a church, feeding center, and school.
“It’s not to do anything other than raise money for ministries, but along the way we’ve actually created a really good cigar,” said Menefee.
An idea that began only a year ago has now developed into a productive business. Crossfire Cigars are now sold in over 15 stores nationally and have a successful online business. Crossfire Cigars will hold a Light & Cut event on Friday as part of Westport Whiskey & Wine’s fall concert. Menefee will be there to introduce people to the cigar and educate them on the product’s global purpose.
For more information about the event, visit Westport Whiskey & Wine, Westport Village, and Crossfire Cigars.
Photo: Courtesy Crossfire Cigars
