Brantley Services Celebrates 75 Years!

March 25, 2005

On March 25, 2005 some of the most influential people in the history of Brantley Services, the parent company of Block by Block, gathered for one night in Louisville . No, this wasn't to share the latest vision of the company's direction, nor a management training session of those persons involved in the next Kentucky Derby, but the gathering was to celebrate 75 years since B.K. 'Red' Brantley retrieved a ball at the old Parkway Field. No the ball wasn't made of gold or did it have an autograph of a major league superstar.

Fittingly enough, the celebration took place at the Churchill Downs, which has been connected to so much of Brantley Services history over the last 75 years. Clients, influential employees (both current and former) family and friends gathered to celebrate 75 years of providing superior service by partaking in food, drinks, live music and great stories. Stories were shared of Brantley's founding business, Brantley Ushering Service, in which employees and supervisors alike worked eighteen hour days during the heat of August at the Kentucky State Fair. Stories of Tuesday night wrestling at the Louisville Gardens where much of the wrestling was done between Brantley Ushers and rowdy patrons. Stories of the 'Leap of Faith' necessary to position a new security company that values employee pay, benefits and overall customer service in a competitive industry in which price usually wins. These are only a few of the stories that circulated during the 75th Anniversary Celebration. The most important story of all evolved around a single baseball.

So what's the connection with the foul ball you ask? In 1930 the United States was in the middle of a vast depression. Not only was food and gasoline rationed, not only did your grandfather stay home every day because he was out of work, but the simple foul ball 'souvenir' that we take for granted during a trip to the old ball park was not possible due to financial woes of the home team. If you were so lucky to have caught a foul ball the standard protocol was to return the ball so that it could be reused in play to maintain costs.

On one particular sunny Wednesday afternoon a foul ball screamed into the stands of Parkway Field and a determined patron made a break for the exit with the ball. Within a split second a shy young fan intercepted the patron, retrieved the ball and returned it to the Louisville Colonel's management staff. When the owner, Ms. Florence Knablecamp, was informed of this selfless display she summoned the young man to her box. In making conversation with the young man she gathered he, along with so many other Louisvillians, was out of work. Using her best 'gut' instinct she offered the eager young man the opportunity to oversee the staff of ushers at the field. Thus was the beginning of B.K. 'Red' Brantley's ushering business.

The base ball, and the events that transpired that very day, over the course of the next seventy-five years evolved into a third generation family business, consisting of over 500 employees among four divisions and one of Louisville 's fifty fastest growing businesses seventy five years later. While the many guests danced into the wee hours of the morning in celebration, it was evident that people weren't just celebrating a whole lot of history – but celebrating a lot of great things to come!

For more information regarding each of Brantley Services' divisions visit www.brantleyservices.com .

For more information regarding this release, contact Block by Block toll free at 888.457.2646.