Beers for Buch celebrates life of local hero

VERNON — The fourth Beers for Buch fundraiser was held at Scully’s Tavern & Grill on Saturday, Aug. 27, disproved that notion.
Debra Hiter, Pepe Ferrer and Krissy Buccieri teamed up with the owners of Scully’s Sean Scully, Laura Scully and daughter Alexa to put on an event so that friends could come together to celebrate the life and memory of Marine veteran CPL Alex Buch Buccieri, raise money for military support groups and have fun.at the same time.
The effort was an overwhelming success with the event raising over $9,400 in memory of Krissy Buccieri’s husband Cpl. Alex Buch Buccieri who tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident. The first event was motivated by the desire to benefit military organization that help active duty service members, veterans and their families as they did Krissy following Alex’s death. Other organizations that benefited from this special event were the Semper Fi Fund, Fischer House Foundation and the Vernon Township VFW.
One of the key contributors in planning the event was Vin VanZile who designed the tee-shirts, logos, and directed the social media and PR campaign to promote the event. Almost everyone wore a VanZile tee-shirt including local Vernon area friends and families and people who traveled from all over the country representing Texas, California, Washington, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania to attend, many who were Alex's friends and brothers in his military unit. All were committed to celebrating Buch’s memory, his service to the country and give back to the community by transforming the negative of his passing into a wonderful event that will benefit so many people.
The owners of Scully’s pledged 10 percent of food and beverages purchased at the Tiki Bar to the fundraiser.
The fundraiser kicked off at noon and continued until after 7 p.m. featuring auctions, raffles, great food, cold drinks and ongoing music provided by four bands, Pandamonium, Public Trade, Bottom Teeth and the Marc Russi Experience.
The local Vernon Band, the Marc Russi Experience is made up of Billy Lhotsky on drums, Jeff Guritty on lead vocals, Marc Russi on bass and Tom VanHerwarde, lead guitar supported by music mixer Matt McPeek. They got the enthusiastic crowd singing, dancing and a number of the band’s supporters came to the stage to join the band in performing some of the local’s favorite songs. The band got its start when the members attended Vernon High School. Although many of the members have gone on to college and careers, they reunite for special occasions such as the Beers for Buch to appreciation of their many fans and followers.
Thanks to the dedication and hard work of Debra Hiter, Pepe Ferrer, Krissy Buccieri, Sean Scully, Laura Scully and daughter Alexa, the staff at Scully’s Tavern & Grill; Jen, Darlene and Nicole and the rest of the food and beverage staff the 2016 Beers for Buch fundraiser in honor of CPL Alex Buccier was a great success. Not only was the event a special experience for all who attended but it benefited the Semper Fi Fund, Fischer House and the Vernon Township VFW proving that fundraising for a great cause can be lots of fun.
— Photos by John Whiting