Farewell Bartley Kaminski

This might be the hardest post I’ve had to make here on the blog. And to be honest, I’m not sure where to even begin really. At times, even as a writer, I find myself at a loss for words, and this is just one of those times. All I can do is express the most sincerest of condolences to all of Bart’s family, his friends, the community, and everyone who has been touched by his life – and that list is stretching into the thousands. He was a truly remarkable man, and we all lost a friend, we all lost somebody who was always there, always a fighter in the corner, always the hype man, always the party in and of himself. We all lost a part of us.

There is going to be a lot of people who could sum up everything about him better than I could, who knew him better, or longer, can do condolences and obituaries and memorandums better than I, but I will try and express my thoughts and feelings, and my perspective and getting to know him.

Firstly, for those unaware, Bartley Francis Kaminski passed away on July 22nd 2021 due to lung cancer. He fought hard, and he fought in the way we all would suspect Bart would fight – tough, hard, with a smile on his face, a joke, a laugh, and antics. He fought the fight millions have before him, and millions have after him, and its a fight that unfortunately no one has ever truly won. In a way, fighting cancer is a straight up fight with death itself, regardless of the cancer, regardless of the severity, its a fight and a struggle to maintain our humanity, and to maintain ourselves in the most adverse setting, in a setting where we already know the outcome ahead of time, and its a fight more to stay ‘us’ and stay ‘consistent’ than it is a true fight to win. Bart did this, he stayed true to himself, he stayed consistent, and he fought the fight of humanity, the outcome was the same as it always will be in the long run, but his fight was no less valiant, no less hard, no less deserving of our respect; in fact it was all the more hard fought, all the more valiant, and all the more deserving of respect, because he fought in his way, consistent, and he fought it as Bart would. Sadly, but thankfully, unhappily, but mercifully, the fight is over.

Bart was born on June 8th, 1977, and passed from lung cancer on July 22nd, 2021. He recently married his girlfriend Nicole. Bart was the founder for Kollision Media as well as Hop Headz Gear. He was the promoter for events far and wide, and was a selfless promoter for many people. Helping people with disabilities, helping people attend brewfests, and setting up brewfests. If you’ve gone to a Kegs and Eggs, or a Bacon and Brews event, Bart was an integral part of setting it up. If you’ve gone to the Mount Hope (Renaissance Faire) brewfest, the Lititz Brewfest, Ffej of July, the Lancaster Brewfest, the AC Brewfest; you’ve seen his tent, and seen him having a blast. My friends still recall him in his ‘green man suit’ at the AC Brewfest and his antics.

Today and yesterday, hundreds of people expressed their condolences, their gratitude, and their love for Bart on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the myriad of other social medias. I will be posting some here, because they do such a better job than I ever will in expressing the love and gratitude for a man who was such a vital part of the craft beer community in Central PA.

Through these events is how I first met Bart, and I can’t even remember which event was the first one we met at, or exactly how many years ago it’s been now, I wanna say six or seven. It most likely started with buying one of his shirts, and talking beer, and all I know is, that I always looked forward to all of the various events, just to see him, and to cut the shit with him for a bit, to laugh with him, to make jokes with him, to see him smile, to hear him laugh.

I am going to post some of the tributes members of the community have shared about Bart below, with pictures, and then go into the Brews and Bands for Bart event that Tattered Flag is hosting after that. But I will give a quick little rundown for that. On August 14th, 2021, Tattered Flag is hosting an event called ‘Brews and Bands for Bart’ with the money originally going to Bart to help with medical expenses, etc, of his cancer treatment. Now however, unfortunately, that has changed, and the money will instead be going to his family to help pay for costs for Bart. The event will still happen, and will be an amazing memorial to a man beloved by the community.

Memorials and Tributes

Francisco Ramirez of Mad Chef:

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Dan Baker and Wayne Baker of Beer Busters Podcast:

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You can hear their podcast about the Brews and Bands for Bart event here: Beer Busters Episode 222: Brews and Bands for Bart.

Lisa:

Karl Larson:

David Rotunda:

Tattered Flag Brewery:

Kevin Keller:

This is just a small example of the outpouring of love and gratitude for Bart. And I think they all do an amazing job of showing the sheer amount of love, gratitude, respect, and admiration everyone had for him, in a way I can’t even begin to express. My apologies to anyone who thinks this is inappropriate or if I left anyone off, or if anyone doesn’t want their tribute shown (message me and I will remove it), but as I struggle through this, and struggle for the words and ways to try and express my own gratitude, admiration, and love for Bart, I find using the blog, and writing, and reading everyone else’s tributes and memorials and thoughts on him, is the best way for me to work my way through it all, and hopefully for others as well.

Brews and Bands for Bart

We’ve mentioned this before here on the blog, and on Facebook, but it needs to be mentioned as much as possible. As this is now going to be one hell of a memorial and party in the honor of Bart; and there is no greater way to pay him tribute than to have one hell of a party.

For tickets and more information, please go to Hop Headz Gear, and directly here: Brews and Bands for Bart – Tickets.

Obituary:

You can find an obituary for Bart here: Bartley Francis Kaminski.

Services:

Viewing:
Sunday
July 25, 2021
2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Rothermel-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc.
25 West Pine Street
Palmyra, PA 17078

Mass of Christian Burial Monday
July 26, 2021
11:00 AM
Holy Spirit Catholic Church
300 West Pine Street
Palmyra, Pennsylvania 17078

I want to once again express my most sincere condolences to Bart’s family, Nicole, to all of his friends. I can not express how much he has meant to myself, to this blog even. I remember talking to him about it at an event shortly before starting it, and how much interest he expressed in it, how he said he would read it, and just the hype he brought to anyone’s ideas. If we all just lived life to 1/3rd the fullest that Bart did, this world would be such an amazing place, full of love, happiness, and everyone working together and showing each other such gratitude, appreciation, and interest. The man was a ball of energy that he exuded on everything. I think my favorite quote about him was, “If you were around Bart and not having a good time, you had no one to blame but yourself.” And nothing could be more true.

Hopefully I will get to see you all at Brews and Bands for Bart. In the meantime, make sure to show love for each other, to think about how Bart lived, and fought, and let’s all be a bit more like him. Cheers everyone.

-B. Kline