Welcome, Friend Gala 2023
Honoring Ken Stephon and Bill Pezza
June 23, 2023 • 6:30pm • Bristol Lions Park (behind Bristol Riverside Theatre)
Please join us as we honor Ken Stephon and Bill Pezza for their advocacy and support of the business and cultural community of Bristol. Their work has been crucial to the ongoing vitality of Bristol Riverside Theatre. We hope to see you at the Welcome, Friend Gala.
WILLIAM PENN BANK
Welcome, Friend celebrates the town and people instrumental in making things possible for BRT over the past few years. Welcome, Friend has served as Bristol’s motto since a wooden sign with those words greeted the Marquis de Lafayette on his “Farewell Tour of America” in 1824. Please join us for this down home welcoming event. Enjoy sumptuous barbecue style food and drink while overlooking the best view in all of Bucks County.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Tickets are $110 each or $1,000 for a table (10 seats)
Garden Party Attire (Cowboy Boots Welcome)
Can’t come to the gala but still want to support BRT? Consider placing an ad in the gala journal. Contact David Abers at 215-785-6664 x104 or dabers@brtstage.org for more details.
The Gala will take place at Bristol Lions Park, located behind BRT at 120 Radcliffe Street, Bristol, PA. Please view the map below.
Get to know our honorees
Ken Stephon is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of William Penn Bank and its parent company, William Penn Bancorporation, headquartered in Bristol, PA. He previously served as President, CEO, and Director of Audubon Savings Bank until its merger with William Penn Bank in 2018. Prior to joining Audubon Savings, he had extensive community banking experience as the CEO of Clover Bank in Pennsauken, NJ and Liberty Savings Bank in Pottsville, PA.
Ken is an active member of Town & Country Players Theater in Buckingham Township, Bucks County, where he has performed on stage in numerous productions including The Children’s Hour, The Laramie Project, and A Few Good Men.
Ken graduated from Trenton State College in 1981 and received an MBA from Rider University in 1989. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers and the Insured Financial Institutions of the Delaware Valley.
Bill Pezza is in his 53rd year of teaching history and government, currently at Bucks County Community College where he has twice been nominated for the prestigious Lindback Award. He has moderated a congressional debate in every election since 2010 and has authored several articles on political commentary.
He is the author of four works of historic fiction: Anna’s Boys, Stealing Tomatoes, Homegrown, and Till the Boys Come Home. His one work of non-fiction is titled How Bristol Won: and will keep on winning, which documents Bristol’s historic win in a 2017 national main street contest. He is a former Borough Councilman and Borough Council president and school board member in Bristol Borough. He was named Citizen of the Year by the Bristol Lions in 2003, Rotary Man of the Year in 2016, and Citizen of the Year by the Advice and Oversight Committee in 2017. He is president of the award-winning Bristol Borough Raising the Bar, one of the best-known civic groups in Bucks County, and led the effort to win the Small Business Revolution National Main Street Contest. He and his wife, Karen have three adult children, two daughters-in-law, and five grandchildren.
Proud Sponsor
