LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — It sounds like the opening line of a joke: What happens when the pope gets his hands on two bottles of Kentucky bourbon? But it actually occurred and the punch line is heartwarming: the autographed bottles raised tens of thousands of dollars to help poor and sick people, as well as homeless cats and dogs.
The plan was concocted by the Rev. Jim Sichko, a Kentucky-based Roman Catholic priest. He saw an opportunity to turn a signature Kentucky product, and his access to Pope Francis as a papal missionary of mercy, into a way to help those in need by auctioning off bourbon bottles signed by the pope.
“I understand that at times people say, ‘What is this priest doing?’ I get it," Sichko said in a recent interview. "I think outside the box all the time.”
His unconventional idea raised about $30,000 when Sotheby’s auctioned off two bottles signed by the pope, plus another bourbon bottle autographed by former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady.
The proceeds are being divided among organizations selected by Sichko. He presented the first check on Jan. 31 to Paws 4 the Cause, an animal rescue organization in Lexington, Kentucky. Other checks will help hospice care in his native Texas and a legal clinic in Lexington that assists immigrants, he said.
The Catholic Diocese of Lexington, where Sichko is based, will use some of the money to help people in need.
It all began several years ago when Sichko gave Francis a bottle of hard-to-get Pappy Van Winkle bourbon as a gift when the priest visited Rome. After that, Sichko routinely presented a gift, often Kentucky bourbon, when encountering the pope as part of his role as a papal missionary of mercy.
Sichko is one of hundreds of such missionaries appointed by Francis. They are assigned to travel the world spreading kindness, forgiveness, joy and mercy to people they encounter. Sichko, 58, said he travels the world about 300 days a year as a missionary and evangelist.
During a visit to the Vatican last year, Sichko carried with him two bottles of bourbon, but with a different mission. He wanted to spread good to others by having the pope sign the two bottles donated by Willett Distillery in Kentucky. The bottles carried special seals and contained Willett bourbon that had aged for 10 years.
When the time came, he mustered the nerve to seek the papal signatures.
“I just pulled out the bottle of bourbon with a pen,” Sichko recalled. “And he looked at me and he signed it. And I was shocked. And then what I did was I pulled out the other bottle. And he signed that.”
Sichko wasn't ready for what happened next.
“He looked at both bottles and he looked at me and he said, ‘Father, which one of these is mine?’” Sichko recalled. That led to an uncomfortable confession.
“I said, 'Neither one of these are for you. I want to come up with a creative way to auction them off for the good of others,'” Sichko said. “And that's how it came about.”
Sichko's teammate on the project was Drew Kulsveen, the master distiller at Willett Distillery.
“From the first conversation, our door was open knowing this contribution can impact countless people in need through his work,” Kulsveen said in a statement.
Kulsveen and his wife joined Sichko on the journey to Rome. He called it a “tremendous honor” watching the pope sign the bottles of bourbon from his distillery.
Sichko received a warm welcome from workers at the animal shelter when he arrived carrying a $7,375 donation. Anita Spreitzer, vice president and general manager of Paws 4 the Cause, said it would help pay for an expansion of the shelter that was underway.
Part of the donation, however, will be passed along to another animal rescue group, she said. That brought a hearty approval from Sichko, who said, “That's the way it goes — give and receive.”
Sichko said he expects to return to the Vatican in about six months but doesn't know if he will ask the pope to sign more bourbon bottles.
“It loses its flair if you're constantly getting him to autograph things,” the priest said.
Sichko said he hopes his work has a ripple effect, inspiring acts of kindness by others. It can be as small as opening the door for someone or letting someone go ahead of them in the grocery checkout line.
“Everyone can do something,” Sichko said. "It costs nothing to be kind.
“Our world is turning into a very angry world,” he added. “And I think it's time that we just chill out a bit and recognize truly what we're called to be. And that is brothers and sisters. We may all have different skin colors. We may have all different ways of life. But I think we all come from the same place, and that is love and love of God.”
Rev. Jim Sichko holds a cat at the Paws 4 The Cause animal shelter in Lexington, Ky., on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
