Marilyn Hespel
On November 11, 2017, the Chandler SunBird Lions Club, in conjunction with the Lions Foundation of Arizona, saluted our Veterans with a stunning display of flags on the first tee of the SunBird Golf Course and a fun day of golf for the attendees.
This annual Golf Tournament was well attended. During the four-hour scramble, the golfers were able to use a golf ball cannon on Hole #2, provided by “Putts 4 Privileges.” There was also a chance to win some golf balls and golf equipment on Hole #17, put on by “10X Golf.”
The participants were asked to bring a donation for the “Packages from Home” organization which sends boxes of varied items to our troops who are serving our country abroad. The donations of goods we received included 109 pairs of socks and 215 pounds of assorted toiletries, books, games, snacks, cards and canned goods, plus $175 in monetary donations to help with the costs of postage. The “Packages from Home” organization, located in Phoenix, was very appreciative of everyone’s generosity.
The tournament committee would like to thank the following Hole Sponsors for their support of the SunBird Lions Golf Tournament: Craig Roberts of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management who sponsored the $25,000 Hole-in-One, Randy Peterson of A-1 Golf Carts, Rex Rohlfs of Covers Plus Upholstry, Dave Railsback of Aqua Tech Plumbing and Drain LLC, Ken Ratliff of K&R Refrigeration, Dino Goegan of Edward Jones Investment Group, Robyn Bagby and Alison Beaton of Car and Driver, Denny Moore and Mark McCullough of Four Peaks Pest Control, Randy Arias of Positive Painting, Dave Meyers of the Cactus Mountain Properties LLC, Teri Tinney of Finance America Reverse Mortgage, Ruth Ann Hobbs of SunTree Realty Team, the Lions Foundation of Arizona and the Arizona Lions Vision Center. Additionally, military and memorial hole sponsorships were generously donated by Lion Ray Clark, Lions Larry and Ruth Palmer, Lion Carol Zittel, Lions Eddie and James Richardson, Lion Su Lin Trepanitis, Lion Don Buss and SunBird residents Jack Schmidt and Jim Bickett.
Following a terrific lunch prepared by the staff of the SunBird Horizon Room, the following awards were given to the winners of the tournament:
First Place Gross: J. Hyduke, J. Verwest, B. Johns, W. Irene
First Place Net: D. Jones, G. Dupree, A. Funk, F. Sijohn
Second Place Gross: F. Nixon, F. Fraga, J. German, J. Tomlinson
Second Place Net: B. Reid, F. Garmeson, D. Harach, A. Namit
Third Place Gross: G. Richardson, J. Dolwick, F. Zalanka, A. Franklin
Third Place Net: B. Sciaretta, P. Guttilla, N. Caron, R. Bennett
Closest to the Pin winners were Hole #3 Chris Albright, Hole #5 Nancy Rafter, Hole #8 John Arceo, Hole #11 Jean Pritchard, Hole #13 Suzanne Popelka, Hole #14 Fred Fraga.
The Longest Putt winners were Dolly White for the women and Mel Flinkman for the men. Gerry Tomlinson won the closest to the pin on Hole #17, sponsored by “10X Golf.” Terry Schuh won longest “Drive” contest on Hole #2, using the golf ball cannon provided by “Putts 4 Privileges.”
We want to thank all the Lions who worked very hard to make this tournament a success. We also want to thank all those who supported this tournament and “Supported Our Veterans” with their generous donations to “Packages from Home.”