When I think of fundraisers by church groups for programs, outreach work, missions and the like, I think of church suppers, yard sales, musical events, family fun days, or something along those lines.
I wouldn’t think of a church fundraiser being a golf tournament.
But I’m being asked to think again, because that’s just what the Men’s Group of East Orrington Congregational Church has been hosting for the past six years, to raise money for the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund.
The East Orrington Congregational Church’s seventh annual golf tournament begins with registration at 7:30 a.m. and a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, at the 18-hole Rocky Knoll Country Club in Orrington.
The fee is $60 per golfer and includes golf cart, prizes and lunch featuring chicken, ribs, baked beans, salad and dessert.
Joe Simpson is organizing the event and, seeking to increase participation, has announced what he hopes will be a very big draw: a $15,000 prize for a hole-in-one on the 165-yard, par 3, fifth hole.
Just for fun, I researched the BDN archives for “par-3 fifth hole” and here’s what I found: On Sept. 27, 2009, “Bill Babine of Dexter used a 6-iron to ace the 165-yard, par 3 fifth hole at Dexter Municipal Golf Course,” witnessed by the members of his foursome.
So, it can be done.
Prizes also will be offered for closest-to-the-pin on the par-3 holes and longest drive for both men and women.
For registration information, you can call the church office at 825-3404, Joe Simpson at 659-3465 or e-mail wwjd@roadrunner.com.
Simpson told me he would love to have enough foursomes to fill the course and help fill the coffers of the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund.
He explained that the fund is used to “answer calls for heating oil assistance, food, clothing or any other basic necessity, throughout the year, and especially the winter.”
Perhaps the most significant aspect of this fund is that it is available to anyone in need, not just members of the church, he stressed.
If someone needs heating oil assistance, for example, “we will have an account set up to have oil delivered,” Simpson explained.
“People do fall between the cracks, and the need seems to be growing.”
And it isn’t just heating oil people need, he added.
“One of the biggest things is groceries, so we’ll get people a Shaw’s card, for example. But we help with other things, too.”
Because this fund, maintained and managed by the church’s Men’s Group, is designed to benefit the community, Simpson hopes many golfers will come out and participate in this tournament so EOCC can, in turn, help their neighbors in need.
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For the past two years, Carol Small of Etna, owner of Guys & Gals in Newport, has held fundraisers for community members who find themselves facing difficult times.
She has helped raise money to purchase an insulin pump for an area youngster, and helped a family of four, facing three medical situations at once, pay their rent for six months.
Now, however, it’s time to help one of her own.
Carol is organizing a benefit fundraiser for her son-in-law and daughter, Robert and Tena Skidgel Burton of Etna.
Last January, while working in Minnesota, Robert, 40, was involved in a serious after-work automobile accident that left him blind and brain-damaged, and the family’s insurance has run out.
To help with expenses, Carol will hold a benefit fundraiser beginning at 9 a.m., both days, Saturday, Aug. 14, and Sunday, Aug. 15, in a field at her Etna home.
She is asking anyone who would like to participate or receive information to call her at work, 368-5443, or at home, 269-4301.
I will have more details about this event, and the family’s situation, in Wednesday’s column.
Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; javerill@bangordailynews.com; 990-8288.