When the 2012 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational comes to town Aug. 1-5 at Firestone Country Club with the best golfers in the world, it also will be honoring and supporting the U.S. Armed Forces
For starters, all active duty, reserve and retired military and their dependents will get in free all week.
Download tickets at www.birdiesfor thebrave.com and click on “Ticketing,” said event spokeswoman Allison Kolodziej. “Valid CAC military ID must be presented with tour ticket to gain admission at the gate. The Bridgestone Invitational will also have 200 complimentary tickets available starting Tuesday to veterans through the Veterans Tickets Foundation. Please visit www.vettix.org for more information on veterans tickets.”
The tournament will also provide access to the Birdies for the Brave Patriots’ Outpost, with free food and drink from Chick-Fil-A, Bravo! Cucina Italiana and Pepsi for service members and their dependents.
At 9 a.m. Aug. 4, the tournament will host a military recognition ceremony, emceed by CBS broadcaster David Feherty at the Patriots’ Outpost. “Local military personnel will be honored and presented with several awards,” Kolodziej said. “Feherty has long been a supporter of U.S. military troops with trips overseas and as a director of the Feherty’s Troops First Foundation (www.troopsfirstfoundation.org).”;
The ceremony will focus on Birdies for the Brave initiatives and will partner with the Northeast Ohio Foundation for Patriotism (www.neopatriotism.org). The nonprofit group was created “to honor patriots who serve, or have served, in the armed forces by working to minimize the sacrifices the soldiers and their families endure. In addition to voluntarily spending extended periods of time away from home and risking injury or death to secure our freedom, NEOPAT has identified that servicemen and women often return to civilian life with needs that aren’t directly addressed by existing government programs.”
That’s where Birdies for the Brave, a PGA Tour Charities Inc. program, tries to help out.
“Birdies for the Brave was originally created by Tour player Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, to support our troops injured in combat,” Kolodziej said. “For each birdie or eagle made by Phil throughout the season, a contribution of $100 for a birdie or $500 for an eagle is made to the Homes for Our Troops and Special Operations Warrior Foundation.”
Several other outreach efforts have since been added.
For information about the Bridgestone Invitational, please visit www.worldgolf championships.com or call 330-644-2299.
Rummage sale planned
WITAN (Women in Touch with Akron’s Needs) is at it again, organizing fundraisers to help the citizens of Akron.
The latest endeavor is a rummage sale 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 28 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1361 W. Market St., Akron.
We’re talking good items — “treasures,” they’re called: furniture, clothing, books, toys, jewelry, household goods and sporting equipment.
For more about the sale or to donate items, please call chairwoman Cheryl White at 330-607-5789 or Heather Jalbert at 330-281-1890.
Proceeds from the rummage sale and bake sale will go to support WITAN’s funding of myriad community projects like Good Neighbors Food Pantry, Crown Point Ecology Center, Blessings in a Backpack, ACCESS (a shelter for women and children) and Family Promise of Summit County (whose mission is to keep homeless parents and children together by providing temporary housing and later securing permanent housing).
WITAN, an Akron-based volunteer organization founded in 1943, has donated more than 2 million hours and granted more than $1.2 million to the community through its fundraising efforts. For information, please visit www.witaninfo.org.
Thank you, librarians!
Ryan Labay, public service assistant at Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Northwest Akron (formerly Ayers) Branch, went above and beyond the call of duty to inject extra excitement into the branch’s 80th anniversary celebration this year.
Labay has claimed as his mission reaching out to prominent people — early readers who became leaders, both near and far — for their take on the importance of the library in their lives.
The congratulatory messages have been overwhelming in number and also the thoughtful memories of early library experiences.
Among those writing were former first lady Laura Bush, who was a librarian; Vice President Joe Biden; mystery writer Sue Grafton; romance novelist Debbie Macomber; thriller and comic writer Brad Meltzer; romance novelist Deanna Raybourn; and author Brandon Mull, best known for his Fablehaven fantasy series.
One of the most heartwarming messages came from Macomber:
“A librarian handed me my very first book. I was four or five at the time and living in Yakima, Wash. My mother said the instant she gave me the book, I grabbed hold of it with both hands and pressed it against my heart. From that moment, I refused to go to bed without a book. Even at that tender age, I knew the library was a special place.”
That librarian happened to be children’s author Beverly Cleary.
Proud of LeBron
The unwaveringly supportive members of the LeBron James Grandmothers Fan Club are celebrating the Heat’s recent victory over Oklahoma City to claim the 2012 NBA title.
Alder Chapman, the club’s founder and president, said her members watched the five-game series individually and as a group. “When we watched at our homes, we often made conference calls to other members,” Chapman said.
She said the other grandmothers were just buoyed by the fact that James seemed to be more comfortable with himself. “He knows what it’s like to hurt and to come back. … He had determination on his face!”
Despite his decision to leave Cleveland for Miami, and the unsophisticated way, he now acknowledges, he handled the announcement, “the grandmothers never stopped loving LeBron,” Chapman noted. “He’s done a lot for the game and he’s done a lot for Akron, too. And he continues to do so.”
The grandmothers plan to formally celebrate the victory from noon to 4 p.m. July 14 at Firestone Metro Park (Tuscarawas Meadows Shelter), 2620 Harrington Road, Akron.
They promise lots on the menu, including fellowship, games and major-league fun.
Cornhole tournament
The Autism Family Foundation at 3557 Commercial Drive, Copley, will host its third annual Charity Cornhole Tournament on Aug. 11. Check-in time is 10 a.m., followed by the first toss at 10:30 a.m. Rain date is Sunday, Aug. 12.
The entry fee of $100 per team (two people) includes lunch and nonalcoholic beverages. Registration and payment deadline is July 30. Checks should be made payable to Autism Family Foundation. Please contact Steve Kolligian at skolligian@hotmail.com.
There will be prize money for top teams, raffles, 50/50 drawing, best 6-bagscore contest and more.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.
