2018 Thank you breakfast (picture above)

Thank You Breakfast Celebrates Successful Hole-in-One Contest

We welcomed sponsors, participants and volunteers from our 25^th annual Hole-in-One Contest. President Theresa Clemmons welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. There was a presentation of a Paul Harris Fellow.

One major change we made this year was mov­ing from May up to February, which had been our time frame for many years. We also added back an eighth day of qualifying. For a second straight year we were unable to land a Signature sponsor. Although sponsors from other areas improved as did our number of shooters and an increased Silent Auction and 50-50 drawing, the lack of a Signature sponsor and an increase in expenses moved our bottom line lower than in recent years. We did buy all new balls for this year’s event.

We wound up with less money to give back to the community. The club has pledged to start earlier for next year, aggressively seek a Signa­ture sponsor, continue seeking other sponsors and improving our daily operations so we can boost our bottom line up to be able to return more money to the organizations we support as well as many new ones. President Theresa also noted the support we received from outside organizations, such as the Chandler Police Department Explorers post and AZCEND, as well as members from other organizations plus our own family members and friends. She thanked the staff at San Marcos for their tremendous support. General manager Michael Rus was introduced. Thanks also go to Greens Superintendent Matthew Rusch as well as Nick Lacey and other staff members.

Pres. Theresa introduced Terry Locke, who served as master of ceremonies. Terry thanked Platinum sponsor Gardner Capital Partners, and Gold sponsors Achen Gardner Construction and Benjamin F. Edwards. He mentioned the Silver, Premier, Tee Box and Ring of Honor sponsors. He called attention to a gold sheet at each place setting, which named all of the sponsors, as well as current and previous winners of our event.

We continued our plan started last year of having only one hole in the Overall finals, worth $100,000. The money saved from insurance costs was returned in part to our shooters in the form of increased alternate prize money. We previously had from 5-10 holes in the Overall finals with the top prize of $1 million. The Women’s Shootout is worth $20,000. We have never had a hole-in-one in the Overall or Women’s Shootout finals.

This year’s Overall winner, Joe Yanes, pocketed $5,000, and Wom­en’s Shootout winner, Melissa Bo­mar, took home $500. Jerry Farrer, second place finisher, won $2,500, and Jerry Turner, third place finisher, earned $1,000, Joe and Melissa were unable to attend. However, both Jerrys were present. Jerry Turner also is a Chandler Horizon Rotary Club member.

Terry called up representatives of 23 different organizations to receive donations coming from the results of this year’s event. As they were called up, President Theresa congratulated them and handed them their checks.

Organizations, their representa­tives and the amount awarded are listed below.

Furnishing Dignity, Joyce Petrowski ($500);

Pregnancy Care Center, Mary Murphy-Baxter ($1,000);

AZCEND, Trinity Donovan ($1,500);

Chandler Police Department Victims Assistance Program, Katie Cain ($1,000);

Chandler Police Department Explorers Post, Greg Howarth ($500);

The Clothes Cabin, Caryn Shoe­maker and Larry Langer ($1,000);

Hope Animal Crisis Center, Marla Martella, Pam Reinke, Hope and Yodi ($500);

Chandler Education Destination College Program, Jennifer Hewitt ($1,500);

Chandler Care Center, Katie Kahle ($500);

My Sister’s Place, Leslie Mar’Na ($1,000);

Chandler Gilbert Family YMCA, Garrett Brolsma ($1,000);

Chandler Gilbert YMCA I-Learn Program, Colleen Buck ($500);

Junior Achievement, Dena Kidd ($500); and

The First Tee, Kevin Terry ($1,000).

Monies were awarded to other organizations who were unable to send representatives. Those organi­zations and amounts were:

Arizona Burn Foundation ($500); Desert Cancer Foundation ($500); Si Se Puede ($500); Chandler Gilbert ARC ($500); Flight 33 ($1,000); The H.E.L.P. Foundation ($1,000); Shel­ter Box ($1,000); The Rotary Voca­tional Fund of Arizona ($1,000); and The Rotary Foundation PolioPlus Program ($1,000).

The total awarded at the Thank You Breakfast was $19,000. Terry also mentioned other organiza­tions that receive donations from the Chandler Horizon Rotary Foundation throughout the year, including: scholarships to Chandler High School and Chandler Gilbert Community College; the Rotary Third Grade Dictionary Project; Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and the Adopt-a-Family program at Christmas time.

There was a handout sheet at each place setting showing organi­zations Chandler Horizon Rotary has supported in the past year and down through the years. Including all donations, the Chandler Horizon Rotary Foundation has donated more than $26,000 in the past year.