WETHERSFIELD-The 5th Annual Wethersfield High School Hockey Alumni Golf Tournament will tee-off rain or shine on Saturday October 2 at Goodwin Park Golf Course in Hartford, located at 1130 Maple Avenue.
All funds raised at the tournament will support the Wendell H. Coogan Ice Hockey Scholarship. Coogan was an English teacher at WHS in the 1970’s when he first found the ice hockey team at the high school.
“He was the very first one who got the team started,” Arnie Mason said of Coogan. “He coached the team as well.” Mason isn’t a WHS hockey alumni, but two of his sons are. He is more involved in the administrative end as the former president of Central Connecticut Youth Hockey and current president of the WHS Ice Hockey Booster Club.
Coogan is in his 70s now, and according to Mason only stopped playing hockey a few years ago. Everything Coogan has done for ice hockey in Wethersfield is so appreciated, the booster club went as far as to honor him by bestowing a scholarship to high school seniors in his name.
Mason mentioned Bill Desrosiers as another key supporter of the Wethersfield ice hockey team. Desrosiers was one of the first players to skate for Coogan four decades ago.
“Bill had wanted to start and alumni group for many years,” said Mason, who couldn’t remember the exact year, but thought it was around 2002 or 2003. “Initially it was to raise money to get scholarships for higher education for any player from Wethersfield High School.”
Along with the golf tournament, the alumni group also holds an alumni game every winter, and after both the golf outing and the game a dinner is held.
“Usually in March we go to the high school awards dinner to give scholarships to seniors,” said Mason. Seniors who want to receive the Wendell H. Coogan Ice Hockey Scholarship have to fill out an application, write an essay, have excellent grades, and give back to the community.
This year, the Alumni Golf Tournament will offer 18 holes of golf, green fees and carts, unlimited practice balls on the driving range, a longest drive contest, a putting contest, a closest to the pin contest, and a raffle with prizes. A barbecue lunch will also be served.
Golf and lunch costs $100 per person. For either a tee or green sponsor, the cost is also $100, and for both a tee and green sponsor, the cost is $150.
Registration for the tournament will begin at 7 a.m. at the course.
“We’re looking for people to play,” said Mason. “You don’t have to be a hockey player. Ultimately it’s all for scholarships.”
WETHERSFIELD-The Parent Teacher Organization at Emerson-Williams Elementary School have organized the first annual Emerson-Williams PTO Golf Tournament to be held on Saturday, October 2 at Goodwin Park Golf Course in Hartford.
Money raised at the golf tournament will go to a new playground at Emerson-Williams. The current playground is falling apart, according to PTO member Paul LaPerriere.
“It’s getting that way,” he said. “Inspectors have said it’s safe, but getting outdated. Major parts are hard to find, so if it breaks, we can’t get those parts, and we have to tear the whole thing down.”
LaPerriere was the first to mention a golf tournament to the Emerson PTO to fund the new playscape, which can cost about $80,000. The PTO loved his idea from the beginning.
“They were happy about the potential,” he said. “What kind of funds it can generate. The PTO can’t raise $80,000 at one time by itself.”
As of last Tuesday, Laperriere said there were already 30 golfers committed to playing. Cost for the tournament is $110 per golfer. Cost includes golf, dinner, lunch, a raffle with prizes, a 50/50 contest, a closest to pin contest, a long drive contest, and a hole-in-one contest.
As an avid golfer for the past 12-15 years, LaPerriere is hoping for a big turnout. “Hopefully we can build upon (the tournament), make it successful, build the playscape, and keep the tournament going.” LaPerriere hopes that the tournament will go on after the playscape is funded to supplement money for any other needs Emerson-Williams Elementary School has.
Learn more about the golf tournament and the Emerson-Williams PTO by visiting there site at http://www.ewpto.com, or contact LaPerriere at:
Paul LaPerriere
plaperriere@cox.net
860-665-7089
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