Annual charity golf tournament
WA CLUB on course to reach $1 million in donations
BREMERTON, Wash.
— There’s a charity golf
event that has been held an-
nually for the last 13 years
in Bremerton that is really
making a difference for
three non-profit organiza-
tions.
The Washington CLUB
Charity Golf Classic
(CLUB is the acronym for
Contractors, Legislators,
Unions and Business) is ex-
pected to reach the $1 mil-
lion mark in donations
when it tees up Wednesday and Thurs-
day, June 12-13, at the Gold Mountain
Golf Complex in Bremerton.
“When we started this thing we had
modest goals and really no idea if it
would see a second year,” said Jon Bet-
tendorf of Portland-based Quest Invest-
ment Management, and a co-founder of
the CLUB.
The goal, he said, was to create an
event where people from the four
groups could come together in a social
setting, deepen their working relation-
ships, and at the same time produce
meaningful charitable contributions that
would benefit both people in need and
the community at large.
“I remember it well,” recalls co-
founder Gordy Howins, a retired busi-
ness manager of Tacoma-based Operat-
ing Engineers Local 612. “Six or seven
guys sitting around brainstorming this
idea of a charity golf tournament de-
signed for all the trades, not just one or
a few. We all had an honest desire to get
business and labor together away from
the negotiating table and build relation-
ships to do something good.”
Another co-founder, Nate Drake, a
retired business manager of the Carpen-
ters Union in Tacoma, said the first
thing they did was decide where to do-
nate the money. “Even before coming
up with a name,” he said.
They decided to focus on three char-
ities — one local, one regional, and one
national. The three selected were Holly
Ridge Center in Bremerton, which
serves children and adults with disabil-
ities through its neurodevelopment cen-
ter and job training and placement serv-
ices for adults (local); Children’s
Hospital in Seattle (regional); and the
Diabetes Research Institute located at
the University of Miami, in Florida (na-
tional).
Prior to the CLUB’s inception in
2000, unions raised money exclusively
for the Diabetes Research Institute
through an annual DAD’s Day Golf
Tournament. Dollars Against Diabetes
(DADs) is a campaign organized by the
national Building and Construction
Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
“It was a great event, but we felt we
could make it better,” Howins said.
Howins had an ambitious vision to
triple the size of the DAD’s Day Tour-
nament — filling not just one, but two,
golf courses. He also proclaimed that
CLUB would offer the biggest post-golf
raffle in the Pacific Northwest. Many
participants believe he succeeded.
Each year after DAD’s Day, the
Building and Construction Trades De-
partment ranks events nationwide ac-
cording to their donations. In 1999,
Washington’s DAD’s Day golf tourna-
ment ranked 52nd. For the past two
years, the Washington CLUB has re-
ceived DAD’s Day’s No. 1 ranking.
The CLUB also ranks as the top
donor/supporter for Holly Ridge Cen-
ter, a position it has held since 2001.
Brian Remington, owner of
Golf & Corporate Solutions, the
event manager hired by the
CLUB to run the golf tourna-
ment, said, “We probably put on
40 tournaments, and double that
with corporate events, and the
CLUB is the biggest of its kind.”
Remington also praised the
operators of Gold Mountain Golf
Course, where the tournament
has been held from the very be-
ginning. “They have been a fan-
tastic partner of the CLUB. Year
in and year out this event is one
of the largest and best events at their fa-
cility,” he said.
Another component that has added
to the popularity of the event is the Pre-
CLUB Tournament. Devised by Randy
Goodwin of Washington Capital Man-
agement and Rick Hansen of Rainier
Investment Management, the Pre-
CLUB offers a fun, mini-tournament
the day before the big tournament. At
the Pre-Club golfers play their own ball
over 18 holes. The format for the fol-
lowing day’s CLUB Tournament is a
four-person scramble.
“The Pre-Club helps make the
CLUB a complete package,” Hansen
said. “The Pre-Club is more casual, but
competitive, with a unique format.”
“Not only that,” Goodwin added,
“where else do you find business com-
petitors with their arms around each
other?
“We could not be more pleased and
proud of the success of he CLUB,”
Goodwin continued. “This event does
so much good and it is very fun to be a
part of.”
Bettendorf, who chairs the all-volun-
teer CLUB Golf Committee, said the
group has some special things planned
this year to celebrate the $1 million
milestone. “If you have never been to
the CLUB, please consider it this year”
he said. “It is such a satisfying achieve-
ment and I am extremely proud to be
teamed up with the men and women of
the CLUB Committee. Everyone in the
group is committed to the success of our
event, and the real winners are our char-
ities.”
For more information or to register
for the Washington CLUB Charity Golf
Classic, go on line to www.wa-club.org.
Fishing derby for Guide Dogs May 4
The third annual Salmon Fishing Derby will be held Saturday, May 4, on the
docks at RiverPlace Marina, behind the RiverPlace Hotel in downtown Port-
land. The event, sponsored by Machinists District W24, is a fundraiser for
Guide Dogs of America (GDA).
The International Association of Machinists founded GDA in 1948 in Syl-
mar, California, to train and provide guide dogs to the blind, free of charge.
The organization receives no government funding. To breed, raise and train
one guide dog costs $38,000.
In two years, the Machinists District W24 derby has raised $24,000.
Entry is $200 per person, with a limit of four anglers per boat. Boats are
staffed with professional fishing guides. This year a limited number of anglers
can use their own boats. Registration is $100 per angler.
Prizes are awarded for biggest fish and most fish landed. Following the
derby there will be a luncheon and raffle.
The deadline to register is April 5.
Sponsorship space also is available, ranging from $100 for a Bronze spon-
sor all the way to $1,500 for a Diamond sponsor.
For more information or to register, go to www.iamw24.org or email com-
municator@iamw24.org.
PAGE 12
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
APRIL 19, 2013