WGW keeps the love home in Garrett Co.
Reprinted from the Times-News Sunday June 1, 2014
Mike Burke - Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND - Friday, June 20 at Lodestone Golf Club in McHenry, and Saturday, June 21 at Oakland Golf Club, the third WGW Benefit Golf Tournament will take place. On the surface, the event, founded and operated by Bill Weissgerber and open to the public, is like no other because it provides two days of golf on two different courses under the same umbrella (okay, poor word choice for a golf event). But there is so much more to the WGW Benefit beneath the surface because its genesis and its purpose grips your heart, breaks your heart, warms and enriches your heart all at once.
It is a golf tournament, but, really, it has very little to do with golf. It has to do with all that matters the most — children, and the tight loving grip of family and community.
Last year the WGW raised nearly $100,000 for local charities benefiting the youth of Garrett County:
• Landon’s Library provides books each month to every child born in Garrett County from date of birth until their first day of kindergarten, making it the first countywide effort of its kind in the state of Maryland. To date over 103,000 books have been distributed to children and their families along with Kindermusik and monthly playdates.
On Sept. 2, 2006, Landon Boal, the two-year old son of Brian and Crystal Boal died of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) and his parents teamed with Weissgerber for the first golf tournament to start Landon’s Library.
• The Samantha Funding the Arts program supports and promotes the arts throughout the school system of Garrett County. Funding will be used for art supplies, field trips and projects of the arts.
On Dec. 8, 2012, Samantha Gibson, the 21-year old daughter of Charlie and June McClosky and sister of Nicole and Joe, died in an automobile accident. Samantha was a graduate of Southern High School and an art major in college. Her parents started The Samantha Funding the Arts program in her memory.
• The Andrew S. Woods Memorial Scholarship will be awarded each year to four outstanding academic and athletic students graduating from Southern Garrett High School and one student graduating from Northern Garrett High School, all of whom must attend a four-year school.
On Dec. 8, 2012, the same night of Samantha’s death, Southern High graduate Andrew Woods, the 34-year old son of Tom and Debbie Woods and brother of Josh Woods, died in a separate car accident. An attorney and a trust officer at First United Bank in Oakland at the time of his death, Andy left his wife Kyle and his eight-year old daughter Gabriel.
Along with their families, Landon, Samantha and Andy left the loving community of Garrett County, which has come together with Weissgerber, the Boal, McClosky and Woods families to form an extraordinary memorial to help the children of their county.
“When Andy and Samantha died, we were asked to be part of it,” said Tom Woods, the former Maryland Hall of Fame football coach and principal of Southern High. “We had thought about trying to raise $1,000 for a scholarship to give every year, but when we got involved with the WGW Benefit Golf Tournament, things just ballooned.
“There has been an incredible amount of support and participation — we had 144 golfers at Lodestone and 123 at Oakland last year. We gave away incredible prizes. Every hole has at least a $100 prize attached in some form. The silent auction gifts are something you can’t get — foursomes to Congressional, The Greenbrier, Merion, Pete Dye, Sewickley Heights; vacations to Palm Springs, Myrtle Beach, the Smokey Mountains, I could go on and on.”
Registration for golf on June 20 at Lodestone begins at 8:30 a.m. with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start. Dinner, prizes and a silent auction will follow.
On June 21 at Oakland a 5K Fun Color Run/Walk begins at 8 a.m. with a 7:30 a.m. registration and Saturday is Kids Activities and Family Fun All Day. The golf begins with a noon shotgun start. Dinner and prizes follow. A Helicopter Golf Ball Drop begins at 5 p.m., followed by a raffle, with the silent auction on display all day until 7:30 p.m. and a cornhole tournament beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“Last year over 1,000 people passed through the tournament,” said Woods, “whether it was the golf, the auctions, the raffle tickets. The helicopter ball drop has been incredible.”
So, too, Woods says, is the energy, the warm embrace and the continuing support felt each day by his, the Boal and McClosky families.
“It’s all about our community,” he said. “From the moment each of us lost our children, our community has done nothing but love all of our families and support us in so many ways. It reinforces what a great place Garrett County is ...
“When we retired, we thought about putting the house on the market to be closer to the boys. Fortunately, we didn’t. Little did we know ... How we would have ever made it without all of our friends here loving us every day. It’s amazing the love and affection we’ve gotten, I can say that for all three families. We’ve walked a journey no parent wants to walk. Through our faith and through our community, we’ve come out on the other side.
“Tragedy has given us a lot of friends we never would have met. Tragedy has helped kids in the county get financial help they never would have received. Out of this tragedy, God created a blessing that would have never happened in any other way.”
Through these tragedies, Woods said he and his family have been strengthened by their faith.
“I always thought I could kind of imagine what it might be like to lose a child, but you can’t,” he said. “When you lose a child, a piece of that child goes with you every day you get out of bed. Debbie and I are strong Christians, so we know we will see Andy again. God has told us we will and we take comfort in knowing Andy is living a wonderful life someplace with Him.
“It was a wonderful 34 years of life we were blessed with. I feel for the Boals; they had their son for two years. The McCloskies had their daughter for 21 years. We were fortunate to have our son for much longer.”
For more information on the WGW Benefit Golf Tournament, go to Facebook or to wgwgolf.org.
“All of this was the brainchild of Bill Weissgerber,” said Woods, “who has put a tremendous amount of his time and resources into this to ensure the kids of Garrett County have the financial opportunity that would not have been there without the deaths of our three kids.
“It’s a wonderful memorial and a wonderful way for our children to be remembered. But when you see the eyes of those kids who get scholarships and books — some in families who don’t have a book in their house, but now get one every month ... When you see the eyes of those children light up the way they do ... Well, it makes you feel so good inside I can’t begin to tell you.”
Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at [email protected]
Mike Burke - Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND - Friday, June 20 at Lodestone Golf Club in McHenry, and Saturday, June 21 at Oakland Golf Club, the third WGW Benefit Golf Tournament will take place. On the surface, the event, founded and operated by Bill Weissgerber and open to the public, is like no other because it provides two days of golf on two different courses under the same umbrella (okay, poor word choice for a golf event). But there is so much more to the WGW Benefit beneath the surface because its genesis and its purpose grips your heart, breaks your heart, warms and enriches your heart all at once.
It is a golf tournament, but, really, it has very little to do with golf. It has to do with all that matters the most — children, and the tight loving grip of family and community.
Last year the WGW raised nearly $100,000 for local charities benefiting the youth of Garrett County:
• Landon’s Library provides books each month to every child born in Garrett County from date of birth until their first day of kindergarten, making it the first countywide effort of its kind in the state of Maryland. To date over 103,000 books have been distributed to children and their families along with Kindermusik and monthly playdates.
On Sept. 2, 2006, Landon Boal, the two-year old son of Brian and Crystal Boal died of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) and his parents teamed with Weissgerber for the first golf tournament to start Landon’s Library.
• The Samantha Funding the Arts program supports and promotes the arts throughout the school system of Garrett County. Funding will be used for art supplies, field trips and projects of the arts.
On Dec. 8, 2012, Samantha Gibson, the 21-year old daughter of Charlie and June McClosky and sister of Nicole and Joe, died in an automobile accident. Samantha was a graduate of Southern High School and an art major in college. Her parents started The Samantha Funding the Arts program in her memory.
• The Andrew S. Woods Memorial Scholarship will be awarded each year to four outstanding academic and athletic students graduating from Southern Garrett High School and one student graduating from Northern Garrett High School, all of whom must attend a four-year school.
On Dec. 8, 2012, the same night of Samantha’s death, Southern High graduate Andrew Woods, the 34-year old son of Tom and Debbie Woods and brother of Josh Woods, died in a separate car accident. An attorney and a trust officer at First United Bank in Oakland at the time of his death, Andy left his wife Kyle and his eight-year old daughter Gabriel.
Along with their families, Landon, Samantha and Andy left the loving community of Garrett County, which has come together with Weissgerber, the Boal, McClosky and Woods families to form an extraordinary memorial to help the children of their county.
“When Andy and Samantha died, we were asked to be part of it,” said Tom Woods, the former Maryland Hall of Fame football coach and principal of Southern High. “We had thought about trying to raise $1,000 for a scholarship to give every year, but when we got involved with the WGW Benefit Golf Tournament, things just ballooned.
“There has been an incredible amount of support and participation — we had 144 golfers at Lodestone and 123 at Oakland last year. We gave away incredible prizes. Every hole has at least a $100 prize attached in some form. The silent auction gifts are something you can’t get — foursomes to Congressional, The Greenbrier, Merion, Pete Dye, Sewickley Heights; vacations to Palm Springs, Myrtle Beach, the Smokey Mountains, I could go on and on.”
Registration for golf on June 20 at Lodestone begins at 8:30 a.m. with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start. Dinner, prizes and a silent auction will follow.
On June 21 at Oakland a 5K Fun Color Run/Walk begins at 8 a.m. with a 7:30 a.m. registration and Saturday is Kids Activities and Family Fun All Day. The golf begins with a noon shotgun start. Dinner and prizes follow. A Helicopter Golf Ball Drop begins at 5 p.m., followed by a raffle, with the silent auction on display all day until 7:30 p.m. and a cornhole tournament beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“Last year over 1,000 people passed through the tournament,” said Woods, “whether it was the golf, the auctions, the raffle tickets. The helicopter ball drop has been incredible.”
So, too, Woods says, is the energy, the warm embrace and the continuing support felt each day by his, the Boal and McClosky families.
“It’s all about our community,” he said. “From the moment each of us lost our children, our community has done nothing but love all of our families and support us in so many ways. It reinforces what a great place Garrett County is ...
“When we retired, we thought about putting the house on the market to be closer to the boys. Fortunately, we didn’t. Little did we know ... How we would have ever made it without all of our friends here loving us every day. It’s amazing the love and affection we’ve gotten, I can say that for all three families. We’ve walked a journey no parent wants to walk. Through our faith and through our community, we’ve come out on the other side.
“Tragedy has given us a lot of friends we never would have met. Tragedy has helped kids in the county get financial help they never would have received. Out of this tragedy, God created a blessing that would have never happened in any other way.”
Through these tragedies, Woods said he and his family have been strengthened by their faith.
“I always thought I could kind of imagine what it might be like to lose a child, but you can’t,” he said. “When you lose a child, a piece of that child goes with you every day you get out of bed. Debbie and I are strong Christians, so we know we will see Andy again. God has told us we will and we take comfort in knowing Andy is living a wonderful life someplace with Him.
“It was a wonderful 34 years of life we were blessed with. I feel for the Boals; they had their son for two years. The McCloskies had their daughter for 21 years. We were fortunate to have our son for much longer.”
For more information on the WGW Benefit Golf Tournament, go to Facebook or to wgwgolf.org.
“All of this was the brainchild of Bill Weissgerber,” said Woods, “who has put a tremendous amount of his time and resources into this to ensure the kids of Garrett County have the financial opportunity that would not have been there without the deaths of our three kids.
“It’s a wonderful memorial and a wonderful way for our children to be remembered. But when you see the eyes of those kids who get scholarships and books — some in families who don’t have a book in their house, but now get one every month ... When you see the eyes of those children light up the way they do ... Well, it makes you feel so good inside I can’t begin to tell you.”
Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at [email protected]