|
|
The Green Bay Packers. The Beatles. Tiger Woods. Pike's
unofficial alumni golf outing. All had humble beginnings. All have reached legendary status. Known to its participants as "a class reunion without the class," the outing has grown to become one of the school's social highlights of the year, if we don't say so ourselves. Class reunions and other alumni activities are scheduled around it, and people travel from all over the country to attend. It routinely draws a full field of golfers and dozens of "socialites," and has raised thousands of dollars for Pike charities. All quite by accident, really. The event began casually in August of 2001, when about a dozen alums gathered to play golf at Eagle Creek. The excuse was to see Alan Baker, who had left Pike in 1970 after his freshman year and lost contact with his former friends and neighbors So we dug him out of Cincinnati and put together a few foursomes. Through e-mail and word-of-mouth, the field expanded to 30 golfers the following year, when we played at Coffin on a Saturday morning in September. We almost had to settle for 29, but John Patty barely made it on time after going to Eagle Creek first. Apparently he was living in the past. But everyone was rumored to have had a good time, which made me wonder how many people I could get together with more advance notice and planning. The 2003 outing was a major success, with 110 golfers and several spectators showing up at Coffin. A chance meeting with Doug Hardwick earlier in the summer resulted in an appearance by The Gordon Pipers. Elaine Andrews ('73) also sang in the opening ceremony and former teacher Joe Drescher led a fund-raising effort that raised $1200 for charity. The Class of '74 took over the direction of the 2004 outing at Saddlebrook. More than 50 golfers and several spectators showed up, and more than $400 was passed on to the event's treasury. The outing has normally been conducted at Brickyard Crossing since then, and has grown far beyond what I planned. So many people have contributed time, money, ideas and enthusiasm that we've had nearly a full field of golfers and dozens of people coming for dinner each year. Considering that class events have been scheduled with the outing in mind, we are now the tail wagging the red devil, so to speak. The Pike alums proved their agility in 2010, when they were forced to switch from the Brickyard course to Ironwood at a late date because the Brickyard took a bigger payday and hosted Fuzzy Zoeller's event. The staff at Ironwood was fantastic, and the event came off without a hitch, other than the 90 degree weather. A field of 126 golfers participated, and another 60 or so came for dinner. The Class of '75 conducted a reunion around the outing and had a great turnout. Former Business teacher Joe Drescher regaled everyone with an after-dinner talk and headed up a crew that collected more than $2,600 from the raffle. Larry Lux ('74) won the grand prize, a $1,000 American Express gift card. Cards totalling $3,000 were given away, along with other prizes. The winning foursome consisted of Mark Bernhardt, Dennis Bernhardt, Jay Bernhardt and Tim Tafflinger. The profit for the outing was $2,773.58, most of which will go to Pike-related charities. Our outing focuses on alums from the 1960s, '70s and early '80s. It has succeeded because people know they will see alums from other classes they wouldn't see at a class reunion _ therefore the motto "class reunion without the class." But we haven't turned anyone away yet. Mark Montieth ('73) View golf outing photos from 2009 and discuss past events by clicking here or check out other past year photos by clicking here. |
|||||