Maisie Krienke
Submitted
One hundred eighty golfers signed up for the 25th anniversary of the EKClassic golf tournament which is an annual event hosted in memory of Eddie Krienke who passed away in 2000. This is a family and friend fun golf event with lots of time to reminisce and participate in several competitions.
August 8th had finally arrived! Early morning golfers began reporting to registration at 9am and enjoyed a coffee & muffin, thanks to Leah, before they headed off to course. Golfing began at 10am on Friday, with a full flight going out every two hours. Karen Fey-Hill took total responsibility for the registration. By the end of the day all teams had made their first nine and were flighted for the final round which took place on Saturday.
The Community Centre was the hub of the action. It is where golfers and family gathered to visit, reminisce and participate in the putting competition, purchase raffle and 50/50 tickets, check out the prize table, crab a bucket list entry every two hours and get their arms ready for bidding on ‘the best’ teams. It was also time to check out the silent auction table and get those bids going. The Sawchuk family travelled from Prince Rupert to get in on the visit with cousins and to deliver their donations of multiple jars of Helena’s Canned Salmon which is always a hit for silent auction bidding. The bar and concession were efficiently operated by many volunteers. Deb & Ron, April, Jordanna & Cora, Heather & Connie, Wendy were busy both days prepping pizza, mixing drinks and shooting the breeze with all the golfers. All this while May and Diana attended to the sales of Memorial Bag raffle, 50/50, and Roughrider Cooler & memorabilia while Eve and her friends combed the crowd every two hours selling Bucket List tickets.
Friday evening is a snack time everyone waits for, as once again Sandy and Faye donated a feast of bison dogs. These couldn’t be favored more, especially when you add a few candied jalapenos along with all the other condiments.
A special time was taken to pay memory to Nick Fouillard. Nick was a family friend who not only participated in the EKClassic for many years, but also donated the bar fridge and contents for the putting competition. Unfortunately, we lost Nick to an accident this year. Tribute was paid to Nick by renaming our competition “Putt for Nick”. Each time you entered to putt for a chance to win the fridge you received a special ‘can koozie’ logoed with “Putt for Nick”! Many participants managed to drop their putt and get an entry in the drum. The lucky winner of the ‘Nick fridge’ was Nora Robertson, a 5-year-old who travelled all the way from Yellowknife to putt and win.
Then it was time for the evening highlight…getting those hands ready to rise for a bid on your favorite team. Score recorders Leslie and Arlene prepped the listing for auctioneer Randy to get the bidding rolling. We all think we’re wise when it comes to who will improve their score in the second round, however some of us were not so good at making this decision….however it was all fun just the same. Bidders were out in full force as it was nearly midnight by the time the Championship flight got to the auction table. With a quick closure many of the active ones headed to the hotel to get in on a little of the entertainment there, while the wise ones headed home to rest up so as to improve their second round.
Saturday morning was an 9am start for flights 12, 13 and 14. Everybody quickly grabbed a muffin and coffee and headed to the course. Obviously, those who had headed home early last night, proved it was a wise decision as their scores improved by nine and ten points on their second round. The remaining flights teed off at 11, 2:00 and 4:30. Everyone dropped in to Community Centre during the lunch hour to enjoy a hamburger & bean luncheon donated by George and Arlene which was prepared by Sasha, Tim, Ron, and Kyle. Once they cleared the kitchen it was time for Doug and his energetic crew of Kat, Rio, Wendy and Hershey to begin the supper preparation.
This second round was an important one as there was an opportunity to sink a hole-in-one on #8 and ride home on a super golf cart quad donated by Rally Motorsports. Unfortunately, Al and Scott had to return the quad unclaimed. Then another wonderful challenge came on #9 as Travis of TR Petroleum, laid out $1500 cash to be claimed by the golfers who landed Closest to the Pin. Men’s $500 was claimed by Cory Randall, Ladies $500 by Juana McKnight, Jr. Boys $250 went to Jude Devonshire and Jr. Girls $250 to Jillian Krienke. Rally Motorsports and TR Petroleum have been part of making this event so awesome by sponsoring it for 25 years with these generous donations. Maisie and her family can not thank you enough for this great support.
Our little Bucket List cruisers continuously circled the tables collecting toonies and depositing names in for a chance to win the swing set and wine rack which was made and donated by Ron & Arlene. Every two hours they would draw two names. These lucky ones received an ’25 EKClassic hat and golf balls plus their name advanced to the final draw. Chances to win were high as only 20 names were in the final draw. The two lucky ones were Kevin Ingram going home with the swing and Susi Ingram with the wine rack & glasses.
All teams were in by 6 to enjoy the delicious supper donated by Neil and Rhoda and prepared by Doug and crew. Leslie and Arlene were busy collecting all score cards to record for championship and Calcutta outcomes. Thrilled to get their names on the trophy as champions were Wyatt Pitre & Kohen Starkell along with Ray & Kelly Krienke coming in with tied scores. Congratulations to these champs!
There were several delighted faces as the Calcutta results were posted, however, also some rather sad ones as their bids did not perform as wished!
Randy presented the Championship Trophy to Wyatt, Kohen, Ray & Kelly. The 50/50 of $630 was won by Roy Gilbert. Rylan Starkell went home with the memorial bag and Karen Fey-Hill, a hard-core Riders’ fan, packed up the Roughrider cooler and memorabilia. Closest to the Line drive on #2 was claimed by Brent Misener, Lauren Demmans, Ryder Osinchuk and Phoebe Krienke while the longest drive on #5 was awarded to Taylor Olson, Leanne Holbrook, Kohen Starkell and Zoey Krienke.
Many friends and relatives travelled for miles to take in this event. Cousins Julie and Dale drove from Bracebridge, ON and nephew Jayson Ingram travelled in from China. Many of them came in costume to add flavor to the event. A team of judges awarded prizes to The Brown Sugar Honey Bees James Neufeldt and AJ Gardiner, the Priest and Nun Dwayne & Kristi Dyok, Gomez & Morticia Adams Joel & Janel Sobshyshyn. Then it was time to randomly draw which flight would get to choose their prize from that magnificent prize table. Over two hundred prizes were presented to choose from, thanks to many family and friends for their awesome donations.
This event was once again one of the fans most favorite as was clearly shown when they continuously asked, what is the date for next year? Ski Timber Ridge will receive $11 590 which will go towards the new snow-making equipment plus $2000 will be donated to CARRES for the development of their activities centre. Besides all the fun had at this event over the 25 years the EKClassic has contributed $237 000 to community support. It has been a wonderful way to pay memory to Eddie. Thanks to all those generous donors and volunteers….it is you that make this event happen.
