By Jesse Serwer
Still going strong is the Friends of Rockville Centre 911 Memorial Foundation, which held its fourth annual Celebrity Golf Classic at Rockville Links Country Club May 31. More than 125 golfers, including local sports legends John Starks, Boomer Esiason, Brian Leetch and Ralph Branca, participated in the event, which raises funds to pay the college tuition of children who lost parents on 9/11.
³It is incredible that they continue to do this. It means so much to the families,² said Russ Siller, who lost his brother, firefighter Steven Siller. ³It is important to continue to honor the people who died in 9/11 and continue to reach out to their families.²
Having raised approximately $750,000 in the first three tournaments, the foundation expected to collect an additional $150,000 to $200,000, mostly through silent and live auctions of autographed sports memorabilia and group trips to some of the world¹s top golf courses, said event organizer Bill Hogan.
³There are two objectives: To pay for the college education of the children who lost family members on 9/11,² said Hogan, who started the foundation with Greg DeVerna in 2001. ³Hopefully we will be able to pay for all of them. The second is to honor and remember all the people from Rockville Centre who were lost on 9/11, because we were very hard hit. When they become adults, they will know that the community stood behind them and their parents.²
Among the top-grossing items this year were a package trip for four to Ireland to play golf at Royal Portrush, Royal Court Down and Bally Bunion Old Course, which fetched $8,000, and a Yankees jersey autographed by Mickey Mantle, which took in $3,500. Many of the auctioned items were donated by participants and regular supporters of the foundation and tournament, such as legendary former St. John¹s basketball coach Lou Carnesecca, who donated four tickets to a St. John¹s men¹s basketball home game as his personal guests, including dinner at his favorite restaurant, Dante¹s.
³We have a lot of the same people coming every year,² Siller said. ³These aren¹t just athletes. A lot of them have personal connections to people who died in 9/11, and some have their own losses. Boomer Esiason was a friend of Timmy O¹Brien [a Rockville Centre native who died while working at Goldman Sachs]. He comes every year. ³
Ralph Branca, the Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who served up the ³shot heard Œround the world² to Bobby Thomson for the 1951 National League pennant, donated jerseys autographed by himself and Thomson. Thomson, who has become a close friend of Branca¹s, participated in last year¹s tournament.
³It is fantastic what they do for the children,² said Grace Hatton, whose son, Capt. Terence S. Hatton of FDNY¹s Rescue 1, perished in the attacks. She was one of about 30 family members who attended the day¹s events. ³It is a good occasion, but it¹s full of mixed emotions.²
Comments about this story? JSerwer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
