Keep S’myelin for Katie golf tournament planned
With help from family and friends, Julie Tucker is once again excited to invite the community to an event she holds dear to her heart, the sixth annual Keep S’myelin for Katie Golf Tournament, with proceeds benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The golf tournament is planned for Saturday, June 25, at The Woods of Westminster, a scenic golf course at 23 Rock Maple Lane.
Tucker was inspired to start this fundraising tournament several years ago to raise funds for a cause that is very personal to her.
“I organized this tournament to raise awareness and money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society,” she said. “I am doing this to honor my dad Walter Palatino who had MS and to support my daughter, Katie, who was diagnosed with Relapsing/remitting Multiple Sclerosis seven years ago, just after she turned 20.”
Team Keep S’myelin for Katie, which is led by Tucker’s daughter Katie Hodge, who is now 27, has raised over $72,000 over the past six years. This golf tournament has been a huge contributor to that amount raising over $34,000.
Registration will begin at 8 a.m. the day of the golf tournament with a 9 a.m. shotgun start, and dinner will be provided afterward.
There will be a 50/50 raffle, closest to the pin and longest drive contests, and many raffle prizes up for grabs including restaurant gift certificates, handmade items and scratch tickets.
Some of the raffle items to be featured include gift certificates to the 99 Restaurant, the Old Mill Restaurant, Agronomy Farm Vineyard, and the Fix Burger Bar; a beautifully handcrafted cribbage board; a Milk Room Brewery swag bag and gift certificate; a margarita-themed gift basket, and a Bull Run Restaurant gift basket, with other raffle items still being donated. “We currently have 26 teams signed up; however, we would love to match last year’s number at 36 teams,” Tucker said. “To date, we have nine hole sponsors, and we are hoping to get to 18 holes.”
To date, the golf tournament has the following hole sponsors: Berlin Insurance Group, DR Poulin Construc
tion, First Financial Trust, Anderson, Bagley & Mayo Insurance Agency, Haynes Realty Group, Salvadore Auto Group, Jim Sampson Painting, Avidia Bank and Keller William North Central Realty.
If you are unable to attend, you can still help support Hodge and her team by sponsoring a hole for $75. If you have committed to a foursome and want to spon
sor a hole, the cost is $50. A sign (18-inches x 24 inches) will be placed at a hole on the course with your name.
“Signs are being donated by Sign Logic of Hudson, so your entire donations will be going to the National MS Society,” said Tucker. “I would also like to give a shout out to Advanced Glass & Mirror of Westminster who has been sponsoring this tournament since the beginning.”
The cost to participate in the golf tournament is $125 per person and includes a great day of golf, dinner and
a chance to win prizes and raffles.
Hodge is on her fourth type of MS medication, and that is one of the reasons Tucker also participates in the three- day, 50mile MS Challenge Walk on Cape Cod.
“Katie and I are excited to participate in this walk in September, which will be the sixth year in a row as members of Keep S’myelin for Katie,” Tucker said.
Tucker added the money helps with research for a cure, new medications and equipment for people who
have MS.
“This cause is very important to me,” Tucker said. “I do it in memory of my father, and along with my daughter and the over 1 million people in the United States who suffer from this disease. They are truly my inspiration.”
To participate in the golf tournament, or to sponsor a hole, contact Tucker at mikeandjulie116@gmail. com. For information or to donate directly to Keep S’myelin for Katie’s 50-mile MS Challenge Walk, visit https:// bit.ly/3z6l0bz.