2017 Golf Tournament Wrap Up

Thank you to all our great sponsors, donors, volunteers and attendees for making Monday, November 6, 2017 a special Patriot Day! Through your support, we’re pleased to announce that our event netted $53,000 for special capital projects and other items unfunded by the School District. This means in just six years, your Patrick Henry High School Alumni Association, Inc., (PHHSAA) a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, has raised in excess of $286,000 while holding six fun events for alumni, current and former faculty members, parents of students, and other friends of the school. Your Alumni Association has also been the recipient of a $200,000 donation of furniture for the school’s main office, $90,000 of donations earmarked for the new PHAME building, an anonymous $25,000 grant used to help purchase 38 new PC’s and monitors for the school’s Computer Lab, along with two separate $10,000 pledges received this week from alumni. All-in-all, with your assistance, we have raised and are in the process of donating in excess of $600,000 in goods and support for the school and its student body in the brief six-year history since the Alumni Association’s founding. Not bad for a dream born out of a luncheon reuniting Class of 1978 and 1979 football and baseball players to thank several of their coaches back in the summer of 2011!

During this year’s Reunion BBQ & Awards Banquet, guests heard from Henry’s new Baseball Coach Sheldon Watkins, a 2000 grad, on how he looks forward to rebuilding Henry’s strong tradition of excellence on the baseball diamond. We learned that somehow much of the school’s baseball equipment and uniforms had gone missing from the prior year. A donation appeal was made for which attendees donated $1,400 directly from their smartphones via our Gesture auction software to the baseball program. The PHHSAA Board of Directors has also approved a supplemental $5,000 grant for the purchase of baseball equipment. If you would like to donate to this or any other Henry CIF Sport or the Music department, go to www.phaa17.gesture.com and make your pledge now. We will ensure the funds are distributed to those programs and used for essential equipment and supplies to be enjoyed by the current and future class years as you direct.

All net funds are overseen by our seven-member PHHSAA Board of Directors. Grants/Disbursements are given careful consideration upon receipt of a requesting party’s completed Grant Request or via recommendations of our Scholarship Committee to our Board of Directors.

On Thursday June 9th, IBF Junior and Light Middleweight World Boxing Champion Paul “The Ultimate” Vaden ’86 and Jeff Schindler ‘78 presented a $1,500 check each to 2017 PHHS Seniors Bamidele Aleshe, Brandon Kennedy, and Ian Rodney for their winning entries from our college scholarship awards program.

All of this would not be possible without the tremendous support of all of our sponsors and attendees as well as the hard work from a dedicated group of (listed alphabetically): Committee Members - Kevin Carlson ’78. Tom Conklin ’77, Jeff Cyr '78, Todd Faucett ’82, Scott Flaming ’78, John Harris '76, Deanna Hopkins-Christman '78, Principal Listy Gillingham, Rick Johnson ’78, Leta Keyes, Bill McColl '80, Marla Mohr '84, Al Naliboff '78, Mike Nokes ’78, John Osborne '78, Bob Ruane '78, Jeff Schindler '78, Mary Treadwell, Marie Tuthill, and Tom Weikel ’80; Volunteers - Steve Cosio '78, Diane Darley-Munoz ’78, Erin Doherty-Karnetski '78, Tina Foster-Collins, Tina Geissler-Hubbs ‘76, Sharon Henry-Miller ‘84, Duane Lester ’78, Jim Murtha ’84, Terri Racine-Stolberg ’82, Mike Rinehart ’82, and Marla Wrightson-Rodriquez ’84; and PHHS Parent Volunteers - Kim Boek, Nenita De la Cruz, Kristine Goffar, Krista Howard, Elaine Legaspi ’82, Heather Shabe-Stari, and Brittany Thomas.

We also want to give special recognition to our Co-Title Sponsors: Winfield Development, Inc. – Scott Slocum ’93; and Peter Vander Werff Construction, Inc. – Chuck Gossage for their outstanding overall financial support, and to Marie Tuthill and her assistant Leta Keyes for their help in making our Silent Auction as well presented as you will see anywhere and financially successful as well. Mr. Gossage’s company is currently building the new state-of-the-art Language and Math Building directly behind Henry’s Main Office (former bungalows & parking) and will soon start the complete renovation of the school’s athletic fields including the Football and Track Stadium (naming rights are available).

Our two 2017 Golf tournament winning teams were: North Course – Steve Barker, Ron Cantor, Kevin Burningham and Greg Sidlo (repeat winners, congrats to them!), and on the South Course – Jay Kirchoff and Ryan Miller. These names will be added to our perpetual Patriot Cup trophy in the lobby of the Main Office at school. They along with the second and third place foursomes (Steve Symington, Gary Symington, Mike Martz, Jerry Everette, Brad Anderson, Andy Gellens, Zack Gellens, Austin Ullery from the North Course; and Kenny Schindler, JT Lawson, Drew Smith, Rob Timmons, Phil Grondin, Eddie Duenez, John Najera and Eddie Mendoza from the South Course) will receive an invitation to play in the Randy Jones Invitational (RJI) Golf Tournament in January and February of 2018. The winning overall foursome from the RJI tourney receives an all-expense paid trip for eight to Pebble Beach, CA.

Save the Date: The 7th PHHS Alumni Golf Tournament & Reunion BBQ is tentatively set for Thursday, May 16, 2019 at Admiral Baker Golf Course with a 12:30pm Shot-Gun start and 5:30pm for the Reunion BBQ.

In the meantime, please help us extend our reach by telling the alumni you know and meet about our event by asking them to send their names (maiden and current) and the year they graduated along with their email address to kcarlson@missionjanitorial.com or on the link at www.PatriotAlumni.org.

Finally, if you haven’t been on campus in the last year, you need to make the trip to see the new Patrick Henry Arts, Media & Entertainment (PHAME) building located adjacent to the Music Building on what was formerly about one-fifth of the school’s main parking lot. Your Alumni Association is very pleased to announce that the school and organizers involved in creating this new 500+ seat PHAME Performing Arts Theatre and surrounding classrooms have designated the main meeting room within this facility as the “PHHS Alumni Conference Room”. This 12ft x 26ft room, just off the main Annette Bening lobby area, showcases the Patrick Henry High School Hall of Fame featuring framed photographs and plaques of the many alumni (currently 22 individuals) who have made significant positive contributions to our city, state, and/or nation. All Hall of Fame candidates are reviewed by the PHHSAA Board of Directors with final approval made by the school administration. We feel this honor is an opportunity for current PHHS students to experience the rich history of the school’s alumni while giving them something else to aspire toward. PHHSAA also provided the A/V equipment and other furnishings in this room which should prove to be an excellent additional teaching tool for the faculty and student body to enjoy. For more information on this project go to www.phame.us or call the school for a tour of this beautiful asset for use by the whole community.

For more information on next year's event and pictures from this and prior year's event go to www.PatriotAlumni.org.

All the best,

The Board of Directors of the PHHS Alumni Association, Inc.