The Airway Meadows Benefit Tournament was originally set up in 2003 to help the son of a friend who had been in a three-wheeler accident and was suffering from brain trauma.  He was only a young man of 18 years old.  His uncle helped organize the tournament with then Superintendent Rob Fosmer.  It was very successful with generous nice folks supporting the cause.  Each year since we have held this tournament. 

The golf tournament is a fun day with creative competitions, raffles and good fun.  A silent turning live auction is held which always raises a large amount of money from the generous kind folks who play in the tournament and stay for the evening.  Staff makes a special effort to help those less fortunate than themselves and donate part of their hard work and treasures to the recipient. 

Lots of basic BBQ food, beverages and fun is the plan for the day and no one goes homes disappointed, especially the recipient who gets to take care of some financial needs with the funds they are given.

In 2009 the first 5k race was held before the golf tournament.  It is a new tradition.  They run or walk the front 9 of Airway Meadows and the funds also go to the recipient.  This is organized and run by our nephew Mike Baxter.

In 2004 we helped a part time employee with heart problems due to his excessive medical bills.  In 2005 it was to support the Wounded Warrior Project who helps wounded soldiers with life experiences.  Tyler Reed a local boy who is fighting lymphoma and other medical problems was the recipient in 2006.  In 2007 we chose to help Christopher Ramsey a five year old fighting neuroblastoma.  He lost his fight before the fundraising golf tournament but we sent the funds to his parents in his memory to help with the after shock and left over bills.  In 2008 Lori and Corey Martin were the recipients.  Corey is recovering and is in a wheel chair from the severe accident that took the life of her older sister Jessica.    In 2009 the tournament was held in Memory of Tom Ellis.  His family wanted to do a tournament in his memory so they chose the recipient and helped in a great way recruiting participants and getting donations.  2010 the recipient was Matt Carruthers who is a friend of the current Superintendent Jacob Heber.  Matt's now fiancé` Liz  wanted to do a golf tournament for him.  We jumped in to help out and finished making it happen.  It was held in memory of his uncles Dan Killian and Mike Nolan.  It was the biggest Benefit Tournament to date.  Being from such a large family Matt's mom Joanne Carruthers worked tirelessly getting golfers and donations.  Matt was able to pay off all his medical bills and give the balance to Faith, Family and Friends, an organization formed to fight lung cancer that his under Mike Nolan helped found.

2010  Benefit Tournament

Airway Meadows Golf Course held its 7^th Annual Benefit Tournament on Saturday, August 21^st.  148 players came out to play in the 4-player scramble tournament.  This year’s event was to benefit Matt Carruthers and held in the memory of his uncles Dan Killian & Mike Nolan.  Matthew is a 27 year old cancer survivor.  After going through a whirlwind of tests he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Cancer.  The best course of action was chemotherapy and after six weeks of intensive treatment he is now cancer free.  This ordeal has left Matt deep in debt.  His insurance is an 80/20 policy which means he is responsible for 20% of all his medical expenses up to a certain “out of pocket maximum” which is extremely large.  While the stress of having his disease are gone, he now deals with the stress of paying for all the bills that have accumulated.  We were able to raise a lot of money for Matt and would like to thank everyone involved for making the day a success.

Below are the top finishers in the event.

Low Net Division:

            1^st place: (49) – Jim Sweet, Jeff Weaver, Dan Savoka, Jeff O’Dell       

2^nd place: (50) – Deb Shader, Rock Kirkpatrick, Donna Denue, Rick Denue

3^rd place: (52) – Tim Madison, Shawn O’Brien, Matt Cronin, Dave Johnson

4^th place: (52) – Chuck Judkins, Tana Abry, Pat Burke, Mark Rogers

5^th place: (53) – Mike Thorne, Nick Mattison, Rob Peck, Doug Perez

Low Gross Division:

            1^st place: (56) – Greg Carruthers, Jim Sholes, Hal Limmer, Dan Monahan

            2^nd place: (57) – Brian Brock, Joe McConnell, Mark Wood, Nick Wood

            3^rd place: (58) – Rob Fosmer, Nate Dyer, Brett Belden, Ivy Vitenbergs

            4^th place: (58) – Curt Lohrey, Ed Belles, Bruce Brown, Duane Brown

            5^th place: (59) – Carl Leininger, Mike Close, Rob Renaud, Jimmy Peters

Closest to the Pin #17 – Joe Naylor 7”                  Closest to the Pin #9 – Rock Kirkpatrick 1’ 7”

Women’s Longest Drive #16 – Beth Currier        Men’s Longest Drive #8 – Brian Brock

Seniors Longest Drive #14 – Bill Blake                Most Accurate Drive #5 – Donna Denue

Closest To The Pin #12 (2^nd Shot) – Jimmy Peters (Holed out for eagle)