BY COLLEEN MCALEER
The Tunkhannock Area wrestling team is again hosting the Christopher J. Packer Memorial Golf Tournament.
This year’s captain and crew event, which will benefit both the Tiger wrestling program and the Christopher Packer Memorial Scholarship Fund at TAHS, will be held Sunday, Oct. 11, with a 10 a.m. registration for the 11 a.m. start at Stone Hedge Golf Course.
Masks are required to be worn in the parking lot.
Chris Packer and his brothers all wrestled at Tunkhannock. Packer began wrestling in the second grade for the youth team and then wrestled for the Tunkhannock junior high team and high school team.
He was one of the stalwarts on the Tunkhannock junior high and high school wrestling teams. Packer died in an ATV accident in May 2013 during his junior year of high school.
The tournament was started in 2010 as a fundraiser for the wrestling program when junior high sports lost funding temporarily. After Packer’s passing, the Tiger’s wrestling booster club teamed up with the Packer family to raise money for annual scholarships to benefit students who plan on pursuing careers in a technical/trade field and demonstrate similar qualities to that of Packer. Some of these qualities include being active in sports, hunting, fishing, and a general affinity for the outdoors.
Prizes will be awarded for multiple feats, including closest to the pin, longest drive, hole-in-one, pot of gold, pro shop certificates, and flight winners.
Specifically, two local businesses are sponsoring the hole in one contest, as Gay’s True Value hardware store will be offering a prize of a zero turn tractor, plus other options, valued up to $6,000.
Sherwood Chevrolet is giving away a car for a hole in one as well.
Last year’s winners were Tom Johnson, Dan Miller, Russ Daubert, and Ted Shirrell. The tournament generally attracts 18-25 teams, and the goal is to surpass that number this year.
The $90 per person, or $360 per team, entry fee covers the greens fees, cart, prizes (golfer’s gift), lunch at the turn, and steak dinner immediately following the course.
Checks can be made out to Tiger Wrestling, and teams must be submitted no later than Oct. 2.
There are also opportunities to sponsor a hole in the tournament. Three levels- Gold ($100), Silver ($50) or Patron ($25)- are available and each offers the sponsor’s name and/or company logo to be displayed on a corresponding sign at one of the 18 holes on the course.
Community members may also donate a prize, and in doing so will have their name listed at the raffle table and mentioned when prizes are distributed.
To register for the tournament, please contact Scott Davies at davies1@nationwide.com or text/call 570-592-6351.
For more information on registering for the tournament, sponsoring a hole, or donating a prize, please call or text tournament co-chairs Kevin Packer Jr. at 570-885-5403 or Ben Siegel at 570-406-7514, Ray Woods at 570-240-0154, or head wrestling coach Gary Siegel at 570-574-5678.
