Volunteering – U.S. Senior Golf Championship – June 2022

Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

June 19 – 26, 2022

Usually, anyone following our Blog will find something food-related. This post is going to buck that tradition. Not only will we skip the subject of food, but Bob is at the keyboard contributing with commentary.

Last Fall I got an email from our cousin in Texas. An avid golfer, he had seen an invitation for volunteers to work the upcoming US Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club and immediately reached out to get my reaction. There was no way I would turn down this opportunity. Saucon Valley CC has three courses ranked in the top 25 of the State of Pennsylvania and is literally two miles from where Mary Ann and I reside.

So, a short while later, he and I were accepted into the volunteer workforce.

The first time SVCC hosted the Senior Open was in 1992. That time, being a novice at the game, I attended an early-round with my oldest daughter. She scored an autograph from the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, after his round (So proud of her!). We also saw Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and Chi Chi Rodriguez that day. It will always be one of my favorite memories.

In 2000, the Senior Open came back for a second time. While I did not attend the play that year, I do have a very beautiful memento of the event. A friend of mine did security for the tournament and received a printed poster as a token of appreciation for his services. A few years later, not being a devotee of the game, he asked if I would be interested in the poster. I said yes and gladly accepted the print showing Nicklaus, Palmer, Irwin, Kite, and Watson with the SVCC Clubhouse viewed from the 18 the Hole. That print hung in my work office for many years.

“Legends of the Millennium” – The 2000 U.S. Senior Open Championship – Saucon Valley Country Club – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania – June 26 – July 2, 2000

So, this year, thirty tears after the first SVCC Senior Open, I went back to see the Seniors again. This time my cousin and I spent four shifts in the Merchandise Tent assisting some of the thousands of visitors to the tournament to gather their own mementos. We worked with 10 to 20 other Volunteers and met Players, Caddies, and fans of all ages, and worked for Interns and Managers from USGA. What a great time we had meeting new friends and greeting the crowd that stopped in the tent.

Once each of our shifts was done, we could then spend time on the course watching the action. On Friday we walked the course looking for as many of the “names” as we could find. Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Vijay Singh, Mark O’Meara, Jay Haas, Rocco Mediate, and Padraig Harrington. And on Saturday, we snagged a spot in the Gallery of the First Tee and watched most of them start their round with drives I could only dream of.

At the end of the day, it looked like Harrington comfortably had the tournament in hand at 11 under and the nearest competitor at 6 under. But Sunday didn’t disappoint. Steve Stricker, Harrington’s opponent Captain at the 2021 Ryder Cup, came from 9 back to challenge the Irishman for the lead. Stricker’s USA team defeated the Europeans in 2021. In the end, Harrington hung on to finish at 10 under with Stricker at 9 under. What an afternoon of golf!

PADRAIG HARRINGTON WINNER 2022 SR. U.S. OPEN

The winner of the event, Padraig Harrington

Happy FRIDAY!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

I have a long time theory that Friday is the best day of the week!
Friday, for those of you still working a “normal job,” is the day of the week to wrap things up.

People are more relaxed today. You might have time to read or forward some funny emails, there’s chatter in the office about weekend plans and maybe even a bit of “hey! drinks tonight with everyone…are you in?”

People are ready for the weekend. Ready to spend time with family, the kids, work on the house, get outside, sleep in a little, exercise, go to a movie, go on a date, so on and so on.

Friday is even fantastic for those AAA personalities… sending emails, finishing up by noon, sneaking on to Facebook, updating friends, see what’s going on and busily making productive and fun weekend plans. (They never slow down! Lol)

No matter which of these you do on a Friday we all have one thing in common.
It marks the end of a busy work week! 

Enjoy today! Reflect on this week!

Do a few things a little different this Friday.

It’s the first Friday of spring.
A season of renewal, rebirth, growth. Nature does it normally and right on time, for itself, every year. Nature recreates itself, creates new growth, changes its form. If you really think about it, makes changes and adapts better to its environment than the year before. (Like for instance a tree)

What will you do with your first Friday of spring???

Spend time with important people in your life?
Clean out that closet or garage that’s been sitting there cluttered forever?
Start something for YOU?

Just a few things to get the old gray matter sloshing around up there in your brain but don’t think too hard today!

Whatever you do, create new space, new thoughts, new room for something bigger and better to come in to your life.

So get out there!

Just do it!

It doesn’t have to be perfect or right… But it’s gotta be something that puts a smile on your face, keeps your spirit up and keeps ya moving forward!

Good luck!

Have an amazing Friday!!!

Always Remember!

Alan Jackson sings it so well in this song!

As I sit here on September 11, 2012, I still remember the exact things I was doing on that tragic morning in 2001.

As I’ve written before, I was a Pre-Kindergarten teacher before I had my son Jackson, so I was at school that day. In our school, we would take the children to the cafeteria for breakfast and eat family style.

I remember clearing some dishes and one of my friends receiving a phone call in the cafeteria that there was a terrorist attack in New York. It didn’t really hit me at first. Her son lived in New York at the time and the concern started to rise.

When my children were finished eating, I took them upstairs to our classroom and immediately called my family to tell them of the news and tell them that I love them!

Throughout the morning, we tried to take a minute here or there to view the news coverage, but my first priority was the children! Keeping them safe!

We had parents who picked up their children very early that day, just so they could be with them and cherish each other! As a school, we supported their decision wholeheartedly!

Hey, I wanted to be with my loved ones too! As soon as school was over, that’s exactly what I did! We hugged and watched the news with tears in our eyes as the New York skyline that we had grown up with had completely changed!

We spent lots and lots of time praying and trying to contact our family in New York, which if you remember, was very difficult to do that day as all the ‘circuits were busy.’

I always tell people that I’m really good at praying, (I think I get it from my Gram, Mom and Dad) so if you need a prayer or someone you know needs a prayer, you can always call on me!

I know God’s personal phone number 😉

Always remember that day and if you are a religious type like me, then

– take the time to say an extra prayer for those who suffered that day,
– take the time to say an extra prayer for those who still suffer from losing someone that day,
– take the time to say an extra prayer for those who still suffer from dealing with the traumatic events of that day! (i.e. people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, the list goes on)

Thank you all for reading this post!

If you can relate with this post, then please give it a like and a share!

Share it with those who need my extra prayer today! I can always say a few extra!

Let me know in the comments if you need a little prayer today!

Appreciate who and what you have in life!
❤ ❤ ❤