The Clarkstown Education Foundation held its second annual golf outing Tuesday at the Paramount Country Club. A relaxed group of over 60 people golfed, ate and participated in fundraising raffles with the common aim of raising money for Clarkstown students. Overall, they raised nearly $6,000.
The event was a success.
“This is the second time we’ve done it, and we’re still growing,"said Michael Aglialoro, the president of the foundation’s committee. "We had almost 70 golfers today. The weather was great, the course was great. I think in terms of what we raised, we raised more than last year. The way we did the raffles, it worked out really well.”
Harold L. Peterson, the vice president of Provident Bank, played on the winning team and represented his foursome when they were given the trophy. His team’s score was a 59. It was his second year in a row on the winning team. Peterson is also on the foundation’s committee.
All of the funds raised will go to the Clarkstown Central School District. According to Aglialoro, the committee previously worked on a project to buy 30 Netbooks for fourth graders at Link Elementary School. He said the project was successful enough that it influenced the school district to order Netbooks for every fourth grade class in the district.
He said the plan is to use the money raised by the golf outing now instead of in the future because it can make the biggest difference in the present, especially in an environment of tight school budgets.
“Another great day for the children of Clarkstown,” said Aglialoro. “All this money goes back into buying technology. This is one of four events we have. And this is being a major contributor towards the fundraising dollars we raise each year.”
The event started at 11:30 a.m. with outdoor registration at the golf shop and lunch inside the country club. The group teed off at 1 p.m. under a shotgun format, where each foursome starts off at a different hole on the course, ensuring everybody ends at roughly the same time. It was also a scramble tournament format, meaning after each golfer in a foursome tees off, the group determines which tee shot was best.
Each player’s next shot is taken from that spot. Doug Katz, another member of the foundation’s committee and vice president of the board of education, said those were the only rules in place because the event’s main cause was to raise money for the school district while enjoying a relaxing afternoon of golf.
At the conclusion of the tournament, the golfers were invited back to the country club for a dinner reception, raffles and an awards celebration. Awards were given for longest drive and closest to the pin.
Aglialoro said that because of the amount of money raised both this year as well as last year, the committee will hold the event again next year.
