Keith’s Classic helps in fight against pediatric cancer

Grand Island Dispatch, June 23, 2006

More than 19 years ago, two Grand Island High schoolmates were brought together because of tragic losses – the death of their cherished young sons.

Jackie Mordaunt lost her 6-year-old son, Keith, to cancer in 1987, and Margaret Ann Haller lost her 12-year-old son, David, three years earlier, due to a fall in Yellowstone Park.

Margaret Ann reached out to Jackie, and her husband, Tim, when she learned of Keith’s death. Within a very short time of leaning on one another for support, they decided they had to do something proactive with their grief. Thus, Keith’s Classic Golf tournament was created. Launching a major pro/Am golf tournament soon became a full-time job for Mordaunt and Haller.

“It was just a fluke that we planned a golf tournament,” Jackie said. “When visiting the cemetery, I used to gaze across the street at the golfers at River Oaks.”

When we first began the tournament, we were able to attract some professional touring golfers – gratis – golfers like Hal Sutton, Judy Dickenson, Ken Green and Jim Thorpe. As the tournament grew, we no longer needed professional golfers to fill the course to capacity. We even have a waiting list.”

The Keith’s Classic tournament established its strong roots as a major annual event at River Oaks Golf Course. Due to its success, desire to grow and widespread community support from the community on and off the Island, the tournament moved to the larger Legends on The Niagara venue last year. If you stood at the corner of West River Road at Bedell Road and looked across the river to Canada, you would be looking at the Legends golf course. Legends is just a five-minute drive from the Rainbow Bridge.

Keith’s Classic fills the two 18-hole courses. Usher’s Creek Course is literally carved out of the surrounding woods and meandering creek. The 3 Battlefield Course is named after the legendary battle in the War of 1812 that took place on the land adjacent to the course. The Chippewa Course is the nine-hole course, with the “Nine and Wine” event, back by popular demand, including wine tasting, wineglass painting and more.

The Keith’s Classic scramble tournament will take place on Thursday, July 13, beginning with the Sahlen’s-sponsored Barbecue Lunch at 11 a.m., with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. The golfing day is jam-packed with contests, wonderful prizes and fun, followed by a spectacular culinary experience for dinner.

Up to 360 golfers of all skill levels will take to the greens this July, continuing a longstanding tradition (19 years) of raising funds for pediatric cancer research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. If you would like a Keith’s Classic brochure, you can pick one up at deSignet, 1869 Whitehaven Road, or call Claire Daigler at 845-4590 at RPMI.

Keith’s Classic for Carly’s Club at Roswell (the pediatric fund-raising arm of the Roswell Alliance) has raised almost $2 million to date. For almost a decade, Sahlen’s Packing Company has committed significant funds to pediatric cancer research as the presenting, major sponsor of Keith’s Classic.

The committee still has its original members of Jackie and Tim Mordaunt, Margaret Ann Haller and golf pro Ron Venturinni, among others. Reg Schopp also joined his fellow Grand Island classmates many years ago as an integral part of the committee, coordinating the many vital Island volunteers.

In 1992, Jackie and Tim Mordaunt received the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award for Community Service. Haller introduced the Mordaunts at the event, summarizing their accomplishments. The Mordaunts believe they would not have had the same level of success in raising funds for pediatric cancer research or perhaps even gotten the event off the ground without Haller’s commitment, as a tribute to her son, David.

“This event has only been able to continue and grow thanks to the involvement of so many friends, families and companies that help build this loyal base of committed participants,” explained Jackie, a volunteer with the Roswell Park Alliance Community Advisory Board. “As a mother, Keith’s life and death from cancer, changed our lives forever,” she said. “It has become a life’s ambition for my husband, Tim, and I to do all that we can in our lifetime to enable Roswell Park’s researchers to discover treatments to end cancer once and for all.”

In the process, they’ll help honor the memory of all children whose lives are cut short, while offering hope to other children and families now facing cancer. Raising critical funds through Keith’s Classic to develop cures for cancer has provided a quiet sense of satisfaction. They invite you to join them, and make it your mission to save our children.