The third annual Excalibur Open Golf Tournament and Auction will be held Thursday, June 29, at the Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Club, 4560 Creek Road in Lewiston. Registration and Information is available at
excaliburls.com/golf-tournament/ or by calling 716-831-2976.
This event is a major fundraiser in support of the Excalibur program for the upcoming summer.
Excalibur Leisure Skills is a private, nonprofit, all-volunteer charitable organization dedicated to providing adaptive boating and fishing opportunities for developmentally challenged and disadvantaged persons. Its goal is to provide access to Lake Erie, as well as offer developmental, therapeutic and recreational opportunities for human service agencies and their related programs.
The Excalibur program was conceived and incorporated in 1982 by James and Catherine Catalano and Angie L. Licata. Set up as a charitable organization, Excalibur was the first nonprofit in New York (and one of a few in North America) to provide waterfront accessibility for the differently abled and the disadvantaged.
In recognition for its programming, Excalibur received the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Service Award in 1988 from Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Since 1985, many Western New Yorkers have contributed time, effort and services to this program. As a result, the now retired Admiral P. R. Lucci, the first of a specially modified wheelchair accessible boat, and the decommissioned Francis J. Pordum, were able to provide the developmentally challenged and the disadvantaged the opportunities to enjoy open access on the waters of Lake Erie.
Passengers have the choice of either a boating or fishing excursion. The vessel holds up to 21 people (captain, two Excalibur escorts, and 18 passengers). It is wheelchair accessible, and, on average, can accommodate six wheelchairs.
The normal, weekly schedule during the season runs weekdays, with two-hour trips (10 a.m., noon, 2, 4, 6 and 8 p.m.). Generally, the boating program begins in mid-June.
