Once again, the beautiful weather, enthusiastic and skilled participants, and amazing sponsors all led to making the 36th annual fundraising golf tournament a real success — for participants and students.

We not only had a great time but also did it for a good cause in support of our students! The Faculty and Staff Bursary will be bolstered by $4,350!

A big thank you to our gold event sponsor Manulife (UFV’s benefit provider), and event supporters the UFV Faculty and Staff Association, and UFV Human Resources and Finance.

 

And of course, our many prize sponsors including:

• Ancillary Services (UFV Bookstore) Cameron Roy
• The Co-operators, Vandeven Financial Solutions — Shawna Vandeven
• Debbie Dyck
• Finnegan’s/Esposito Group Ltd. — Paul Jr. Esposito
• Honeywell — Paul Palfy
• J&L Electric
• Kartar Thandi
• Lordco in Sardis — Martin Cyrull
• Sodexo — Kevin Poland.

We would also like to thank Sean Parkinson of the FSA for his inspiring words as well as the organizing team of Debbie Dyck, Kartar Thandi, Deanna McIntyre, and Sheila Reimer, as well as volunteer extraordinaire Sophie Leis, cupcake maker Katrina Eng, and hosts Fraser Glen.
We are grateful the day was highlighted by the presence our two 2015/16 Faculty and Staff Bursary recipients, Randi Seguin and Chelsea Trill, who spoke at the event. At the end of their moving stories everyone stood and gave them a round of applause! Both Randi (pictured below) and Chelsea shared with us why the bursary made a big impact on their lives so with her permission we are sharing a bit of Randi’s story with you:

“I had a tumultuous upbringing that was rife with addiction and heartache. I became pregnant with my eldest daughter when I was fourteen years old. I got married at eighteen and had two more children. When my marriage dissolved two years ago, it became clear to me that I would need to support my daughters and that minimum wage was not going to cut it.

“I am a success story. In my everyday life I make a considerable effort to avoid using labels or making generalizations, but I am trying to make it clear that I have been fortunate. I know full well that there are many children and youth who, by no fault of their own, will grow up and not be able to overcome such challenges. I was a level 3, high risk, marginalized youth and teen parent with a lot of trauma who spent time in both group homes and foster homes. I had limited access to a social worker, which I now know was a violation of my rights. My experiences have manifested themselves in many way, but one of those ways is determination.

“I have come a long way from being an angry, misguided youth and a teenage parent who nobody thought would graduate. This is my second year in university. I currently hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.81 and during this past semester at UFV, my grade point average was 4.0. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has helped me along my journey. Winning this awards truly made a positive impact in my and my children’s lives and we thank you for your generosity.”

from left to right: Randi Seguin, Chelsea Trill, and Mike Royal

 

Results:

• Winner with a score of 53: Kartar Thandi, Andy McGowan, Rich Robinson, Paul Palfy
• Most honest: Raymond Welch, Lynn Kirkland Harvey, Gayle Noel, Samantha Pattridge
• Ladies KP: Hole #5 — Leona MacDonald; Hole #15 — Debbie Dyck
• Men’s KP: Hole #7 — Shel Gould; Hole #16 — Rick Binder
• Putting contest:  Rick Binder
• Chipping Leona MacDonald
• 50/50: $107 Mike Royal — who promptly donated his winning back to the student speakers, Randi Seguin and Chelsea Trill.