SPY’s Newsletter #132
(5/9/21)
Centennial Acres / SPY Shootout Is Coming!
Sunday, June 13th. will be the BIG day! It will be the thirty-second annual "Centennial Acres / SPY Shootout" Golf Tournament. Over the years, this has become THE major fundraiser for the Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth. We are counting on a great turnout to help us generate the necessary funding to maintain the wide variety of youth programs, both athletic and scholastic, that the SPY’s provide. All proceeds from this event go to the many kids and community programs the SPY’s support.
The “Shootout” is a four-person scramble format event, with separate divisions for men (with different flights), women, senior men, and coed teams. (With the Senior Division teams, the youngest team member must be at least 60 years old). Each division will be flighted, which means you will be competing with teams pretty much the same caliber as yours. There will be a number of specialty holes, as well as raffles. Registration forms are now available in the Centennial Acres Pro Shop, or by contacting Tournament Directors Derek Desgranges, (269) 838-7686, or Steve Grosshans, (269) 838-6459.
Again this year we are featuring an all you can eat outdoor grill with all of the trimmings for the golfers. In addition, all Corporate and Platinum Sponsor teams will be competing for the coveted "Challenge Cup".
For more information, or if you want to get a team into the tournament, contact either Derek or Steve. Come on golfers! This is a great, fun way to help us help kids!
Recent Contributions
· Best Tax Service made their 2022 & 23 pre-payments to the SPY’s Corporate Sponsor Program.
· Wayne Simmons made his 2023 pre-payment to the SPY’s Platinum Sponsor Program in memory of Josey Simmons.
· John & Sandra Fisher made a donation to the Scholarship Fund in memory of Ronald & Clara Cheal.
· Oren & Rosie Best made multiple donations in memory of the following:
William Dondit
Chuck Pantera
Berneda DeMott
Andrew Wright
Carolyn Scoby
Dick Fender
Hans Huyck
Della Meade
Charlene Pearson
Margret Musbach
Bill Desgranges
Barb Darling
Bob Piercefield
Dana Traub
Dave Beach
· Carolyn Peabody made contributions in memory of Honnie Huyck and Dick Fender.
· Dennie & Cana Best made donations in memory of Dick Fender and Dave Beach.
· Ben & Shelley Best gave in memory of Dave Beach.
· The following gave through the UPS Frontstream charitable giving program:
Jan Thelen
Cynthia Selden
Bonnie Whitford
Erika Forbes
Joanne Wilson
· The following made donations to the Yellow Hearts for Veterans project:
Rebecca Calabro
Del Kostanko
We sincerely thank all of these fine folks for their thoughtfulness and caring. You are all most appreciated!!!
Parting Comments
• Deep Thought of the Week: A difference, to be a difference,
must make a difference.
• Notable Quote: “Success is getting what you want.
Happiness is wanting what you get.”-----DALE CARNEGIE
• That’s Puny Department: I didn't think the chiropractor would
improve my posture. But I stand corrected.
• Did You Know Section? Back in 1896, there was a non-title heavyweight boxing match between Bob Fitzsimmons and Tom Sharkey that was fought using the modern-day Marquis of Queensberry rules for the very first time. But, what really made this fight famous was the referee, because the referee was none other than Wyatt Earp.
Earp established his boxing credentials before he carried a gun. As a teen-ager he was a skillful boxer, but his real talent was as a referee. He was regarded highly enough by the rough-and-tumble rail splitters and buffalo hunters of the Wyoming railroad crews in 1868 to officiate while holding the fighters' purses and the betting money, no small double duty.
The gunfight at the O. K. Corral on Oct. 26, 1881, would eventually make Earp the most famous lawman in American history, even though he was never a full town marshal or county sheriff of Dodge City, Tombstone or anywhere else. But by 1882, Earp's career as a lawman was essentially over. For the remaining 47 years of his life, Wyatt Earp was to be a full-time sporting man, living in San Francisco, California.
San Francisco was also home to Gentleman Jim Corbett, the first heavyweight champion of the world to be crowned under Marquis of Queensberry rules. Thus, when Corbett retired temporarily in 1895, San Francisco was the natural stage for a title fight. The meeting pitted two of the best heavyweights in the world: the stocky native Irishman, Sailor Tom Sharkey, and Ruby Bob Fitzsimmons, a spindly legged, 170-pound former Australian blacksmith.
There was no problem dealing with the local police: Boxing was illegal, but very popular. The problem was finding a referee, as Sharkey's camp frustrated everyone by nixing several candidates. Desperate by the day of the fight, the prestigious National Athletic Club of San Francisco asked Earp if he would consider the job.
Earp wavered, then accepted, reasoning that his arbitration of the fight might add gloss to his resume: "I don't know but what it will be a little bit of tone for me to referee a fight of this kind." What it gave him was a starring role in the first great controversy in American boxing history.
It began when Fitzsimmons's manager, Martin Julian, declared that Ruby Bob's corner refused Earp as referee. Exactly why is not clear, though it may have simply been because Sharkey's people said yes. Another possibility was Earp's inexperience with Marquis of Queensberry rules. Earp had officiated at London Prize Ring bouts, where mayhem from biting to eye-gouging was allowed. Earp offered to step down, but the National Athletic Club committee stuck by its choice.
That proved to be a minor flap compared with what happened when Earp stepped into the ring and a surprised police captain noticed he was carrying a gun. For the first time in boxing history, a local journalist later noted, "It became necessary to disarm the referee."
When the fight began, the taller, quicker Fitzsimmons dominated the slower Sharkey from the opening bell. In the eighth, Fitzsimmons struck with his famed "solar plexus punch," an uppercut under the heart that could render a man temporarily helpless. A year later that punch would put the newly unretired Jim Corbett out and make Fitzsimmons the heavyweight champion, but the technique of flooring an opponent with a body blow was still new in 1896 and caught the crowd, Earp, and, indeed, Sharkey, by surprise.
Sharkey, clutching his groin and rolling on the canvas, screamed foul. Earp hurried over to examine him, and a few minutes later a stunned crowd saw the legendary former lawman climb through the ropes and head for the exits. It took a while for the buzz to circulate through the crowd of 10,000, most of whom had never seen a foul called in a boxing match, that Earp had awarded the victory to Sharkey.
Fitzsimmons versus Sharkey might have been the most anticipated fight yet held on American soil; some fans had paid the outrageous sum of $10 for seats, and now it had ended on a foul few had seen. Earp never was the referee at a boxing match again.