Inaugural Sarah’s Memorial golf tourney deemed success

The E.J. Wade Construction team won the inaugural Sarah’s Memorial Golf Tournament held Sept. 13 at the Club at Viniterra in New Kent.

The first annual Sarah’s Memorial Golf Tournament was held at the Club at Viniterra golf course on Sept. 13 and was an overwhelming success.

The program exceeded all expectations by depositing $24,000 into a scholarship endowment with the College of William and Mary Foundation in the memory of Sarah Lindsey Gupta. Sarah passed away in November 2011 with a rare form of adrenal cancer. She was a former teacher at New Kent Middle School, a graduate of New Kent High School, and an alumnus of the College of William and Mary.

The goal of the endowment is to offer scholarships to students pursuing a degree in education or the arts at William and Mary.

According to Patrick Evelyn, who initiated and led the tournament, “the proceeds were remarkable and almost met half of the endowments funding requirements of raising $50,000 in its first five years of existence.”

According to Evelyn, scholarships may be able to be offered next year if the program’s success continues to be this strong. He went on to say, “I knew Sarah had a large influence on the many people that she touched, but this outpouring was truly a blessing.”

Over 100 golfers participated in the tournament along with 70 hole sponsors, 12 tournament sponsors, and numerous donations and prize offerings. The first place team was E.J. Wade Construction who was awarded four rounds of golf at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg.

As one of the golfers said, “We could not have asked for better weather for the tournament and everyone enjoyed a great day at Viniterra.”

The food, fun, friendly competition, and prizes were truly the order of the day and so many supporters joined together for this admirable achievement.

Because of these wonderful successes, Evelyn and his committee are already planning for next year’s tournament, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 20, 2013.

Evelyn remarked, “We could have never had this spectacular accomplishment for our first year without the support and generous donations from so many people and businesses. We sincerely thank them for their participation and look forward to seeing everyone next year.”