State of the Heart Hospice Hosts 16th Annual Golf Tournament

(Left): Dave Westfall, Gary Zechar, Mike Barber and Pete Jeffers
(Middle): Dale Grillot
(Right): Mitch Eiting, Angie Phlipot, Jeff Sanders and Jeff Cottner.

In today’s economic climate, one of the things in business that has become increasingly more difficult is hosting a successful fundraising golf tournament. But State of the Heart Hospice’s 16th Annual Tournament was still ahuge success thanks to the many businesses that chose to make State of the Heart a priority.

“We know businesses are asked many times in a week to donate to this event or that event,” said Ken Kurz, Director of Development for State of the Heart Hospice. “That’s why we felt so honored by the businesses that made this event so successful.”

Thanks to a wide variety of businesses, the 16th annual event was one of the more successful in history, according to Kurz.

“We had 26 teams play and netted almost $11,000 to benefit State of the Heart Hospice with this one event,” he said. “We had many companies step up big time. Midmark Corporation was the overall event sponsor. “



Midmark’s team won the co-ed division, Kurz said. That team was Mitch Eiting, Jeff Cotner, Jeff Sanders and Angie Phlipot. Cindy McCallister, a State of the Heart board member, sponsored a team which won the entire event. That team was Mike Barker, Dave Westfall, Gary Zechar and Pete Jeffers with a 13-under-par 58.

This year’s tournament was held at the Greenville Golf Course. State of the Heart Hospice rotates the tournament between Darke and Mercer counties. State of the Heart has an office in Coldwater and a third office in Portland, IN. About 20 years ago, Hospice of Darke County and Hospice of Mercer County joined to create State of the Heart Hospice.

“Medline, one of our medical suppliers, was the banquet sponsor for the event. This year we had a guest speaker, Dale Grillot,” according to Kurz. “We took care of Dale’s mother last year and the family is a big supporter of State of the Heart. Dale had a great message for our golfers.”

“May Financial Group from Greenville was the putting contest and proximity prize sponsor,” Kurz said. “May Financial runs our retirement program at State of the Heart. It was very nice of Terry and Trent May to support our tournament this year.”

“Wayne HealthCare was the registration sponsor. We have a great relationship with Wayne HealthCare. The Brethren Retirement Community was the lunch sponsor and actually provided lunch for all the golfers from the BRC catering business,” Kurz said.

Dave Knapp Ford-Lincoln was the Hole-In-One sponsor for 2011.

“Buchy Food was our Marshmallow Drive sponsor, RB Advertising was our promotional items sponsor. They donated golf balls for the golfers and a nice tote bag,” Kurz said.

ExpressIt provided all the signage for the tournament and Stillwater Golf Course was the champion sponsor – providing gift certificates for the winning teams for golf at the Versailles course.

Spirit Medical Transport provided the snacks for the golfers on the course and had two teams in the tournament, according to Kurz.

The following businesses supported the tournament as tee or green sponsors: Andersons Marathon Ethanol, Brethren Retirement Community, Briarwood Village, Bruns Building & Development, Buchy’s, Celina Manor, Danny’s Place, Fry & Company, Greenville Federal, Greenville National Bank, Hansbarger Home Solutions, Heartland of Greenville, Kaup Pharmacy, Littman Thomas (2), Loudy Office Machines, May Financial Services, Medline, Mercer Savings Bank, Midmark, Mile’s Mowing & Lawn Care, Osgood State Bank (5), People’s Bank, Ramco Electric Motors, Rest Haven, Second National Bank (2), Spirit Medical Transport, St. Henry Bank, Stillwater Valley Golf Course, Troutwine Auto Sales, VPP Industries, Wayne HealthCare and Williamson Insurance

The following businesses donated door prizes or raffle prizes for the tournament: ACE Hardware, Greenville, Ben’s, Bob Evans – Greenville, Calico Café, C.J. HighMarks – Greenville, CarQuest, Crystal LeeAnn Photography, Denny Vogel Insurance, Diane Evans State Farm Insurance, Dick Lavy Trucking, Double M Diner, Ernst Sporting Goods, Fairlawn, Firestone – Greenville, Fitzwater Tree & Lawn Care, Flowers & Gifts By Dudley, Forget-Me-Not Florist, Francis Furniture, Hansbarger Home Solutions, Hannah’s Garden Center, Helen’s Flowers, Homestretch Sportswear, Hot Head Burritos-Greenville, The Inn at Versailles, The Flower Patch, Janet’s Broadway Bakery, Janitorial Management, Kathy’s Restaurant, KitchenAid Experience, Little Italian Café, Marco’s Pizza – Greenville, McMiller’s Carry-Out, McSober’s, MC Sports, Meinerding Restaurant, The Mr. Shoppe, Nature’s Green Nursery, Pizza Hut – Greenville, Philothea Country Club, PlaMor Lanes, RB Advertising, Second National Bank, StaffMark, Stillwater Valley Golf Course, Subway – Greenville, Sunnyside Inn, Sure Shot Images, Teaford’s Dairy, Thienmans Sports Bar, Wal-Mart, Wieland Jewelers, The Winery at Versailles and Westown Party Mart.

State of the Heart Hospice has been providing exceptional and individualized care for individuals and their families since 1981. For 30 years State of the Heart has been meeting the unique needs of those challenged with a life-limiting illness with our experienced team of skillful caregivers. By focusing on the family as a unit and addressing their physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs State of the Heart Hospice is able to keep patients pain-free and comfortable. Next year’s tournament is scheduled for Friday, June 1, 2012.