High school football may be over but there is still a chance to come out and support the best of our local student athletes at the Joe Fortunato Celebrity Golf Classic this Saturday, May 2, at Duncan Park.

All of the proceeds from the Joe Fortunato Celebrity Golf Classic go to support the Miss-Lou Chapter of the National Football Foundation. The National Football Foundation was established in 1947 and has over 120 local chapters across the United States. The mission of the Foundation is “to promote and develop the power of amateur football in developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and drive for the academic excellence in America’s young people.”

Our local chapter was established in 1981 by many of the local football legends including Joe Fortunato, Allen Brown, Tony Byrne and Bob Dearing to name a few. At first the Foundation awarded each recipient a certificate of accomplishment, but through the hard work and dedication of the founders and the support of this community we are now able to give away $10,000 in scholarships every year. All of the scholarship money is raised by the support of this community through our annual Joe Fortunato Celebrity Golf Classic.

This year, we will playing a four-man scramble with different challenging and entertaining options throughout the course. Please come out and support our event by putting together a team and if you can’t get a team together we can find a place for you!

Each year we have the honor of recognizing the best and brightest high school student-athletes from around the Miss-Lou by awarding these scholarships to these deserving recipients. We also recognize the best and brightest from the local junior high schools as well as making presentations to two locals that have influenced the lives of thousands of children through their dedication to amateur sports via our Distinguished American and the Contribution to Amateur Football awards.

We will have a great cooking team rolling out breakfast and lunch for all of our players. We will have numerous door prizes, long drive winner, closest to the hole and the chance to win a car on our hole-in-one contest. We are also having a ball drop contest with the chance to win a little cash money! We are looking forward to good weather, great company and the opportunity to give back to the community through our annual scholarship program.

We would like to thank everyone that has played a role in supporting this great event and give special thanks to all of our sponsors who have supported us through the years. If you would like ball drop tickets or a chance to play in the tournament please contact Terry Estes at 446-6555 or myself at 445-2022.

 

Key Smith is a Natchez resident.