JCME set to host eighth annual golf tournament

One of the most popular local charity golf tournaments is closing in on a record-setting eighth straight sellout.

In fact, if you want to play in this year’s Johnston Memorial Cancer Events (JCME) Golf Tournament, you’d better register your foursome as soon as possible.

“We’re confident of another sellout field,” Vin LaFazia, who chairs the tournament, said during a Monday night meeting inside the Johnston Senior Center. “Our entire committee works hard, and we all feel it’s important to give golfers the best bang for their buck.”

For example, the entry fee includes a rather unique package that features 18 holes of golf with a cart, a souvenir bag, $10 of raffle tickets and a unique pre-tourney lunch and post-event dinner – all for $110 per golfer.

“People really love the luncheon,” LaFazia said. “It’s all done by volunteers who cook hot dogs, hamburgers, and sausage and peppers on the grill.”

LaFazia encouraged those golfers who want to play in the eighth annual tournament – which is set for Saturday, May 9, at Connecticut National Golf Club in Putnam, Conn. – to register as soon as possible.

Interested golfers should call either Linda LaFazia at 401-233-2564 or Judi Graham at 401-497-2954 to enter. Tee-off is set for noon on May 9.

Perhaps the main reason for the tournament’s near unmatched success is that all proceeds benefit the JMCE’s designated charity, the Hematology and Oncology Units at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

In fact, at Monday night’s meeting, Linda LaFazia – the JMCE’s tireless record-keeper – read a letter from Hasbro Children’s Hospital officials “thanking the all-volunteer committee for their Herculean work.”

The communication also offered “huge congratulations” to JMCE for closing in on a cumulative donation of $100,000 – funding that Hasbro Children’s Hospital has used for a number of important programs that help children who have been stricken with cancer.

To date, the JMCE has raised an overall total of $95,000 through its efforts, which are done in memory of the late Anna Mazzulla, Laura DeAngelis and Sal Gelsomino.

“By the time we tee off on May 9, we’ll go over the $100,000 mark,” Linda LaFazia said. “Many of our family and friends have been affected by cancer, and this tournament serves as an enjoyable way to kick off the golf season while raising funds for a most worthwhile cause.”

She also explained that the JMCE lines the course at Connecticut National Golf Club with “Memorial Sponsorships” that are always colorful and produced annually by the non-profit’s longtime friend John Eramian, who owns and operates Johnston-based Eramian Signs.

Those signs are only $25. For reservations – which can be made now through May 6 – please call either Linda LaFazia or Graham at the numbers listed above.