Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association
It Was a Great Day for Golf
On October 13, 2021, the American Fire Sprinkler Association’s (AFSA) Virginia Chapter held is 28th Annual Burn Survivors Golf Tournament at the Williamsburg National Golf Club in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was a great day filled with beautiful weather, spectacular golf, and great camaraderie amongst the participants and volunteers alike.
This was a much-anticipated event for the chapter and the Burn Survivors Foundation (BSF), after a dreaded Nor’easter rained out the 2019 event and the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 date. This year’s event was awesome, with 240 golfers registered to play and 15 additional interested participants on the waiting list, hoping to get in on the fun. After two years away, everyone was excited and grateful to be back together again while supporting these wonderful charities. The chapter and BSF have been holding this annual event since 1994, and since its beginning, the charities they sponsor have received $1,142,400!
The tournament day started early with BSF committee members, volunteers, and golf-course staff getting everything in order before the participants arrived. Registration began at 9:30 am and once golfers arrived, the facility was energetic with player sign-in, donations, raffle purchases, driving-range practice, and general conversations amongst folks who hadn’t seen one another for a while. A nice BSF-logo backpack filled with goody prizes was given to each golfer during registration, and a delicious lunch of BBQ, hot dogs, and Italian sausages was provided by O’Toole’s Restaurant for golfers and volunteers.
At 12:30 pm, the teams were released to begin the tournament. During play, golf teams traveling between the front and back nine holes were able to stop, grab a beverage, and chat with the representatives of the two charities—the Central Virginia Burn Camp and the Old Dominion Fire Fighters Foundation.
Beginning around 5:30 pm, golf teams returned to the course pavilion to deliver their scorecards and enjoy dinner. Thanks once again to O’Toole’s Restaurant, golfers feasted on a post-tournament dinner of grilled steaks and marinated chicken breasts with all the trimmings. After dinner and before the awards ceremony/prize giveaways, Katy Lawalin, a burn survivor and Central Virginia Burn Camp for Kids counselor, gave a touching thank you to all the participants as she spoke of her appreciation for this event and how much the Foundation has helped the camp.
The presentation of the checks to the charities then followed. The Virginia Chapter/BSF is proud to announce that $60,000 in total has been donated to the two recipient charities. Leslie Baruch and her team from the Central Virginia Burn Camp for Kids (Charlottesville, Virginia) received $20,000 for its 2021 Annual Camp. Jerry Pruden and his team from the Old Dominion Fire Fighters Foundation received $40,000 to help with burn treatment research at the Evan-Haynes Burn Unit (MCV/VCU Health Systems, Richmond, Virginia), as well as assistance for burned/injured fire fighters and their families in the Central Virginia area.
Next came the announcement of prize winners and golf team accolades from the day’s play. In 2015, the chapter established the “Giles Cup” award for the Grand Prize-winning team to honor Marty Giles for all his great work and support for the Virginia Chapter’s golf tournament from its beginning. The chapter keeps the master “Giles Cup” and places a name plaque on it each year with the Grand Prize winners listed, with the Grand Prize winners receiving a replica copy of this “Cup” for each player on the winning team.
The Grand Champion Winner (Best Overall Team Score) Giles Cup Winner was the FLSA team of Jack Medovich, Allan Strange, Skeeter Heath, and Stephen Frendach (score of 49). The Reserve Grand Champion (Second Place Overall Team Score) was the George Wagner team of Jonathan Jones, Troy Leszcynski, Josh Dula, and Phillip Miller (score of 50).
There were three flights for team winners. The first-place winner for the Fire Flight on the Jamestown Course was the Fire-X Team of Wayne Pugh, Dick Hutchinson, Tom Woody, and Rick Silvia (score of 51). On the Yorktown Course, the Viking team–Terry Laffey, Rick Williams, De Woodfin, and Jer Hazzard–took first with a score of 51.
In the Sprinkler Flight, the first-place team on the Jamestown Course was VSC Fire & Security–Howard Clay, Charlie Farr, Justin Houser, and Grant Campbell—with a score of 59. For the Yorktown Course, the General Air Products Team—Dave English, Dave Fremont, Kevin Hall, and Lance Hall—won with a score of 58.
For the Life Saved Flight: First place on the Jamestown Course was the JCI Team— Lance Brunswick, Chris Amorese, Nick Armbrister, and George Core (score of 64). On the Yorktown Course, the Atlantic Constructors Team of Greg Newman, Chris Mason, Anthony McDaniel, and Terrence Kerner won with a score of 65.
The Good Sport Award (Last Place Overall score) was presented to the FLSA Team of Jon Springer, Brock Eppinger, Brandon Mayes, and David Mackin (score of 73).
Other winners of individual skill challenges were recognized, including Closest to the Line: Jamestown Course—Mark Hopkins, AFSA National team, and Yorktown Course—Derek Goodpaster, Eagle Fire Team. Closest to the Pin: Jamestown Course—Tim Francine, FLSA Team and Yorktown Course—Derek Goodpaster, Eagle Fire Team. Move-up Hole Winners each of a Bushnell Speaker/GPS device were Dom Kausmauskas, Mark Hopkins, Bruce LeClair, and Bob Caputo (M.I.A.) on the Jamestown Course and Conner Hill, Matt Riffe, Scott Rooney, and Billy Harper on the Yorktown Course.
This tournament could not have been successful without all of our primary sponsors. The chapter is grateful for Presenting Sponsors Harry Hoffon Charitable Fund and George Wagner with a donation of $25,000 each.
Other sponsors the chapter wishes to thank include Diamond Sponsors ($7,500): Eagle Fire Inc., Ferguson Fire & Fabrication, FLSA, and VSC Fire & Security. Platinum Sponsors ($2,500): Service Trade, Viking Supply, Atlantic Constructors, Mike Meehan (VSC Fire & Security), Old Dominion Firefighters Foundation, and Fire Solutions. Gold Sponsors ($1,250): Zurn Products, Checkmark Services, General Air Products, Extinguish Fire Corporation, American Automatic Sprinkler, Cornet, Johnson Controls/JCI (x2), Rosewood Corporation, Central Virginia Burn Camp, Reliable Automatic Sprinkler, United Sprinkler Company, Magic City Sprinkler, and AFSA National. Silver Sponsors ($500): Colonial Ford Truck Sales (x2). Major Sponsors ($250): Etec Fire Protection, Jason Gill (Crews & Gregory Sprinkler), Fluid Solutions, Chris Bennett, and Terp Consulting. Hole Sponsors ($100): Hydrotec, Siemens, Checkmark Services, Henrico County Firefighters, Foley Group (x2), Marsh McLennan, Chesterfield County Firefighters, Kannapolis Sprinkler, United Sprinkler company (x2), Cornet, Old Dominion Fire Company, Mid-Atlantic Capital Management, Colonial Heights Firefighters Local, Richmond City Firefighters Local, Suntrust (x2), and Etec Fire Protection.
Other donations of note include Performance Fire ($5,000), Juli Marley ($2,500), Catholic Foundation – John Dminski ($1,000), Kaufman Fire ($750), Network for Good ($700), Profire ($500), Lanny Gault ($100), Jason Gill ($100), and Joe Tuck ($100).
Prizes Galore!
The event also included drawings for some major prizes, in addition to the pre-drawn prizes, 52 individual door prizes, and raffled items.
• 65-in. Television – Josh Goolan
• 55-in. Television – Rich Gardiner
• Large Traeger Pellet Smoker/Grill – Terry Laffy
• Medium Traeger Pellet Smoker/Grill – Kathy Robinson
• Small Traeger Pellet Smoker/Grill – John O’Toole
• Tailgate Traeger Pellet Smoker/Grill – Wayne Taylor
Raffles Prize Winners:
• 50/50 Raffle of $1,500 – Bill Phair, Ferguson (who graciously gave $750 back to the charities)
• Large Traeger Pellet Smoker/Grill – Griff Brinkley, Old Dominion Fire Company
• Three separate four-round certificates at Jamestown/Yorktown courses at Williamsburg National Golf Club – Teresa Holloway, John O’Toole, and Tom Field
• A certificate for a Foursome at Lee Hill Golf Club in Fredericksburg – Bill Manning
Tournament at the Williamsburg National Golf Club.
The chapter also thanks the 2021 BSF Golf Chairman’s Committee, who worked the full year, meeting 10 times in planning for this tournament: Chairman Jack Medovich, FLSA; Harry Hoffon, Eagle Fire Inc.; Bill Jones, FirePro Inc. (retired); Scott Williams, VSC Fire & Security; Jerry Pruden, Old Dominion Firefighters Foundation; Hooper Loscomb, Eagle Fire Inc.; Tiffany Clarke, Eagle Fire Inc.; Craig Smith, Ferguson Fire & Fabrication; Griff Brinkley, Old Dominion Fire Company; Bob Beckwith, United Sprinkler Company; George Wagner, retired chapter executive director; Jason Gill, Crews and Gregory Sprinkler; and Steve McGee, incoming executive director (retired from VSC Fire & Security).
The AFSA Virginia Chapter invites everyone to participate in the 2022 AFSA Virginia Chapter/ Burn Survivors Foundation Golf Tournament on October 5, 2022, which will be held once again at the Williamsburg National Golf Club in Williamsburg, Virginia. If you are interested in donating to the Burn Survivors Foundation, or would like to learn more about the charities this event serves, visit virginiaafsa.org or burnsurvivorsfoundation.org.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Timothy “Hooper” Loscomb is a corporate account manager for Eagle Fire, Inc. in Richmond, Virginia. He has been in the fire protection industry since 1995. Loscomb serves as vice president of the AFSA Virginia Chapter and the Burn Survivors Foundation.
