Fourteen years since its inception and like clockwork the 14th Annual Barry Crispin Golf Tournament is still going strong.
The tournament which honours Balfour teen, Barry Crispin who died of leukemia at 18, is spearheaded by his mother Wilma Crispin.
Though there were endless ways Wilma could have honoured her son’s memory, it seemed serendipitous that golf became the medium to do so. After the muscular dystrophy’s own golf tournament was unable to continue, it was easy to fill the breach that was left.
But it was the fact that Barry enjoyed the sport that held the most sway.
“Barry was just wonderful, he was a lot of fun... and he was a junior golf champion [at the Balfour Golf Club]. Even when he was sick, he did The Longest Day of Golf to raise money for cancer,” Wilma says.
So far the tournament has raised $175,000 in it’s history, $18,500 of which was raised at last year’s tournament. But it’s clear Wilma is excited by the possibility that one day they’ll surpass there biggest one-time take of $23,000.
Still, even with the success of the tournament Wilma wonders whether the tournament should continue.
“I was actually thinking of stopping, I was thinking that people might be tired of giving… I feel guilty about it sometimes,” laughs Wilma.
However the fact that eight area kids were diagnosed with leukemia inside a 10 years span (including her son Barry), motivates Wilma to keep going, that and the fact that her son was a fighter until the end.
“Because leukemia has been so prevalent in our area… and to see the wonderful results of having six of the kids go into remission, it shows the golf tournament is making a difference,” Wilma whispers, as she vowed to take it one day at a time.
The 14th Annual Barry Crispin Golf Tournament is this Saturday at the Balfour Golf Course, with a 10 a.m. shotgun start.
Tickets are still available, with proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society for leukemia research.
For those of not interested in golf, there is a silent
auction.