By Kaity Coismen
Contributing Writer
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers will host their Alumni Sporting Clays event on Tuesday, Sept. 26, for the local nonprofit, Curative Connections.
The fundraiser event is open to businesses, fans and community members to form teams of four for $1,500 each.
The entry fee covers participating in the course, ammunition, special giveaways, lunch and an open bar; however, the entire registration fee will directly benefit Curative Connections.
Teams will also have the chance to meet several Packers Alumni.
Event Coordinator Amanda Wery hopes to welcome 27 teams to meet the goal of $40,000 in donations towards Curative Connections.
“It is a great way for us to provide a different type of event for companies and individuals who still want to give back and support but maybe a golf outing is not their thing, or a dinner is not their thing. Getting out and getting in that environment and that camaraderie is a really good way to connect with our alumni,” Wery explained about the benefits of having a sporting clays event.
There will be 15 alumni at the event including Willie Buchanan, Chester Marcol, Mike Butler, Frank Winters, Bull Schroeder, Lynn Dickey, Mark Lee, Nate Simpson, Jeff Dellenback, Dwight Jones, Eddie Lee Ivery, David Whitehurst, Paul Coffman, Marv Fleming and Dave Robinson.
“We have done about 23 stations, so that puts an alumni at every other station, and most of the alumni do shoot so they’ll have the opportunity to shoot with alumni, and then converse at that station, and then move through and meet all of the different alumni,” Wery said.
Wery reflected on her favorite memories from years past and they were centered on the camaraderie once everyone returns to the clubhouse. “… We do a big pig roast for lunch, so that is a really cool centerpiece for the lunch itself, but then you get to hear what took place on the clay course. Who was shooting what, who was off, who was enjoying it and just having fun with it. And then there is a flurry that we do where all of the teams shoot together and there are multiple clays going off at the same time, so there is usually a lot of crowd support I would say around that as well,” she added.
The event itself is under the Green Bay Packers Give Back umbrella; annually the Packers Give Back program exceeds $9 million in charitable donations.
Wery explained that while the sporting clays event started three years ago, they switch up the nonprofit every couple of years.
The last two years the event benefited Habitat for Humanity, and this will be the first year with Curative Connections as a way to celebrate their 75-year anniversary.
Curative Connections helps “families, seniors and people with disabilities find support and care due to aging, dementia, brain injury or other disability.”
For more information, visit https://pckrs.com/alumnisportingclays.
Registration closes Aug. 11.