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Welcome to the
February (March) 2006 Choey Memorial Pentathlon Newsletter. This
version of the letter may be a little more subdued than years
past, so while there may still be some laughs, overall, it has
been a tough 9 months since opening ceremonies back in July ‘05.
Perspective.
This will be the theme of the 2006 Choey Memorial Pentathlon
XVII. As we look forward to our 17th Pentathlon, it is
important to take a few moments and reflect upon the last 16
years. Over those first 16 years, as the Pentathlon continued to
grow, higher goals were set, outside influences started to take
effect and overall, perhaps perspective began to be lost.
Friendship, camaraderie, great memories, and most importantly:
fun, were the backbone of why the event was born and why it grew
over the years. It is funny how life has a way of putting things
back into perspective for you. Life: slapping you in the face
with perspective on that Sunday morning August 28th
when you are told that Marianna Ronca had died in a car accident
on her way to work. And just when you think you have gotten past
burying a beautiful 18-year old young woman with nothing but a
wonderful future ahead of her, Life decides to sneak up behind you
and slam more perspective into you when you are told that Mr. Bisl
died suddenly of a heart attack the morning of December 28th.
Joe Kucher, James Faggione, Tommy Hynes, Richard Tarbell, Marianna
Ronca, and Helmut Bisl Sr. - All friends that came to the
Pentathlon, all friends we laughed with at the Pentathlon, and now
all friends who are no longer with us at the Pentathlon.
Perspective.
Moving on to
wrap up Pentathlon 2005. After yet another rain drenched Friday
of setting up, the weather once again turned out to be great for
Pentathlon XVI (aside from that 30 minute deluge at 2PM). A total
of 45 teams participated: 24 Men’s, 11 Mixed and 10 Women’s.
Helmut and Kucher once again won the Men’s Title, the 8th
time this team has won in 10 years. In the Mixed Division, Heidi
and Mike returned to the winner’s circle, defeating Team Smitty in
one of the most intense tie-breaking BeerPong matches ever
played. In the Women’s Division, Pentathlon history was made once
again. Tara and Stephanie became the first team to win 2 Women’s
division titles. Tara has now won 4 Women’s Division titles with
3 different partners while Stephanie has now won 5 straight
Pentathlon titles with 4 different partners in both the Women’s or
Mixed Division.
The float on
Sunday was once again run by Ken and Judie Mac and, as always is
the case, it was nothing short of spectacular.
The 2005 Choey
Memorial Pentathlon XVI raised a tremendous amount of money - over
$19,000! Once again, you all are truly unbelievable in your
generosity. Words cannot adequately convey our gratitude and
appreciation.
Random
Thoughts and Announcements…
-
John and Trish Witt had a bouncing baby boy in
January - Owen Richard.
-
Jennifer (O’Hara) and Joe Homa had a baby boy in
May - Marcus.
-
Tim and Stephanie McInerney are expecting their
first child in the spring of ‘06.
-
Manish and Lyn Rajguru are expecting their first
child in the spring of ’06.
-
Denny and Shannon Budd were married in November
’05.
The 2006 Choey
Memorial Pentathlon XVII festivities will be the weekend of
Friday, July 14th, Saturday, July 15th, and Sunday, July 16th.
All are
welcome to come up anytime on Friday to help set up, enjoy the
country air, and have a few drinks. You may want to get up there
early as space is always of a premium (especially behind the
trees!). For those less-than-hearty souls, there are several
local hotels in the area. Check out the Pentathlon website for
hotels and phone numbers. Make your reservations early because
rooms go VERY QUICKLY during that time of year. Don’t forget, we
have two private showers complete with hot water in the shed, so
please take advantage of those throughout the weekend.
The events
will change slightly this year. Over the past 5 years there has
been a dramatic decrease in the number of teams that play
Foosball. Hence, the Pentathlon Committee has decided to
eliminate this event from Pentathlon XVII. The Early Session,
which starts at 12:00 noon, will have the following events: Golf
(2 rounds of 9 holes), Badminton, Darts, Horseshoes, and
Wiffleball. If you want to be in Wiffleball, you must
pre-register as only 6 teams are now allowed in the tournament.
This is also a change as we will only have 2 fields set up for
Wiffleball competition this year. The Wiffleball Tournament will
start at exactly 11:00AM on Saturday morning, so please be at the
event by 10:30 to start on time.
The Late
Session, which now starts at 3:00PM, will still have the following
events: Egg Throw, Keg Throw, and Relay Race. The Raffle will
once again take place between the 3 Late Session events and the
Auction will now start at 5:00PM and will run during the Pig Roast
dinner. Beer Pong will start promptly at 6:30PM with the goal of
ending by 10:30PM.
The Pentathlon
will continue to divide funds raised between the Joseph H. Kucher
Scholarship Fund, Inc., which benefits local high school graduates
going to college, and The Marian Cooper Community Foundation of
Port Jervis, which looks to better the community of Port Jervis
through gift giving donations.
Come on up to
God’s country, have a good time, throw some cash around and let’s
make some more magic happen. Invite your friends to compete, buy
lots of raffle tickets to win great stuff, and keep bidding on
those awesome auction items that people keep donating. Speaking
of which, don’t be shy out there, if there is ANYTHING you can
contribute, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The entry fee
this year will be $130.00/team. This is the same as last year and
we think it’s still a bargain!! If you pre-register before July
1, you will get preferred placement into the events of your
choice, each team member will receive a limited edition
commemorative Choey Memorial Pentathlon mug, AND you will also be
entered into an exclusive raffle ONLY for teams that
pre-registered. One pre-registered team will win $50 cash, but
you can only enter this raffle if you PRE-REGISTER!!!! Your entry
fee includes all you can eat and drink from Friday morning to
Sunday night, door prizes, and the pig roast. If you want to come
up and not compete, a donation of $35.00/person will be required
(also the same as last year).
The raffle
should continue to exceed the previous year’s event. Raffle
tickets will be priced the same as last year: 1 Ticket-$5.00, 3
Tickets-$10.00, 7 Tickets-$20.00, 10 Tickets-$25.00, 25
Tickets-$50, 50 Tickets-$75, and 75 Tickets-$100. If anyone has
anything to raffle off, PLEASE LET US KNOW. Reach into that
“Re-Gift Closet” and see what comes out! Any and all donations
would be appreciated. Please remember, this weekend has grown to
what it is now because people have contributed their time and
efforts. We could use any and all help to continue to make this
weekend even bigger and better than it has ever been. There will
also be a 50/50 again this year, just as in years past.
We will do the
auction again this year. Every year we seem to get more and more
high quality items. This is due to more and more people getting
the word out about our event and stepping in to help. If you can
donate ANYTHING it would be greatly appreciated. PLEASE LET US
KNOW!!!!!!!!
Of course
there will be rafting on Sunday! The charge will be an additional
$30.00/person for the cost of the raft, transportation, and life
jackets. Wristbands will be required for the raft trip. You may
purchase your wristband up until we leave the Pentathlon site for
the river at 11am Sunday morning. You will not be allowed on the
river without a wristband, so please plan accordingly.
We are always
looking for new ideas to make the Choey Memorial Weekend bigger
and better. For anyone with ideas, donations, etc., the best way
to contact us is through the website, but if you would like to
reach us by snail mail:
Choey Memorial
Scholarship Fund or Marian Cooper Community Foundation
310 Prospect
Hill Rd.
Cuddebackville, NY 12729
845-754-7220 /
201-240-6464
The Marian
Cooper Community Foundation is a member of
www.iGive.com. iGive.com
enables consumers to shop at online merchants while directing up
to 15% of every purchase to support their favorite causes.
iGive.com's network now offers shopping opportunities to millions
of consumers, donations to more than 11,000 worthy causes, and new
customers for more than 230 merchants. The next time you shop
on-line, go through www.igive.com
and designate the Marian Cooper Community Foundation as
your favorite cause!
The Marian
Cooper Community Foundation and the Choey Memorial Scholarship
Fund Inc., parents of the Pentathlon, are both official,
not-for-profit, tax-exempt entities. Many companies offer their
employees company-matching programs. If your company offers this
benefit, please let us know how we can help you apply for this.
Also, don’t
forget - the Spring ’06 Choey Memorial Golf Outing is scheduled
for May 6th at the High Point Country Club in Montague,
NJ. Please contact us via the website or by phone if you are
interested in the details. Players of all levels are more than
welcome! You may register your own team of four, or we will pair
you up with others to create a team. The day will start with a
shotgun start at 11:45AM followed by a BBQ and awards at 5:30PM.
Please check
us out at
WWW.CHOEY.ORG. There is a lot of information on the
charities, past events, future events, you name it. Let us know
what you think about our website or anything else about the Choey
Memorial Pentathlon Weekend, and feel free to contact us via the
site. Bring your friends and we’ll see you July 14th,
15th, and 16th!!
Pentathlon Staff |
