Date set for Peters VFW Post 764 golf outing
The Almanac/VFW Golf Classic, benefitting the VFW Post 764 Ambulance Service in McMurray, is slated for Sept. 14 at the Fort Cherry Golf Club in McDonald.
The tournament, which has been going on for more than 20 years now, is the chief fundraiser for the VFW Post 764 ambulance service, the only such service still owned by a VFW. Last year’s event raised approximately $10,000 for the service, said Scott Huenefeld, the post commander and event chairman.
“This is something we believe in,” said Judi Smith, circulation director for The Almanac. “We started the event years ago.”
The ambulance service, formed in 1963, was started following a fatal automobile accident on Route 19, near Upper St. Clair High School. A drunk driver swerved into oncoming traffic, causing an accident that took the lives of a Peters Township firefighter and his two teenage children who were returning home from a birthday party, according to a history of VFW Post 764 ambulance service. No ambulances from neighboring communities were dispatched to the accident, which caused public uproar and led to the formation of the service.
The service was staffed by volunteers until 1987, when they became paid employees, Huenefeld said. The ambulance service now averages 2,500 calls a year in Peters, North Strabane and surrounding municipalities, he added.
Twenty-three foursomes have signed up for the Sept. 14 golf tournament, Smith said. Registration for a foursome is $340, $85 for one and $25 for dinner only.
The event starts at 8 a.m. with a continental breakfast followed by a 9 a.m. shotgun scramble. There will be prizes for the golfer who hits the ball closet to the pin, the longest drive and the longest putt, as well as a 50/50 raffle.
For more information, call 724-941-3358.