It began rather modestly a decade ago, simply as a way for a grieving son and his buddies to honor a beloved father and trusted friend while raising money to aid in the fight against the cruel disease that took him from them.
But over the 10 years of its existence, the Tom “Shu” Shuey Memorial Golf Tournament has become something of a local fundraising behemoth, generating over $100,000 total for a variety of worthy organizations.
The tournament’s namesake, Annville resident and local sports enthusiast Tom Shuey, an avid golfer, died in 2014 at age 72 after a bout with a blood cancer known as myelodysplastic syndrome. The MDS Foundation was the chief beneficiary of the Shu Tournament’s generosity of time and money, donating $55,000 to the cause.
The rest of the $45,000 and change that was raised through the efforts of tournament organizers — Tim and Lynne Shuey, Tom’s son and daughter-in-law; Glenn Beidler, longtime youth sports coach and president of the Annville Youth League; former Annville Legion baseball coach Steve Hostetter; as well as Andy Ron Forney, Dan Lessard, and Emalee Shuey, to name a few of the many who showed up for the Shu tourney year in and year out in whatever way was needed — stayed in the local community as Tom Shuey would have wanted it.
Through their efforts and the annual patronage of the 144 players in the field, the event, which was held at both Fairview Golf Course and Pine Meadows over the years, also raised another pile for a staggering 14 different local organizations and charities, including $16,250 for the Annville Youth League and another $8,250 for the Annville-Cleona football program.
“We decided early on that we would also support local charities and other groups who we thought Tom would have supported,” Beidler said.
“At one of our first meetings, one of the guys said, ‘You know, your dad was a community guy, we should probably include the community in this. And that’s what we ended up doing,” Tim noted.
To say that was a good decision would be an understatement. Here is a complete list of organizations that have breathed a little easier thanks to the Shuey Tournament’s efforts:
- $55,000 to MDS Foundation
- $16,250 to Annville Youth League
- $8,250 to Annville-Cleona Football
- $5,250 to Palmyra Lady Cougar Basketball. (Dyllan Shuey, Tom’s granddaughter, played for the Lady Cougars.)
- $250 to Annville Legion Riders
- $500 to Annville Band Boosters
- $500 to Disaster Relief
- $5,000 to Friends of Shu, Anya Zvorsky, Pediatric Brain Cancer Research, Linda Bare Memorial Fund, Ovarian Cancer Research, and Mike Carroll Memorial Fund
- $4,000 to Penn State’s Thon. (Dyllan Shuey had a lemonade stand at the tournament and took tips.)
- $2,000 to Ronald McDonald House
- $2,000 to Thrive for Life Foundation
- $500 to Feel Your Boobies Foundation
- $500 to Central Chapter PA Sports Hall of Fame fund
“We’re just proud as a group,” Tim said of what the tournament accomplished. “Everybody involved loved it.”
“It was really fun,” Lynne agreed. “We’re going to miss it.”
But more importantly, what was accomplished would have met with the namesake’s approval.
“I think he’d be pretty proud of it,” Tim said of how his dad would have reacted to the tournament’s success. “My dad was all about fun, and doing the right thing for others.”
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