On Wednesday, September 15, 2021, Pat and Dominic Grillo, the Atrion team, and several volunteers had the privilege of hosting the 6th Annual Swing for a Cause Charity Golf Outing at Beaver Brook Country Club (BBCC) in Clinton, NJ.
The event was a huge success, raising $35,000 for donations to charities supporting our troops (past and present) and first responders. Without the sacrifices made by these heroes, none of this would be possible. This year’s event will raise our total donations since we started to roughly $100,000.
For the fourth year, Atrion combined its 30th Annual Customer Appreciation Outing with Atrion Charitable Foundation’s Swing for a Cause. The amazing response we received from our vendors as sponsors and our great customers simply blew us away. Quite a few of our customers made personal donations.
The day started with Rabbi Eli Kornfeld of Chabad of Hunterdon delivering a powerful and moving invocation prayer for all those who sacrificed so much for our great country.
Following the invocation, an Honor Guard from the Union County Sheriff’s Office presented the colors beneath a huge American flag that was hung from the end of ladders of two fire trucks from Annandale Fire Company #1 and Lebanon Borough Fire. Olivia Terpin delivered a beautiful acapella rendition of The National Anthem. Alanna McGee (10), Sadie Stagg (12), and Maggie Stagg (8) led the Pledge of Allegiance.
The opening to the day was deeply moving.
After the pledge, 100 players mounted their carts and teed off in a scramble format competing for a low team score, closest to the pin prizes on all the Par 3s, with $10,000 for anyone lucky enough to get a Hole-In-One on three of the par 3 holes. There was also the longest drive for men & women and closest to the line prizes. After 30 years and thirty-five tournaments, we still have not had a Hole-In-One winner, though we have had several players come really close. This year’s closest was Vietnam Air Force veteran Wayne Martin – 18 inches away – on a 174-yard par 3.
Immediately after the completion of the golf tournament, players, helpers, and guests attended a reception, buffet dinner, and awards ceremony. Thanks to God delivering great weather and Beaver Brook Country Club we were able to hold the entire event outside under a large tent. In spite of that COVID19 still took its toll as two of our featured guests, John Hanson, a 98-year-old Navy Pearl Harbor survivor, and Robert McCoy, a 95-year-old WWII Marine veteran, were not able to attend. This was the first year in over two decades that Robert McCoy wasn’t able to attend and play. At the September 11, 2019, event, John spoke about his experience in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Needless to say, hearing about that day from a man who was thick in the middle of it mesmerized us all. Robert (Bob) McCoy briefly discussed his time island hopping and fighting in the Pacific theater.
Olivia Terpin began the evening portion by singing God Bless America. What an amazing voice and a very sweet young lady. Olivia recently sang the National Anthem and God Bless America at President Trump’s Birthday Celebration at Trump National in Bedminster. Pat Grillo then spoke about the Atrion Charitable Foundation, the 20th Anniversary of 9/11/2001, and led a Moment of Silence.
Prior to dinner being served, Lt. Colonel Robert Vicci of the New Jersey Army National Guard and CEO of VetRest* spoke about his 34 years of service, his time at West Point, and getting his Blackhawk unit ready to deploy as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
*VetREST is a charity that helps veterans suffering from PTSD to heal. Check it out at www.vetrest.org
I next had the honor to
speak about SSGT. Edward Moss (“Mossie”), a Marine Korean War Veteran and good friend. Mossie had either worked at or played as my guest at every Atrion outing. In the last two outings, Mossie spoke about his time as part of one of the United States Marine Corp’s most famous campaigns, the Chosin Reservoir. It was known as “Frozen Chosin” among the troops. His story brought us all to tears. Unfortunately, Mossie was called to a higher duty last year guarding the pearly gates of heaven. Sgt. Moss’s son, Steven, and his family attended. Mossie’s granddaughter Amanda spoke eloquently about her grandfather, what he was like, and how much he is missed by friends and family alike. – Army veteran Christopher McGee, who served in Kosovo and Iraq and I presented the Honor and Remember flag to Mossie’s family. Chris talked about the significance of the flag.
The bar was opened, and a delicious buffet dinner was served. Alanna McGee, Maggie Stagg, Giordana Grillo, and Kelsey Burgey continued to sell tickets for the Tricky Tray and 50/50 Raffles during dinner.
We finished the evening with the golf awards, silent auction, tricky tray, and 50/50 raffle drawings.
We had roughly 130 people attend the event. Approximately thirty percent of the people that played in the golf outing served in either the military or law enforcement. Some served in both and are still active. There were military veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, Grenada, El Salvador, both Gulf Wars, and Afghanistan.
It was amazing!
The charities and organizations that will receive donations include:
NPower New Jersey (www.npower.org)
Operation Shoebox NJ (opshoeboxnj.org)
NY Run for the Fallen (runforthefallen.org)
Rolling Thunder Chapter 3 – For Flags Across Warren County
Union County Sheriff’s PBA Local 108
E.Pa – NJ Chapter Folds of Honor (www.foldsofhonor.org)
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation (www.mcsf.org)
Annandale Fire Co. #1
Lebanon Borough Fire Co.
VFW Post 5119 Relief Fund
Hope Through Education www.hopethrougheducationusa.org
Special Thanks to:
Nikki, Maggie & Sadie Stagg, Amie & Giordana Grillo, Tammy, Chris & Alanna McGee, Heather & Kelsey Burgey, Tom True, Olivia & Deidra Terpin, Rabbi Eli Kornfeld, Mia Conmy, Alesha Peluso, Union County Sheriff’s Office, Annandale Fire Company #1, Lebanon Borough Fire Company
Event Sponsors:
Atrion Communications Resources, True Associates, Fortinet Corp, Ivanti, Proofpoint, Menlo Security, Tenable, Blackberry, Infoblox, Sotero, Bitglass, Security Scorecard, Ingram Micro/RSA, Extreme Networks, Three Summers Creative, Moss Landscaping, and Fulton Bank, Mesotheliomia Hope
