NEW GLASGOW – Plans are well underway for the 19th annual Walter MacDonald Charity Golf Tournament Fore Palliative Care.
This year’s tournament will again be held at Glen Lovat Golf Club on July 21.
The tournament is in memory of Walter MacDonald, who lost his battle with cancer on Aug. 26, 2000, at the age of 47. The essential services of the Palliative Care Unit were a great support for MacDonald and his loved ones, and the next spring, the first tournament was held.
“He would think it would be quite a big fuss over him,” said tournament organizer Mike MacNaughton.
“It’s not for one person, it’s for everybody – we do it for anyone who’s ever been or ever will be, touched by the palliative care. If he could see the benefits of this tournament for families in Pictou County, he’d be happy. It’s overwhelming, how this tournament has gone.”
Always an athlete, MacDonald took up golf relatively late in life. He was such a natural, that in his first full season of golf, he shot a round of 74 at Abercrombie. “Myself and Laurie MacNeil were with him when he did it,” MacNaughton added. ‘
“He would excel at anything he tried. He loved golf – he got a membership, he got really good at it, and then he got sick.”
One of the Walter MacDonald’s close friends was Alan Stewart, owner of Bill Stewart's Scrap Metal & Enviro Depot, who has been a big tournament booster.
“They were tight,” MacNaughton recalled. “Whenever I asked Alan for something, it was always ‘anything for Walt’. He’s been our number one supporter.”
NOTES:
• The entry fee for the Walter MacDonald Charity Golf Tournament Fore Palliative Care is $400 per four-person team. This cost includes 18 holes of golf, power carts, a chicken dinner as well as other prizes.
• It will be an 11 a.m. shotgun start.
• A hootenanny supporting the tournament will be hosted by the White Tail Pub and Grill in Westville from 2-6 p.m. on July 20. Entertainment will be provided by local Pictou County musicians John Bourdreau, Bradley Stewart and John Muirhead (the band formally known as “Hattrick”), along with other special guest appearances.
• Advance tickets are for sale for $10, or $15 at the door.
• Tickets can be purchased by contacting MacNaughton at 396-1483 or at the White Tail Pub. There will be 50/50 tickets for this event (last year’s jackpot was $6200).
As well, 50/50 tickets may be purchased from MacNaughton, or by contacting any member of the Palliative Care Unit at Aberdeen Hospital.
