34th WIDE OPEN GOLF CLASSIC

The Annual WIDE OPEN GOLF CLASSIC will hold its 34th Golf Tournament on Friday, October 2nd at Blue Fox Run Golf Club in Avon. Dr. Matthew Keefe of Canton Valley Dental along with David Regan of Burlington and Ryan Mains of West Hartford will once again organize the tournament. New to the team this year will be Fran Amara of Farmington. The Wide Open over the years has raised more than $235,000 for the local High Schools’ (Canton, Avon, Lewis S. Mills and Northwestern Regional 7) substance abuse programs and has also supported research for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center Oncology Department.

With the monies raised in 2014, the Wide Open Committee invited Chris Herren, a former NBA point guard for the Celtics, to speak to three high schools in the Farmington Valley area. In addition to speaking at Northwestern Regional 7, Lewis Mills, and Canton High School, he also gave an evening community presentation which was open to the public. The response was overwhelming from both the students and the public as Chris Herren’s honesty and openness revealed his soul-wrenching story of how drugs and alcohol contributed to the loss of his basketball career, and the dire effect his addiction had on his family and personal life.

In addition to an anti-drug and alcohol presentation for the local schools, 2014’s Wide Open Golf Tournament made a $3000 donation to the charity named Smile Train. Smile Train provides free cleft repair surgeries to children all around the world born with cleft palates and who cannot afford the repair. Millions of children around the world with unrepaired clefts have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking.

Let’s make the 34th Wide Open Golf Classic the best one yet! If you would like to participate in the tournament, please contact Jill at Canton Valley Dental at 860-693-0887. If you cannot play in the tournament you may still sponsor a hole or donate a raffle prize. Please let us know if you can participate in any way.