Elks Donate $4,000 to Hopatcong's Parent-Funded Golf Team

Deanna Solimando didn't know what would happen.

Now the senior has assurance.

The Lake Hopatcong Elks Lodge will give Hopatcong's golf program a $4,000 check at its building at 7 p.m. The money will be used to cover transportation, greens fees and shirts for the parent-funded team, parent Randy Sickles said.

Solimando, a senior and three-year golfer, said she became "very emotional" when she learned of the Lodge's donation.

"I was extremely happy that other places actually do care about kids having a golf team and everything like that," she said. "i know not a lot of towns have a golf team anymore and stuff and it was very emotional to know that we'll have a golf team."

Hopatcong's golf team was on the verge of collapse.

Last spring, Hopatcong's Board of Education cut the program, along with several others and almost 30 staff members, after Gov. Chris Christie announced the school district would receive $1.7 million less state aid than in 2009-2010. But the school board allowed the golf team to exist as a parent-funded organization.

Now, after months of fundraising, the program will compete this spring. Sickles said in an e-mail it would cost "approximately $6900" to fund the team.

Longtime Elks member Rick Gathen, a Hopatcong resident, said Mayor Sylvia Petillo told him the golf program would need "a lot of money" in December if it wanted to exist.

"I said, 'Talk to the parents, come back to me with exactly that in writing and we'll see what we can do,'" Gathen said. "And we did it."

Gathen said the Elks voted unanimously to fund the program.

"It's very important now that these organizations are being cut back that we do whatever we can to save these programs for the kids," Gathen said. "They have value, whether its music or art or sports. They have value."

Head coach Dominic Schiavone said more than 20 kids have signed up for the team, the most he's had during his 10-year tenure. He said he usually has between eight and 12 athletes each spring.

"It's awesome," Schiavone said of the donation. "I am so glad that they would do this. I really personally feel bad for the kids. I've had kids asking me if we were going to have a team or not. … It's such a nice group of kids. They really are. To see the generosity to keep the team going is just amazing."

Schiavone also said "I wouldn't have a golf team without" the fundraising parents.
"It was definitely a sacrifice on the parents' part to make sure it worked out," he said. "They put a lot of hard work into it. They really 100 percent stepped up to the plate and did everything they could."

Schiavone said he would have missed more than the golf if the program fell through.

"It really would have been tough not to have a golf team this spring," he said. "It's nice to see a different side of the kids than just seeing a daily classroom environment."

The Elks said Petillo, team members and school officials will attend the event.