Former athletes join up for golf fundraiser

Former Bulls standout Bill Wennington, baseball Hall of Famer Billy Williams and CBS Channel 2 News anchor Rob Johnson will join other former professional athletes on Monday, June 22, at the The Royal Fox Country Club in St. Charles to golf and raise funds for the Special Olympics Illinois program in northeastern Illinois.

Amateur foursomes will be matched with both former professional athletes and other celebrities in a scramble tournament. The all-day event begins with a shotgun start at 10:30 a.m. and ends with cocktails, dinner and an auction.

The event was the dream of tournament founder and golf enthusiast Skott Zimmerman. "As a memorial to Skott, this year's event will continue to follow the tradition he started - to generate funds so that Special Olympics athletes from northeastern Illinois can continue to achieve goals and experience sports competition," said Area Director Sandy Hutchins. For this year's event, Zimmerman Ford of St. Charles has signed on as the presenting sponsor. River Front Chrysler Jeep, Magnetrol International Inc. and Kwik Kopy of St. Charles have joined the tournament as Diamond Sponsors.

Package prices range from $425 for a Golf Sponsor (one participant) to Presenting Sponsor for $7,000 (12 participants). In addition to spending the day on the course with sports and media celebrities, there are several premiums and benefits that go along with each level of sponsorship.

Information on the range of sponsorship packages including description of benefits is available by calling Special Olympics Illinois Northeastern/Area 2 at (630) 377-7250 or e-mailing shutchins@soill.org. Some of the Who's Who of sports who have currently committed to play at the Pro-Am include: Eddie Arroyo, Ronnie Bull, Billy Gardner, Ted Hendricks, Gene Hiser, Bob Miller, Bob Parsons, Paul Popovich, Eric Soderholm, Revie Sorey and Al Weis.