Dozens take part in third downtown Cape golf tournament

Stan Smee isn't a golfer; he plays only about once a year. His son, Tony, slowed down after their daughter was born. Tony Smee's own son, Hayden, plays baseball and is a "computer whiz," Stan Smee said. Together, the three-generational group competed Sunday in the First-ever Third Annual Louis J. Lorimier Memorial World-famous Downtown Golf Tournament and All-You-Can-Eat Catfish Buffet.

Unlike most people in the tournament who went around to each hole in groups of five or six, the Smees played as a family trio.

"Family activities strengthen the community," Tony Smee said.

The tournament began in 2006 as an idea from Jane Randol Jackson, who thought there needed to be a way to raise funds for the preservation of the Red House Interpretive Center in downtown Cape Girardeau. Last year she was the chairwoman of the Red House. Brenda Schloss is the current chairwoman. Currently, the Red House isn't in need of any repairs.

In addition to the annual golf tournament, money is raised for the Red House by means of a fundraiser dinner. This year the dinner will be on Sept. 20 and will feature speaker Bryant Boswell as he re-enacts being Meriwether Lewis 200 years later, who visited the Red House in 1803, when Louis Lorimier lived there.

This year 54 golfers participated in the tournament and helped raise $525. That brings the total amount of funds raised for the Red House over the past five years to $40,550, Jackson said. The goal is to raise $100,000 in order to set up a trust fund to pay for the building's upkeep. There isn't a date set by which the funds need to be raised.

Last year 62 golfers played, netting a profit of $1,500, after an anonymous donation of $500. In 2006 there were 72 participants, which brought in $1,475.

With other activities in Cape, and Sunday being a particularly beautiful day, Charlie Herbst, who came up with the idea of the tournament along with Southeast Missourian editor in chief R. Joe Sullivan, said it was hard to get people to come to the tournament.

"I think we had competition with the Country Club golf tournament, which took place this weekend," Jackson said.

"The Red House preserves our heritage," Herbst said. "It's important to know where we all came from."

Teeing off on hole two, which was in the parking lot in front of the floodwall mural, the Smees were hitting into the wind. The Birdieballs, made of plastic and designed to avoid damage to cars or buildings, would be hit and then carried back by the wind, close to the person hitting it off the tee. The Smees laughed about their shots and kept the atmosphere light.

"I don't like playing seriously, because it takes all the fun out of it," Stan Smee said. "To be competitive you have to spend a lot of time on the course. I'm one of those guys who has problems chewing gum and talking at the same time."

Along the way Tony Smee gave encouragement to his son, who was struggling to hit the ball.

"Keep your eye on the ball," Tony would say when Hayden would miss.

Tony stays active in the Cape Girardeau community by being involved with public schools and promoting musical events. He is a member of the school board and as an individual promoter has lined up the Gibson Brothers, a bluegrass band, to play at the River Campus next fall. Even though Tony likes the sound of bluegrass music, the family atmosphere it can create at the River Campus is the most important part for him.

Tony Smee has made Cape Girardeau his home since 1987, when he came to Southeast Missouri State University and met his wife. Tony has been playing golf for 15 years, but stopped playing it often because it wasn't a family activity.

"We created a family," Tony said. "We ought to raise them."

Other residents, who stay involved with the Cape community by volunteering and working with different organizations, also showed up. Jerry Cummins, who has served as a community volunteer for cities like Jackson and Cape Girardeau, worked as a volunteer and showed participants where hole three was.

Although retired, Cummins also has a record of being an active member of the community. On Saturday, he worked at a fund-raiser that helped to raise more than $30,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In the past, he's worked for the Red Cross, Jackson Food Pantry, Habitat for Humanity and also helped to build the Red House.

Don Greenwood golfed in the tournament, and also served as the artist who designed the tournament T-shirts and map. He came to Cape Girardeau in 1966, not expecting to stay long, but has never left.

As a member of the Cape community he has been a part of the Downtown Merchants Association, the Artists Guild, Old Town Cape and helped build the Red House. He agreed that his private life has been community life.

The golf tournament was all about having fun. Dwayne Williams and his son participated in a group of about eight. After fighting the wind near the floodwall, Dwayne and his son stopped keeping score. He said he never really plays golf.

"I play like one round of golf a year," Williams said.

Around that time, his son Eric hit a Birdieball that, with the help of the wind, flew behind him and off to the right.

"It's fun to get out here and hit these Birdieballs," Williams said.

adohogne@semissourian.com

335-6611

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