UPDATE! We raised $40,000 at our Friends for Max Janton Golf Classic! We are so thrilled and grateful for such a successful event! We cannot wait to distribute these funds to all our beneficiaries!
Special thanks to a dear friend and great photographer, Catherine LaChance, for volunteering her time and providing beautiful photos from the entire day!
Thank you to our amazing, generous sponsors!
Silver Sponsors: Bridgestone Golf • Cataract Steel Bronze Sponsor: Georgia State Golf Association Event Sponsors: Mitch Bernet of Safe Strap • Wilson Wealth Management • Bridgestone Central • Bridgestone East • Expeditors • Dan Murphy • Red Hare Brewing Hole Sponsors: Bill Donan • Eric & Diane Schott and Rob, Amy & Carson Bailey • Ellington Ridge Golf Club • Cedar Knob Golf Course • Heritage Golf Links • Certainty Home Loans • Roberts Elementary School • All About Kids Therapy Services • Cone Commercial • John Cook with Keller Williams • Donnie Wishard with JOMO • Martello family
Thanks to our sweet, generous volunteers!
Maureen Bixler • Connie Cieslak • Jim Cieslak • Jessica Conley • Pat Cowan • Erika Goodman • Kelly Goodman • Tom Goodman • Tommy Goodman • Debbie Hughes • Krista Joffe • Ethan Kurtz • Lee Kurtz • Amie LoCicero • Ashley Mathiesen • Maureen McIntosh • Harry Murley • Shiree Nation • Jessica Nichols • Maria Nichols • Mike Nichols • Jacqueline Schaeffer • Jeanette Schiffmann • Diane Schott • Luke Schramm • Tara Schramm • Patti Simpson • Victoria Stamps • Kristin Wint
Thank you to the many people who made online donations and to the many companies who donated amazing items to our raffle and silent auction!
Thank you to all the golfers and pro’s for signing up! Thank you to The Standard Club for opening your doors to us and thanks to your wonderful, super helpful staff for going over and beyond. Thank you to Ryan Moore for running a fantastic silent auction and for managing the sound and music. Thank you to the PGA Georgia Section for a heck of a tournament. We look forward to partnering with you again next year!
The Friends FORE Max Janton Golf Classic Pro-Am was held October 1, 2018 at The Standard Club in Johns Creek, GA. Here’s how I remember it.
Sleep eluded me the night before the tournament. I went to bed at midnight, restless until Duke, our 3-year-old, woke at 3 a.m. with a cough. I gave him medicine, we cuddled, then I lie awake, thinking of Max, the golf tournament and everything in between. When the alarm buzzed at 5:15 a.m., Adrenaline, my companion for the day, pushed me to my feet. After getting the boys where they needed to be, I arrived at The Standard Club, ready to set up, fingers crossed that everything would go as planned.
Scott Gordon with the PGA Georgia Section greets me and I give him a big hug. Scott was such an amazing partner in planning the tournament. He dedicated so much time on a million details- I can’t imagine the tournament without him and all the PGA crew. What a team.
The sun rose higher and a steady stream of volunteers, PGA GA Section employees and staff from The Standard Club bustled. Everyone enthusiastic, hands in the air to volunteer for this job and that – maybe no one as eager as the beverage cart and Bloody Mary station gals. We had nearly 30 volunteers. Thirty people who took a day off from work, or arranged special childcare, or drove out of their way, all so they could be there to help, to support the foundation, to support us. Family, family friends, the girls I grew up with, sorority sisters, a handful of Dan’s work comrades, Max’s cardiologist, Max’s physical therapist, new friends from the March of Dimes- a melting pot of my and Dan’s circles.
The golfers begin to arrive, and I notice Dan’s smile. This is his element, you know. Once a professional golfer, once a golf pro, once an organizer of the Georgia Amateur Tour and now salesman of the year with Bridgestone Golf. The course is his church, the golfers, his fellow parishioners. He shakes hands, fist bumps, bear hugs. Greeting after greeting, his enthusiasm grows and I think, “just like Max.” It’s easy to picture my boy, his hands in the air as he runs back and forth, squealing with excitement. “Daddy coming home, Mommy! Daddy home!” The fuss he’d make over all these new faces. He’d love to see the golfers filing in, walking down the line as they pick their tee gifts. Rarely the child to clam up at an introduction, I can hear my boy’s sweet voice “Hi sir, hi! Hi, guy!” He’d love this, I know.
The golfers go inside to find a long table covered with fruit and baked goods, my mother at the helm. The next table over is the ever-crucial Bloody Mary Station. This is where warm-ups truly begin. The central region guys from Bridgestone specifically requested that their donation fund the Bloody Mary station and we did them proud. Jugs of Zing Zang, handles of vodka, every possible garnish - golfers sip generously as they head to the putting green and driving range.
Mumford & Sons croon outside as the golfers practice. Ryan Moore is running the auction today and he’s also managing the music. It’s no coincidence he chose Mumford. It was Ryan’s band, after all, who we hired to play at Max’s 5th birthday “band party.” They played Mumford songs and, for Max, it was as good as seeing the band live…until he actually did see them live. Dan and I took him to Music Midtown on September 17th last year. We took turns holding Max against our chests and danced beneath the night sky, singing songs as Mumford played, watching Max’s face for every fleck of wonder, laughing at the tears rolling down our cheeks, love literally pouring out of us.
Dan and the PGA guys stand atop a hill, taking turns on the microphone, their audience sitting below in a sea of golf carts. It’s mid 80s and the breeze is flirtatious. I’m glad the sun is shining bright and summer wins out today. I may be the only one not looking forward to October.
The carts peel away one by one and the day begins. Busyness ensues for a handful of volunteers, but there’s no rush, no stress. People laugh, eat lunch, have some drinks and work along the way. Buzz from the golf course is encouraging. The course is at its best, the golfers are having fun. Can’t ask for better. All day, the only mistake we hear of is that we ran out of bananas and protein bars. I’d write it down to remember for next year, but something tells me I won’t forget.
The silent auction is pristine, with signed sports memorabilia, a one-of-a-kind painting, a week-long trip to a house in 30A, liquor packages, a humidor and cigars wrapped with the Friends FORE Max Janton Golf Classic logo. The ballroom is permeated with spice and flavor from the Mexican buffet, hot and ready to greet our golfers.
They stroll in, four by four, rosy cheeked and smiling. They sip cocktails, place their bids and sit to eat. I see many golfers shake Dan’s hand and rave about their day. Relief washes over me as I realize it was a success. Everyone has enjoyed themselves. Awards are given and Dan, who is brimming with emotion, and Mike Paul from the PGA speak. A slideshow of Max is shown, the same one from his Celebration of Life service. The numbness Adrenaline afforded me throughout the day has worn off and heaviness returns tenfold. And now it’s my turn to speak. I read from my sheet of paper, try to look up here and there, and try to hold myself together. It’s a battle till the end. Dan wraps his arms around me as the boys dance at our legs. We’re flooded with hugs, kisses, tears and kind words as the night wraps up. One golfer, also a special needs parent, introduces himself and we smile together, an instant kinship and understanding. A sweet sorority sister and I cry together as she tells me she’s going from full to part-time this week, inspired by my time with Max to spend more time with her kids. Another friend quit her job months ago for the same reason. Grown men embrace me, profess their love for their children, their grandchildren, saying they can’t imagine. I couldn’t either just a year ago.
As my mom hugs me she says she loves me and she’s proud. I know those feelings all too well, that all-consuming love and pride a parent has for their child.
The night is over and the boisterous bunch has all gone home. Dan stays behind to review the day with both PGA and Bridgestone folks, and my day ends as it began, driving with my boys. Duke is still coughing. Thank goodness our sweet pediatrician called in medicine for me to pick up at the pharmacy. I get the boys home, bathe them, rock Beau, medicate Duke and say prayers with what voice I have left after a long day of talking. I slink into bed right after, lights off, no TV, just blackness. I know it’s coming, so I take a deep breath and allow the inevitable. Tears run as every emotion from the day overtakes me. I think of all the good that’s been put into motion. The difference this foundation will make for special needs children and their families, thanks to so many people who truly care. It should feel good, I imagine, maybe even healing in some way, but it doesn’t. Maybe that will come with time. My pillow is still wet as I drift to sleep, desperately hopeful, as always, that I’ll see Max in my dreams.