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Dalton Business Association tees up for annual tournament

Mauri Rapp Abington Journal Correspondent

DALTON - Some avid area golfers will be teeing up on July 11 for the Dalton Business and Professional Association’s eighth annual golf tournament. The tournament, which will be held at Scranton Canoe Club at Lake Winola this year, raises money for two scholarships that will be given to graduating seniors in the Lackawanna Trail School District.

According to DBPA president Gail Rees, the tournament got its start eight years ago when the DBPA began a scholarship fund of $500 to be offered to a graduating senior at Lackawanna Trail Jr./Sr. High School. However, because the tournament became so successful, Rees said that approximately three years ago the DBPA decided to offer two scholarships of $500 each, instead of just one. This year, one of those scholarships has been renamed the James H. Gray Scholarship in honor of Dalton’s former police chief and current mayoral candidate James Gray, who is a longtime member of the DBPA.

For the past several months, DBPA members have been busy planning, organizing and most of all, getting sponsors for the event. Members have been able to garner at least 30 tee sponsors for the tournament, including Dalton-area businesses such as Van Fleet Drilling Co. Inc, Penn Star Bank, McGrath’s Pub and Dr. Susan Rink’s general dentistry practice. Rees said that one member, Frank Illuzzi, was also able to get sponsors from a previously untapped market in the Tunkhannock area, including K & K Tire Barn, the Lake Carey Inn, Twig’s Caf� and Lake Winola Beverage. Local businesses have also offered door prizes and gift certificates as prizes.

The DBPA is a community organization dedicated to the economic development of Dalton and the surrounding areas, said Rees, and the group likes to foster the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor. Along with the annual golf tournament and scholarships, DBPA also sponsors Dalton’s annual summer concert series, membership mixers and the community’s annual fishing derby. Also, the DBPA provides Halloween bags for Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center students, which are distributed by the Dalton police chief and a DBPA member as part of a Halloween safety course, and sponsors the yearly Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Dalton’s Platt Park. “We like our community to maintain a kind of Norman Rockwell feeling to it,” said Rees. “Part of the DBPA’s purpose is to keep that sense of community going.”

The Eighth Annual DBPA Golf Tournament will begin at 9 a.m. on July 11 at Scranton Canoe Club on Point Road in Lake Winola with a light breakfast provided by the DBPA. Teams will then golf a nine-hole course; Rees said that this year’s defending champion is Joe McGrath of McGrath’s Pub’s team. The tournament is expected to conclude at approximately noon with a lunch provided by Scranton Canoe Club. The cost for each foursome is $40 per player, which includes breakfast, greens fees and lunch, with a cap of 12 to 14 teams. Businesses can sponsor a tee at a cost of $30. For more information, call 563-1181.