A Great Weekend of Golf at the Drive 4 Dinger Celebrity Golf Tournament to support The Meals 2 Heal Program and The Heimerdinger Foundation
By Rachel Kleine, Summer Associate
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| Jeff Fisher, Kathie Heimerdinger, Mike Shanahan |
The 3rd Annual Drive 4 Dinger Celebrity Golf Tournament was held on June 6th and 7th at Gaylord Springs Golf Links. The Kick-off Silent Auction and Dinner, along
with the Celebrity Golf Tournament is an annual event held in memory of Mike Heimerdinger, the
former Tennessee Titans Offensive Coordinator. The weekend events and money
raised support The Heimerdinger Foundation and the Meals2Heal Program, in order
to provide healthful meals to cancer patients.
Friday evening the wonderful event started with
a Kick-off
Silent Auction and Dinner. A few of the celebrity guests on Friday evening
included, St. Louis Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher, famed NFL head coach Mike
Shanahan, Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason and Channel 2’s John Dwyer among others.
The silent auction consisted of many beautiful canvas
paintings, home décor items, elaborate vacations, and the always-cherished
sports memorabilia signed by athletes. After the auction concluded, guests enjoyed a healthy dinner buffet catered by Gaylord and Whole Foods.
Shortly after dinner a heart-felt video about the
Heimerdinger Foundation and the Meals 2 Heal program was played in order to
show how the program is changing lives by delivering nourishing meals to cancer
patients in their homes. Kathie Heimerdinger, her daughter Alicia, and her son
Brian also gave short speeches about what this event meant to them and how
appreciative they were for everyone’s support of the foundation.
Moving further into the evening the live auction took place.
The great vacation packages for the live auction included a NFL Today Show Meet
and Greet for four to New York City, a Napa Valley getaway to Silver Oak
Winery, a Baseball Lovers Getaway to Chicago to see a Cubs game, a trip to Las
Vegas, and the opportunity to golf at Oak Hill Golf Club in Rochester, NY with
Super Bowl Champion coach Mike Shanahan.
Of course the evening wasn’t complete without music. John
Elefante of the band Kansas performed for the crowd with the band Small Time Rock Stars after the live auction and
got the attendees out of their seats and onto the dance floor.
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| Tim & Alicia Pepe, Kathie Heimerdinger, Brian Heimderdinger |
On Saturday, it was time for the celebrity golf tournament.
The celebrities in attendance were, the St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, assistant
head coach Dave McGinnis, Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, and defensive
secondary coach Chuck Cecil. Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt and defensive
coordinator Ray Horton. Current and former Titans players Jake Locker, Marc
Mariani, Michael Roos, Mike Otto, Delanie Walker, Chris Spencer, Kevin Dyson,
Craig Hentrich, Chris Sanders, Kerry Collins, and Ken Amato. Musician Steve
Cropper, singer/songwriter Gary Chapman, former NBA player Charles Davis, and
sportswriter Paul Kuharsky were also among the celebrities in attendance.
As the celebrities and other golfers arrived, they were
treated to sandwiches, chips, and fruit provided by Whole Foods. Then, the
golfing began at about 1:15pm. The weather could not have been better for a day
on the golf course. Everyone seemed to be having fun and enjoying their time on
the course. The course was set up with various hole sponsors who had different
challenges or activities for the golfers to participate in. A couple of the challenges
included the hole in one where you could win a trip if you made a hole in one, and
Nashville Dream Cars chance to rent a Ferrari, which was parked on one of the
holes.
As the golfers came off the course they were treated to BBQ
catered by Famous Dave’s and had the chance to mingle with each other before
the awards presentation. Once everyone had a chance to eat the awards were
given out to all the winners. Chuck Cecil's team and Craig Hentrich's team took the top awards in the first and second flights. Then, after a few words from Kathie Heimerdinger
the event concluded and the 3rd Annual Drive 4 Dinger Celebrity Golf
Tournament was in the books.
It was a great two days filled with fun and golf! To learn
more about the foundation visit: https://www.heimerdingerfoundation.com.
If you would like to see some pictures from the The Drive 4 Dinger event visit
their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Drive4Dinger
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