We want to thank everyone who participated in our 10 Year Celebration! It was a perfect weekend and we feel our best event to date. For those of you who missed it, here is a recap of the weekend’s activities:
The Ben Kruse 18 Fore Life Charity Golf Event Banquet was kicked off with a beautiful Invocation by Vaughn Wright. The effort Vaughn and Nancy put into getting this prayer on video is a gift that will last forever.
Kristi Whitehead told of her battle with cancer. She showed everyone why she is a hero and an inspiration to everyone who knows her. Her attitude, her humor, her love of family and friends is clearly what drives her and we wish her continued happiness and health!
John Mabry ended his baseball career with 96 homeruns. He hit his 97th in Dexter on June 4th! His talk about his life, his career, his perspective, was inspiring, motivational, and uplifting. Having him join us throughout the weekend to take pictures, sign autographs, and share stories was priceless. We thank him for making the effort and taking time away from his wife and four kids to add to our event.
Kip Musgrave gave a wonderful Toast To Ben. Anyone who knows Kippy knows this was not easy for him for many reasons. Still, he did a great job and we all know Ben was fired up hearing his tribute.
Thanks to Gary Rhine and Jimmy Miles, our auction raised over $11,000.00 this year. When you add in the George Strait guitar that was raffled and given away to Shawn Wright Saturday night, we once again approached $20,000.00! Once again, we thank them for paying it ‘forward’.
Marcus Nordan won a gift basket donated by Preferred Hospice. Vivian Hatchell won the 2010 Yamaha Golf Cart and trailer.
Addie Kruse joined The BUZZ on stage and was just awesome! She was then joined by Madaline Parker and Andie Kruse for a song. The BUZZ had folks dancing into the night and the evening turned into a wonderful, fun party!
Saturday was a gorgeous day of golf. We thank over 340 golfers who fill our course and help raise money by participating each year. The tournament itself was our funnest and ran as smooth as any of the 10 we have put on. Thank you again and remember to sign up early next year!
Ben would have loved every minute of it. He would have been overwhelmed by Kristi. He would still be talking about John Mabry being so down to earth and nice. He would have hugged so many people and given so many high-fives. I know he is smiling as he sees all we are doing. Our TEAM is a wonderful bunch of folks and we thank you for being on it.
Don’t forget to be checking the website for the video produced by David Robinson and October Skies Production, as well as loads of pictures from the weekend of events which should be up soon.
SIGN UP anyone and everyone you know who doesn’t already get these newsletters. It is simple, just click here and type in their name and email address!
Until next time, thanks again for being a BIG reason why we have been able to give away $387,000.00 in love offerings since 2005….and in the process of sending out so many more, thanks to this year’s effort!
With Love,
Scott
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Posted: March 2, 2011 by Scott Kruse
2011 Charity Golf Event Banquet Lineup
At this time, we would like to announce former Major League Baseball Pitcher Brian Holman as our guest speaker. You can view this YouTube video to learn more about Brian’s incredible baseball story. Add in a personal cancer story and you will know we are going to be in for a night of motivation, inspiration, courage, and hope…just as we have all come to expect and appreciate.
After a successful Major League Baseball career with the Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Reds, and Mariners, Brian was forced to retire due to an arm injury. Brian began his business career in 1995 and is currently the Managing Director of the Kansas City, KS office of Ronald Blue and Co. He is involved with many non-profit and philanthropic organizations and is a highly repected motivational speaker. We look forward to having Brian as our guest at Friday night’s banquet and also seeing him on the golf course Saturday morning.
Shawn Green
Our love offering recipient guest and speaker is none other than former Bernie resident Shawn Green. You will remember Shawn as one of “The Twins” from the Bernie Mule’s basketball teams of the early 1990’s. A chronic headache led him to the worst headache of his life. He and his wife went to the ER and an MRI was done. Shawn was diagnosed with a large cancerous brain tumor.  A major surgery, loads of chemo and radiation, and a positive attitude has allowed him to experience the biggest victory of his young life.
Shawn, who now lives in the Chicago area with his wife, has battled and beaten brain cancer. His drive and enthusiasm for life matches what you will remember of him on the basketball court back in the day.
We’re incredibly excited about this year’s banquet! This is so much more than a golf tournament and we will prove it to you in June.
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Posted: January 23, 2011 by David Robinson
2011 Ten Pins for Ben
In our first 4 years, we have sent in over $26,000.00 to St. Jude. This year we’ll add to that total and should be more fun than ever.
Start getting your 5 person bowling team together and join us for a great time supporting the greatest hospital in the world.
More details coming soon.
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Posted: January 7, 2011 by 18 FORE Life
Becky Dennington Inspires with the Fight and with the Pen
The following was written by Cory Blocker, a great supporter of 18 FORE Life and a friend of Becky Dennington.
Becky lives in Bernie, MO where she married her best friend, Kelley. They have two children together. Becky is a nail technician and owns Tips to Toes in Bernie. Becky is an 18 FORE Life love offering recipient. Her book “Me and the Ugly C†will be launched Oct 1, 2011 just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month! LazyDay Publishing has graciously offered to donate 100% of their profit to 18 FORE Life Charity. We ask the 18 Fore Life family to support LazyDay Publishing authors as this act of kindness is just simply amazing!. LazyDay Publishing launches eBooks through various websites such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and All Romance/Omnilit
Please visit Becky’s blog at http://deepthoughtsbybeck.blogspot.com and on Twitter – @BeckyDennington
Also, please visit and give your support to LazyDay Publishing at http://lazydaypub.com and follow them on Twitter – @LazyDayPub
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Posted: December 10, 2010 by David Robinson
Year End Donations
After hearing several news stories on charity rip-offs, we thought this would be a great time to remind you of the benefits of making contributions to 18 FORE Life. Unlike other charities with extreme overhead and CEO six-figure salaries, our money is used to help families YOU know battle and fight cancer. We have no overhead other than stamps and we certainly have no paid help. The money we raise isn’t sent off and we are not limited in anyway when it comes to helping out people in need. Finally, as a 501-c3 organization, your donation is tax-deductible!
As 2010 comes to a close, we are within a few thousand dollars of giving away $100,000.00 in love offerings. It is still hard to believe a grass roots organization can accomplish something like this year after year. Then again, knowing the people who support what we do and being from a community as generous as ours, none of this should continue to surprise us.
What a great time of year. We wish you a very Merry Christmas season and when it comes to 2011, the plan is coming together for another incredible weekend of events on June 3-4. Mark your calendar and know that we sincerely appreciate and cherish your friendship and support.
Cheers!
Send donations here:
18 FORE Life
705 Laurie Circle
Dexter, MO 63841
Or donate online:
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Posted: November 9, 2010 by Scott Kruse
Vaughn Wright 1951-2010
Click here to read the article online.
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Posted: August 1, 2010 by Scott Kruse
More 18 FORE Life 2010 Banquet Video!
If you were able to attend this year’s event, you know our guest speakers were absolutely amazing. John Mabry’s humor and down to earth personality added to some incredible perspective and awesome tales from his days with the St. Louis Cardinals and his journey to the big leagues. Kristi Whitehead’s testimony served as a reminder of exactly why we do this. Her strength and positive attitude, her love of family of friends, and her beautiful sense of humor shined and inspired everyone in the room. And what can I say about Kip Musgrave. Kip was there in 2000 when we thought of this idea and Ben always said, “he is like my other brother”! Ben would have been so proud of Kip’s Toast to Ben.
Kristi Whitehead – Cancer Survivor
[flv:https://www.18forelife.com/videofiles/2010_Kristi_Whitehead.mp4 360 270]
John Mabry – Guest Speaker
[flv:https://www.18forelife.com/videofiles/2010_John_Mabry.mp4 360 270]
Kip Musgrave’s Toast to Ben
[flv:https://www.18forelife.com/videofiles/2010_Kip_Musgrave.mp4 360 270]
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Posted: July 28, 2010 by Scott Kruse
Video Commemorating the 18 FORE Life 10 Year Celebration
We are so proud of this year’s 10 Year Celebration and want to again thank all the sponsors, volunteers, and golfers for making it our best yet. Those who were able to attend the banquet saw a video put together by David Robinson and October Skies Productions commemorating 10 years of laughs, cries, fun, and great times. Check it out here if you didn’t get to see it or would like to show it off to others. Also, get ready for added video of Kristi Whitehead, John Mabry and Kip Musgrave later this week. Their speeches were absolutely amazing and worth another close look!
As always, the list of names of cancer fighters is growing and as much money as we raise, it is sad that this awful disease is so hard to keep up with. Keep that in mind if you are looking to make a donation to a charity that is focused on helping area families directly.
Have a GREAT end to the summer.
With love
Scott
[flv:https://www.18forelife.com/videofiles/18FL_2010_Banquet.mp4 480 270]
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Posted: June 24, 2010 by Scott Kruse
More 2010 Photos & Upload Information
We’ve posted more photos from the golf event weekend on our Flickr page. Click here to view the 2010 collection or click on any of the thumbnail images under “Photostream” on the right-hand side of the site.
Again, if you have any photos you would like to share, please let us know where those have been posted or email the original files here. If you have several files (we encourage it!), please use one of the following FREE (up to 100 MB/upload) upload services –
YouSendIt or TransferBigFiles
Be sure to use drob@octoberskiespro.com for the recipient’s email address. We’ve already gotten several excellent photos. Not only will we be posting them on the site, but we’ll be able to use these for our videos!
A big “thank you!” to EVERYONE that supports The Ben Kruse 18 FORE Life Charity Golf Event! The golfers, the sponsors and the volunteers. We could never do it without ALL of you!
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Posted: June 15, 2010 by Scott Kruse
2010 Team Photos!
The 2010 team photos are now online for viewing. Click here or on any of the thumbnail images under “Photostream” on the right-hand side of the site. More photos from the 2010 golf event weekend will be posted soon. If you have any photos you would like to share, please let us know where those have been posted or email the files here. Thanks again for making this year’s event the best yet. Enjoy!
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Posted: June 11, 2010 by Scott Kruse
2010 Golf Event Recap – What a Weekend!
The Ben Kruse 18 Fore Life Charity Golf Event Banquet was kicked off with a beautiful Invocation by Vaughn Wright. The effort Vaughn and Nancy put into getting this prayer on video is a gift that will last forever.
Kristi Whitehead told of her battle with cancer. She showed everyone why she is a hero and an inspiration to everyone who knows her. Her attitude, her humor, her love of family and friends is clearly what drives her and we wish her continued happiness and health!
John Mabry ended his baseball career with 96 homeruns. He hit his 97th in Dexter on June 4th! His talk about his life, his career, his perspective, was inspiring, motivational, and uplifting. Having him join us throughout the weekend to take pictures, sign autographs, and share stories was priceless. We thank him for making the effort and taking time away from his wife and four kids to add to our event.
Kip Musgrave gave a wonderful Toast To Ben. Anyone who knows Kippy knows this was not easy for him for many reasons. Still, he did a great job and we all know Ben was fired up hearing his tribute.
Thanks to Gary Rhine and Jimmy Miles, our auction raised over $11,000.00 this year. When you add in the George Strait guitar that was raffled and given away to Shawn Wright Saturday night, we once again approached $20,000.00! Once again, we thank them for paying it ‘forward’.
Marcus Nordan won a gift basket donated by Preferred Hospice. Vivian Hatchell won the 2010 Yamaha Golf Cart and trailer.
Addie Kruse joined The BUZZ on stage and was just awesome! She was then joined by Madaline Parker and Andie Kruse for a song. The BUZZ had folks dancing into the night and the evening turned into a wonderful, fun party!
Saturday was a gorgeous day of golf. We thank over 340 golfers who fill our course and help raise money by participating each year. The tournament itself was our funnest and ran as smooth as any of the 10 we have put on. Thank you again and remember to sign up early next year!
Ben would have loved every minute of it. He would have been overwhelmed by Kristi. He would still be talking about John Mabry being so down to earth and nice. He would have hugged so many people and given so many high-fives. I know he is smiling as he sees all we are doing. Our TEAM is a wonderful bunch of folks and we thank you for being on it.
Don’t forget to be checking the website for the video produced by David Robinson and October Skies Production, as well as loads of pictures from the weekend of events which should be up soon.
SIGN UP anyone and everyone you know who doesn’t already get these newsletters. It is simple, just click here and type in their name and email address!
Until next time, thanks again for being a BIG reason why we have been able to give away $387,000.00 in love offerings since 2005….and in the process of sending out so many more, thanks to this year’s effort!
With Love,
Scott