Local Celebrity Golfers Support Mohawk Valley Frontiers 

The Mohawk Valley Frontiers Club sponsors and contributes to many community service projects designed to meet certain needs of the community. Among these events is the Andrew Wertz Open Benefit Golf Tournament and dinner, now in its 30th year, whose net proceeds are used to underwrite the club’s youth services. This year’s tournament, held at the Valley View Golf & Country Club Sunday, August 11, was a huge success. Participants followed a four-player format, with trophies awarded, best hole-in-one, and a 50/50 raffle.

Local celebrity golfers, including retired judge, the Honorable Anthony  Garramone, and Dr. Cheryl Beckett-Minor, Principal of Watson Williams School, joined over 60 participants for this 18-hole event that was sponsored by the Adirondack Bank. U’nice Elliott-Jefferson, President of the MV Frontiers, explained how the proceeds help a variety of projects in the Utica/Rome area, including more than 300 holiday meals provided to Mohawk Valley seniors. This year’s golf event was followed by a scrumptious feast of barbecued ribs, chicken, roasted potatoes, and beverages.

The Mohawk Valley Frontiers is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization that sponsors multiple community service programs. The Annual Martin Luther King Jr Luncheon held in January helps provide chaperoned visits to HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), the Edward Bass Scholarship provided for an African American student to attend Utica University, and a community Wellness and Fitness program at the Carol
Croomes Center. MV Frontiers has also initiated a tutoring program and student-of-the- week program at Watson Williams Elementary School, and the MV Junior Frontiers, a club formed to enhance leadership, scholarship, citizenship, and community neighborhood service skills in young people, starting at the age of 10.