Dow LPGA Great Lakes Bay Invitational Serving Veterans Who Served Us
By Tom Lang
To hear Dow GLBI tournament Vice President Wendy Traschen speak about her reverence for military Veterans, there’s no doubt she wants to take good care of those who come to the LPGA Tour team event this month at the Midland Country Club, July 17-22.
“The Veterans start calling me in the winter,” Traschen told me in late June. “They want to know dates and make sure they can get accessibility. It’s really clear we have a lot of Vets in the Great Lakes Bay region in need, and we asked what we could do.”
Well, Traschen and the tournament as a whole is doing a lot. For starters:
Free tickets to the event, for the Veteran and a guest.
A special free food tent/suite for military and Veterans only at the 11th hole
Shuttle rides to other areas of the golf course
Traschen said that Kelly (Services) is a major sponsor of this effort. “They firmly believe in embracing Veterans and their challenges and making sure they are rewarded for their years of service to us.
“We’ll have hot dogs and burgers in the suite every day, but we’re working with other organizations to provide food, like a pancake breakfast. On Thursday we’ll have a caterer, Flying Trout, provide dinner for them that afternoon. We’ll also have a golf clinic from 4:00-6:00 and I’ll have an LPGA player get them out on the course and give them some putting lessons.
“We’ll do a chicken dinner on Friday and then on Saturday (the final round) we’ll have an additional lunch.”
Veterans will also receive free hats, pins, and a commemorative coin from the Patriot Promise Foundation.
“Many of the Veterans are big LPGA followers,” she added. “I have five Veterans that have come from out of state the last three years who just take this week as their vacation. I appreciate the trouble they are going to, to come and support the tournament, and really to support the players. It’s all pretty robust and I hope to see it grow.”
At the 11th hole, an active-duty military service person will tend the hole flag, replacing the Dow diamond flag with a small American flag.
Traschen mentioned that Dow has a relationship with Richard Childress Racing, and NASCAR driver Austin Dillon. The NASCAR Show car will be there, and all Dow staff and contractors have been able to submit family names of people who have served in the military, and those names will be transferred to the hood of the car.
She said last year they served about 350 Veterans per day but expects more this year and in the years to come.
More information can be found at: www.Dowglbi.com/tickets, with a separate section for Veterans information.
