A Golf Classic Survives
Mercer County Conference steps up to rescue Garden State C. O. P. S. golf tournament n BY AMBER RAMUNDO
In between sessions at the 2017 NJ State PBA Mini-Convention, Mercer County Sheriff’ s Officers Local 187 State Delegate Pat Papero had golf on his mind. It was just the beginning of March, but when Papero ran into Garden State Concerns of Police Survivors( C. O. P. S.) Chapter President Lisa Preslar at the convention, he couldn’ t help but ask about the Survivor Golf Classic that she organizes each year. After all, the event was something that Papero looked forward to participating in, giving him the perfect opportunity to support the families of fallen officers while spending the day on the greens.
“ Where can I find the forms to register for the tournament this year?” Papero asked eagerly. But for Preslar, an inquiry from an interested PBA member was something she was hoping to avoid. She knew it wouldn’ t be easy to break the news to her supporters in law enforcement that the Survivor Golf Classic wouldn’ t be happening this year.
“ I was carrying around this guilt that it wasn’ t going to go on,” Preslar shared, remembering her encounter with Papero at the Mini-Convention.“ I was still kind of hoping in my head that someone from the [ C. O. P. S.] board would step up and take it over.”
Preslar explained the reasoning to Papero, hoping he’ d understand that after planning the golf outing for nine years and dedicating months each year to putting it together, it was hard to make the commitment fit into her busy life. Papero listened intently, well aware of the selfless effort that Preslar put into running the golf tournament and so many other impactful events for the Garden State C. O. P. S. Chapter every year.
But, as much as he understood her reasoning, he wasn’ t about to stand by and allow the meaningful golf tournament to disappear from the calendar.
“ This is an organization that takes care of C. O. P. S. family members,” Papero stated.“ We couldn’ t let the event fail.”
Preslar thought Papero was kidding when he first told her that he wasn’ t going to allow the Survivor Golf Classic to be canceled. But Papero was seriously determined to see what Local 187 could do to help make it happen. He went directly to the Mercer County Conference Chairman and Ewing Township Local 111 State Delegate Michael Pellegrino, to relay the status of the golf tournament. A short huddle at the PBA Mini- Convention was all it took for Papero and Pellegrino to agree that they would commit to organizing the event.
“ Garden State C. O. P. S. is one of the most important organizations in the state to law enforcement,” Pellegrino said.“ When Papero heard that they weren’ t going to have their golf outing anymore, this was something that we as [ Mercer County ] Conference decided that we needed to make sure that we kept alive and kept going.”
Flags of the fallen line the golf course at the Survivor Golf Classic event, which benefits the families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty.
As soon as the decision was made, Papero found Preslar again to deliver the news: the 2017 Survivor Golf Classic was back on.
“ For all of the people that C. O. P. S. takes care of, if we couldn’ t keep this going, what good are we?” Papero vowed.
Seven months and many, many phone calls, meetings and emails later, the Mercer County Conference members have held true to their word. The combined efforts of Papero, Preslar and Pellegrino, as well as members from other Locals within the conference— including West Windsor Local 271, Ewing Local 111 and Trenton Local 11— have conceptualized into the 10th Annual Survivors Golf Classic to benefit Garden State C. O. P. S.
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www. njcopsmagazine. com ■ SEPTEMBER 2017 39