Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Monday, May 29, 2006

What's in a Name? (Reprise)

(This is a post from September 15, 2005. I reworked the ending a little after I talked to a couple of Green Coaters this week end.)

I was surprised by one of the comments made by Jim Melvin in the article entitled "Melvin:Golf Tourney in Peril" by Jim Schlosser in the Saturday, September 10, 2005 issue of the News & Record.

In that article Melvin suggested that one of the improvements that should be made to the event is to change the name of the tournament to reflect the entire region. Melvin said "He foresees an eventual change to "Carolina Chrysler Classic".

This seems to differ from what other local leaders, including Mayor Holliday, have been saying for years. The Jaycees have been encouraged to fight to keep the name "Greensboro" in the title of the event. (Greater Greensboro Open, Kmart Greater Greensboro Open, Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic and Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.) The Nike event was even called the Nike Greensboro Open.

Greensboro has always taken pride in the fact that it is one of the few remaining cities to have its name in the title of the event it host. The Greensboro Jaycee's sister chapter the Hartford Jaycees recently left the name Hartford out of its title, the Greater Hartford Open, to become the Buick Open.

Which brings us to the tournament's name changes over the years. People have really held on to the GGO, the Greater Greensboro Open, title. Even though it has not officially been know as that for over ten years.(Happy 11th anniversary Chrysler.)I

t's not just old timers and Green Coaters that won't let go, its also the local media. The print media has been the worst about letting go. Weekly papers in this area still refer to the tournament as the GGO. They usually make some sort of joke about how they know it's called something else, but they want to call it the GGO.

The 2006 tournament will be the last one for Chrysler as its title sponsor and we have been assured several times in the local media that Mark Brazil and the members of the newly formed foundation are hard at work finding a replacement for our outgoing friends.

With this in mind, I attended Kevin von der Lippe's wedding over the weekend and got into a couple of short conversations with Barbara Esquibel and Ann Pinto. Both had a lot to say about the current state of things, none of which I will share here, but the one comment that Ann made that I will share is that she thought the tournament should be renamed the Greater Greensboro Open until a new title sponsor could be found.

Now, I have said the very same thing on this blog once or twice, but it seemed much more meaningful when Ann said it. So, let's do it. Let's have one more Greater Greensboro Open before the new sponsors come and tack their name to everything.

13th Fairway at Forest Oaks Country Club

Unless you are John Daly, you will be taking your second shot from here.
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1968 Greater Greensboro Open

This painting of the 1968 Greater Greensboro Open hangs in the country club at Sedgefield. It was donated by E.K Thrower, William H. Faircloth, Stanley Frank and Kenneth Brugh, Jr.
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Sunday, May 28, 2006

Congratulations Laura and Kevin von der Lippe

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The Car

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The Chapel

Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church
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Cheers

Barbara and Ann toast the happy couple.
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Cutting the Cake

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Congratulations Laura and Kevin

The wedding of Miss Laura Christine Wood to Mr. Kevin von der Lippe took place on Saturday, May 27th at 6:30pm in the Chapel of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, High Point North Carolina.
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Thursday, May 25, 2006

Comment of the Week

"That's quite a bit of revisionist history in the article. I wonder if it was originally in the Daily Worker or something of the like. Anyway, being in charge of Gallery Control that year (along with Richard Fleming and Jim Rumley), we were aware of potential "protests" by the union "activists".

Within ten minutes of the radio call, we were peacefully loading protesters into waiting sheriff's vans to be arrested (to which I think we did not press any charges later). Anyway, there was no "hourlong" disruption, and the protesters never reached the green that I saw. They were marching down the 10th fairway arm-in-arm until we herded them off.

Too bad they chose to protest an event which benefitted the community they lived in. Thanks for letting me have the input.

Geoff Cass
1994 KGGO Gallery Control Chairman"

(Geoff Cass is also the 2006 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro General Chairman)

It should also be noted that it was a good thing for the 1994 Kmart Greater Greensboro Open that these protesters didn't know more about golf. By the time they got to the 10th fairway play had already concluded for the day on that hole.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

1994 Kmart Greater Greensboro Open Protest

"Twenty-four hours before the tournament, the organizers faced something of a dilemma. Kmart had made no concessions, and the workers had made their threat on the assumption that it would have some effect—they had no plan for actually disrupting the tournament. So they planned fast.

The day of the Greater Greensboro Open, police surrounded the union hall as if filled with workers, but tournament security didn’t notice the 100 or so workers and organizers who entered course as audience members. When the lead golfer approached the 10th hole, 100 workers filed out and sat down on the green. With people in the audience shouting “club ‘em like baby seals,” they disrupted play for over an hour as police carried them away one by one. Kmart still refused to negotiate."

This excerpt came from the following link. To read the entire article go to:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/hermes/prev/may99/9A.htm

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Carson Bain Memory Walk-June 3, 2006

The Carson Bain Memory Walk will be held at Jaycee Park on Saturday, June 3, 2006 beginning at 8:00 am.

Resgistration begins at 8 am and the walk will be conducted from 9:00 am until 11am. The Memory Walk is the signature event of the Alzheimer's Association, raising much needed awareness and funds for local programs and services benefiting families and individuals with the Alzheimers disease.

The Alzheimer's Association chose to honor Carson Bain, who suffers from the disease, for his lifetime of civic involvement in Greensboro and Guilford County. Carson Bain served as mayor of Greensboro, Guilford County Commissioner, Greensboro School board member, 1950 Greater Greensboro Open General Chairman, 1959 Honorary Greater Greensboro Open General Chairman, and 1951 President of the Greensboro Jaycees. He was also the founder of the Greensboro Generals Hockey Team.

For more information about the Carson Bain Memory Walk contact this year's chairman Bobby Bain at (336) 299-0531.

1988 Kmart Greater Greensboro Open Season Pass

The back of this badge reads "The Kmart Greater Greensboro Open is providing funding and support to the Governor's Commission on Literacy."
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Chrysler Classic Names McCarn's Replacement

"Helping close those deals will be Steve Jent, who was recently hired as the tournament's new director of sales, replacing Phil McCarn. Jent most recently worked for 3M in Charlotte and has been involved as a volunteer on the business side of both the Wachovia Championship there as well as the Chrysler Classic.

'He basically shadowed me last year during the tournament, and we just let him do it as a favor," Brazil said. "We never knew we would have this opportunity to hire him.' "

This excerpt was taken from the following link. To read the entire article go to:

http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2006/05/01/story8.html

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Randy, Rocco and Kelly

2002 Greensboro Jaycee President Randy Harris with 2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic Champion Rocco Mediate and Kelly "The Boss Lady" Harris moments after Rocco's win at Forest Oaks Country Club.
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Comment of the Week

"Thanks for the info about the GGO Decanters...Guess I won't be financing my trip to Europe with the sale of the set afterall. "

(This was in response to the post regarding the value of Greater Greensboro Open decaters.)

Sunday, May 14, 2006

No Solicitation Policy

I posted this photo on 5/9/06 and received the following comment, "Note that the person soliciting Rocco's autograph is an on-duty gallery marshal, and is in violation of the CCG's "No solicitation" policy of our volunteers."

I wanted to thank the person leaving the comment for reading my blog. I also wanted to point out that this photo was taken about an hour after the 2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic had ended.By the time this photo was taken Rocco had signed his card, received a big check from Chrysler, the Sam Snead Cup and a new car. He had also conducted a dozen interviews with the press and had gone into the Media Tent for an interview with the PGA TOUR.

The folks you see in this line are all volunteers that have waited around for an hour or more to get an autograph from the 2002 Champion. (This by the way is a very common pratice and happens every year.)

I do agree with the importance of the "No Soliciation Policy" and I do believe it should be enforced. Having said that, these volunteers were in fact "off duty" and I can tell you that Rocco seemed very pleased to be signing those autographs for the second time. Thanks for reading the Greater Greensboro Open Blog. Posted by Picasa

Friday, May 12, 2006

2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic Champion Rocco Mediate

2002 GGCC Champion Rocco Mediate is seen here holding the Sam Snead Cup.
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GGO Decanters (Reprise)

The following post is one that I am revisiting from a few months ago. I wanted to update the article with new information that I have gaining by surfing the internet and by reviewing old tournament programs. One of the reasons I started the Greater Greensboro Open Blog was to show people that there are many more collectible items, then just those famous 11 decanters, but try as I may I seem to come back to them. This is an email I received regarding these decanters. It asked the question,

"Dear ggoblogger, I have the entire set of the GGO decanters, still sealed. How much do you think they are worth? Frances"

Frances, thanks for your email and thanks for reading the Greater Greensboro Open Blog. I want to first point out that I am just a fan of the Greater Greensboro Open, and while I know a lot about its rich history, I don't appraise any of the collectible items I discuss on my site. When you talk about what an item is "worth" and what kind of "value" it has, you are often talking about two very different things.

In my opinion what an item is "worth" is equal to the amount the someone is willing to pay. When I think about an item's "value", I think about what someone in the future might be willing to pay. Again, this is my opinion.

So, how does this relate to your complete set of unopened GGO decanters? Here are a couple of thoughts. I think they will be "worth" more as a set. I have met several people that have told me that they are looking for a complete set. I believe that most collectors will be willing to give you between $100.00 to $150.00 for your complete set.

These bottles sold for $14.95 a piece back in the 1970's and early 1980's so the decanters have retained their value. You can try to sell them on eBay, but you probably won't get anymore for them. Keep in mind one of the major selling points to this collection is the local sentimental value. Aside from some rich golf nut in Japan, no one really cares about these bottles outside Greensboro's city limits. I can prove this by asking how many of you would like an American Legion whiskey decanter in the shape of a pelican from New Orleans or perhaps one from the 1974 Spokane World's Fair Expo?

As far as these decanters being sealed, I'm not sure that adds any real value. The 90 proof bourbon whiskey in these bottles was considered "bottom shelf" to begin with and I have never met anyone brave enough to actually drink the stuff after it has sat in those bottles for 20 years. (Also keep in mind how and where these items may have been stored over the last two decades.)

One of the major problems with these decanters is that the seals often broke and were not well made. I have heard horror stories about how bottles have been displayed only to have them leak. They also smell bad once the seals break. For the sake of this discussion I would advise you to leave the bourbon in the bottles and let the next proud owner decide if it's "worth" anything.

The 1972 Greater Greensboro Open crest decanter is considered the most popular. It sells at auction from between $4.00 to $20.00. (You can also pick them up on eBay starting at around $7.99. Keep in mind shipping may double the price of your purchase.) This seal is the same as the one worn on the Green Coats you see each year at the golf tournament. These folks are, of course, members of the Green Coat Club-men and women that make up the past leadership of the Greensboro Jaycees and the Greater Greensboro Open. This club was recently expanded to include members of the new foundation controling the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro and its tournament director Mark Brazil. These new members will be receiving their green coats in October of 2006.

Only 6000 decanters were cast by Ezra Brooks each year and the molds were then destroyed. They were sold exclusively in Greensboro State Liquor Stores. The 1975 decanter took the form of a Grecian Urn. According to an article entitled "GGO Bottle Collection" in the 1975 38th Greater Greensboro Open tournament program, "the base design (for the 1975 decanter) was first suggested and later authored by Larry N. Heath, the 1975 General Chairman of the Greater Greensboro Open."

I recently received a call telling me that a friend of mine had a 1979 caddy decanter in the orginial box. I was excited to see the piece, because I had never seen a decanter in the box. I was disappointed when I was shown that in fact it was just a brown cardboard box and not a slick promotion display worthy item. Unlike some Ezra Brook decanters, including the "Iron Horse" train, the "Cigar Store Indian" and the "Bucket of Blood Dead Wagon"-all of which can be purchased on your favorite online auction-the Greater Greensboro Open decanters did not include photos, text or logos on the package.

Frances, thanks for your question. I want to again point out that I am just a fan of the Greater Greensboro Open, and while I know a lot about the tournament, I don't appraise any of the collectible items I discuss on my site. The following was just my opinion. Thanks for your email and thanks for reading the Greater Greensboro Open Blog.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Sam Snead Quote of the Day

"Keep close count of your nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey, and never concede a putt."
Sam Snead

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

2002 GGCC Champion Signs Autographs

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2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic Champion Rocco Mediate

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2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic Mediate's Caddy

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WFMY Reports

"Greensboro, NC -- Four top ranking Greensboro Jaycees charged 12-thousand dollars in personal expenses to the organization's credit card. Wednesday night members will hear why.

Three of those involved are 2004 President Gerald Joyce, 2003 President James Latta and 2004 General Chairman Mike Davis.

Current president Stephan Pearson is the fourth."Mine personally was a simple mistake and as soon as I was informed of it I paid it back and as far as the other guys goes they're all paying theirs back as well we all regret that it happened and we're trying to move forward from now," said Pearson.

Pearson says he will address members Wednesday night about what happened.
He says the Jaycees no longer use credit cards."

This excerpt was taken from the following link. To read the enitre post go to:
http://www.wfmynews2.com/search/article.aspx?storyid=62521

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Kmart Greater Greensboro Open Pin

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2003 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro Gala Sticker

This sticker got you into the 2003 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro "Big Fat Gala".
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Gate Reports "Sad Allegations about Jaycees"

"Sad Allegations about Jaycees

We have posted about the Jaycees several times, and enjoy reading GGO Blog quite much. On a couple of occassions on that blog and this one, anonymous commenters made reference to some financial wrong doings within the Jaycee organization.

After reading the News & Record this morning, those comments appear to have had merit. That is unfortunate, and makes us wonder if other rumours we have heard are true. We hope not. It is a good organization with good people, 99% of which do nothing but good things that bring credit to themselves and the group.

In any case, we are not journalists and will let the media performs its function in checking the facts of this case. As for the problems affecting membership, we would not think that it has had an effect - until now when it hit the paper. In our opinion other issues such as organization and quality of members versus the past are the problem."

The following excerpt was taken from the following link. To read the entire post go to
http://www.gatecity.blogspot.com/

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Should Anonymous Son-in-Law Join the Greensboro Jaycees?

"Randy, You just don't get it. A lot of hard-working people (feel) betrayed by these people's actions. Thanks to guys like Mr. Conrad the Jaycees are trying to rebuild that trust. If you think recruiting won't be hurt by this let me tell you that you are wrong. My son-in-law now has no intention of joining until he's confident they have cleaned up their act. I can't blame him."

I received this anonymous comment on my blog and I'd like to make a few points based on its content. First let me thank you for reading my blog. I love the Greensboro Jaycees and the Greater Greensboro Open. I created the site because I have an interest in the tournament's history and I was sure other folks in this community felt the same way. (I had hoped I would receive emails along those lines, but that has yet to happen.)

"Randy, You just don't get it." I am not really sure what "it" is that I don't "get"? I was a Greensboro Jaycee for thirteen years and you need to look hard to find someone that worked any harder than I did. I was a Jaycee for five years before I ran for the board. I attended countless projects, served on the board and exec a total of 92 months and I was the 1999 GGCC Trash Chairman.

So, count me among those feeling betrayed these days. Unlike most Jaycees, I have a Green Coat and because of that I take part of the blame for anything that goes wrong. I aged out a year ago and I have not been to a membership meeting in 18 months, but I still get stopped at the Harris-Teeter and asked "What the hell's going on with the Jaycees?"

As far as this hurting recruitment in the future-of course it will. The problem I had with the News & Record article was that it implied that the misuse of the Jaycee credit card had caused a problem with recruiting up to that point. In my opinion, Robert Bell, did not prove his point.

(Keep in mind that in most cases the headlines are written by editors and not the reporter. I also point with interest to the fact that the headline was changed on the online verison of the article to more accurately reflect the content of the article.)

Should this mess keep your son-in-law from joining? Yes! There are many great civic organizations in this town for him to join.

Or maybe now is a great time to join. The group needs some leadership. Maybe he's just the guy they are looking for to fix some of these problems. Don't wait around for it to become a perfect organization because it never will be. It never has been.

Thanks for your comments and I hope you keep reading the Greater Greensboro Open Blog

Randy Harris

Friday, May 05, 2006

Comment of the Week

"I must say that I was very disappointed when I read the article in the News & Record; not because the reporter (Robert Bell) did his job, but because the Jaycees maybe didn't do their job.

When I finished the article, I felt hollow. When money is misused, whether it is the Jaycees or some other public trust, it makes me mad. Many people, past Jaycees and present, have worked very hard to promote our community, and give something back to the place we all love to live. Unfortunately, when someone betrays the trust of the organization, its members and community, there can only be one result—people will instinctively want to distance themselves from that entity.

The newspaper is probably right, the short term net result will probably be that the Jaycees will have a harder time recruiting, and will possibly see a drop in current membership.We do not have to look far for a good example of the effects of bad press on a Jaycee organization. Anyone from Hartford will tell you that their non-Jaycee related issue with a sitting president caused immense harm to their club.

After talking to some Green Coats and a couple current board members, I still do not know what really has transpired. I understand the Jaycees’ position of allowing the monies to be paid back; as long as the money in question could have been a legitimate Jaycee expense that has just remained undocumented.

However, in the event that money was misused (as reported in the News & Record article, for personal utilities) then I personally feel that harsher steps should have been taken. The Jaycees must protect the public trust.

I do feel a little better that the Jaycees took immediate steps to prevent credit card misuse from happening in the future. I hope that the community can forgive the Jaycees quickly, and we all can get back to building a better community."

Kevin von der Lippe
1998-99 Greensboro Jaycee President

Thursday, May 04, 2006

There is No "I" in Team, But There is an "R" in Chrysler

"Chysler Classic of Greensboro Executive Committee Meeting It will run Monday, May 8, 2006 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM."

I got this off the Greensboro Jaycee website. I think the first item on the meeting's agenda should be to find out what happened to the "R" in Chrysler. It's misspelled twice on the site. They've given us eleven great years, let's spell their name right.

RibFest Interest Meeting

A RibFest Interest Meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 beginning at 6:30 pm. The meeting should last no longer than two hours and will take place at the Greensboro Jaycee Office located at 401 N. Greene street.

All Greensboro Jaycees are welcome to discuss plans for this year's event. Committee Chairmanships and manpower positions are still available. If you are interested in being a part of this year's event, but are unable to attend, please contact kelly Burns @ 919-805-0399 or kburns@brccpa.com

Kmart Greater Greensboro Open Golf Club Bag Cover

I found this cover at a yard sale for $5.00. It had velcro on one side and a zipper on the other.
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Kmart Greater Greensboro Open Logo

This logo was printed on the side of a golf club bag cover.
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Hate Mail of the Week

"You, as arrogant and dumb as the other former jaycees who took part in this, wouldn't see the effects such a thing would have on those members who work their tail off for nothing, those people who have actual careers and who can not be associated with people like this. (Keep) on blogging, you are a moron. "

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Greensboro Jaycees 66

I would first like to say I'm sorry to the thirty people that came to the Greater Greensboro Open Blog on Wednesday and found no news or comments about today's article in the News and Record.

I really have nothing to add to the discussion, but let's recap. A couple of Jaycees made some bad decisions with credit cards. The Greensboro Jaycees did an audit of their books and pointed out that these Jaycees made mistakes and informed them they excepted to be paid back. These folks said yeah you're right and have either paid off their debt or are in the process of doing so.

Oh yeah, and this happened a year ago and somehow it's news today? My favorite part is the on going conspiracy against the Jaycees. News and Record reporter, Robert Bell, had three members of the current Jaycee leadership tell him that this really didn't have an affect on membership, yet he still attempted to link it to the organization's decline in members.

Where was his exclusive interview with the guy that refused to join the Jaycees because he heard a rumor about some credit card charges? The truth is that the Greensboro Jaycees have a lot of problems to deal with right now. All of which can in one way or another be linked to a decline in membership.

I would like to point out the score as far as successful tournaments go:
Greensboro Jaycees 66 New Foundation 0

2001 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic Area 6 Sweatshirt Design

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Monday, May 01, 2006

2003 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro General Chairman-Judy Revels

This article appeared in the 2003 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro Official Tournament Magazine. (Click to enlarge.)
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