17th Annual Morris Thompson Memorial Golf Classic Held
The 17th annual Morris Thompson Memorial Golf Classic was held June 22 – 23, 2017, at the Chena Bend Golf Course on Fort Wainwright Military Base just outside Fairbanks, Alaska. The theme of this year’s golf classic was “Par 4 Education.” The two-day event featured a skills tournament, Calcutta, banquet and 18-hole tournament, which drew 33 teams.
The event, which raises money for Doyon Foundation’s competitive Morris Thompson Memorial Scholarships, is the largest fundraiser held annually for the Foundation. Over the past 16 years the event has been held, the Foundation has awarded 173 students with competitive scholarships totaling $370,180.
“We are honored to hold this tournament each year in memory of an incredible leader who always supported education,” said Doyon Foundation executive director, Doris Miller. “We thank all of the golfers, sponsors and volunteers, as well as the planning committee, for their support of another successful event.”
This year, the classic’s annual Calcutta event was especially memorable. Doyon, Limited President and CEO Aaron Schutt and his wife, Anchorage-based Sonosky and Chambers partner Marissa Flannery, announced the establishment of an endowment for a Foundation scholarship for students pursuing juris doctor (law) degrees. The couple met while pursuing their law degrees at Stanford University, which they noted left them both with a considerable amount of student loan debt. Flannery stated, “We hope that this endowment will lessen the financial burden and encourage more Native students to pursue law.”
This year’s Calcutta student speaker, Annie Sanford of Tok, Alaska, is a University of Alaska Fairbanks student pursuing her associate’s degree in allied health. Sanford spoke on the value of receiving scholarships from the Foundation and how it feels as if the Foundation team are parents watching over her and encouraging her to continue her work in higher education.
Congratulations to the 2017 tournament’s first-place winners: Rick Boyles, Dan Clark, Rob Graves and Scott Jepson!
For more information about Doyon Foundation and how to contribute to the Morris Thompson Memorial Scholarship Fund, please visit www.doyonfoundation.com or call 907-459-2048.