Community Corner

B. Lee Elam Golf Tournament at Buckhorn Springs Raises Money for Roundtable

The Eighth Annual B. Lee Elam Golf Tournament was held March 19 at the Buckhorn Springs Golf & Country Club in Brandon with a mix of old Brandon and new Brandon coming together to support a community organization founded more than 50 years ago.

The Eighth Annual B. Lee Elam Golf Tournament got underway March 19 at the Buckhorn Springs Golf & Country Club in Brandon with a full field and a host of support for the Community Roundtable.

“The is Lee Elam’s tournament but he dedicated it to the Roundtable this year,” said Roundtable president Sam Creaseman. “Mayoral candidates will get credit, too."

Indeed, the Community Roundtable, founded more than 50 years ago at the Roundtable Charities of Greater Brandon Inc., runs both the annual Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade and the annual charity race for honorary mayor of Brandon. The candidate who raises the most money for charity in the month of June is declared the winner on the morning of the parade.

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This year and last candidates got an early boost with proceeds from the tournament aiding in their campaigns as well. On hand to help at the March 19 golf tournament were past honorary mayors Billie Smith and Tammy Holmberg and this year’s honorary mayor, Lisa Rodriguez.

To date, only one candidate has officially declared her intentions to run for honorary mayor. That’s Cami Gibertini, senior vice president of USAmeriBank, at the corner of Kings Avenue and Oakfield Drive. Her race is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Brandon and will benefit as well the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) and the YMCA.

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“It’s mission is saving children, one child at a time,” said Gibertini, a former Brandon ’86 Rotarian, about her Kiwanis membership. “It’s a wonderful, very sweet and giving organization. There’s no political agenda, just simple people coming together who want to give back. It’s like a family when we all get together.”

As for her reasons for joining the mayoral race, “It’s fun and it gives me an opportunity to raise money for ECHO and the YMCA,” she said.

Elam, whose sign at the corner of Lumsden Road and Parsons Avenue bills his business as “the oldest law firm in Brandon,” said he moved to Brandon in 1965 and joined the Roundtable, then more commonly known as the Presidents Roundtable, 30 years ago.

“We used to meet at the Camera Hut [business, now closed, between Kings Avenue and Vonderburg Drive on Oakfield Avenue] and the room was packed,” Elam said. “There must have been 45 people there and they were all presidents or president designees, serving as a coordinating group of Brandon charities.”

The purpose of the group, then and now, Elam said, “is to try to better the Brandon community and do it by encouraging charities and cooperating with charities."

The Roundtable today meets the second Wednesday of the month at the Center Place Fine Arts & Civic Association, at 619 Vonderburg Drive in Brandon.

Creaseman said it is “an honor” to serve as the group’s president.

“It’s an organization that brings together leaders of clubs and organizations and concerned individuals to work for the betterment of the Brandon community,” he said.

As for his reasons for helping out, but not joining the 69 golfers on the Buckhorn course, Creaseman had a ready answer. “I’ve played golf probably five times in my life,” he said, "enough to find out it’s a whole lot harder than it looks.”

GOLF TOURNAMENT SPONSORS

Double Eagle

Eagle

Birdie

  • A-1 Security Alarms (J.J. Massaro, 1-800-881-2466)
  • B. Lee Elam (813-685-5661)
  • Beef ‘O’ Brady’s (Brandon, FishHawk, Bloomingdale)
  • Ferman Chevrolet (Ed Gomez, 813-623-2411)
  • Ideal Protein Diet (Pearl Chiarenza, 813-449-3308)

Other

 

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