Brandon's Charitable Spirit Reflected in B. Lee Elam Golf Tournament

Days before the first hole of the Ninth Annual B. Lee Elam Golf Tournament, the tournament’s namesake was spotted about town where he fielded a question he hasn’t been asked in long time — if ever.

When did he first take up golf?

“When I was 55 years old,” Elam said. “I was in something called the ‘Law Practice Management’ section of the Florida Bar, for the first Atticus training session, which essentially aims to teach lawyers to be human beings.”

As Lee recalled: "Someone asked me, 'Do you play golf?' I said, 'The only thing I can do for four hours at a time is practice law.' "

Flash forward a couple of decades, and to the interview Lee gave two days before the March 31 kick-off of the “Best-Ball Scramble” tournament at the Buckhorn Springs Golf & Country Club in Valrico.

That's where Lee described the Atticus program, named for Atticus Finch, the courageous attorney in Harper Lee's Pulitzer prize-winning book, "To Kill a Mockingbird." The organization, founded in 1989, works with attorneys who, according to the Atticus website, "want to proactively learn how to modify their practices to better serve their lives and their clients."

“I talked to Mark Powers, the president of Atticus, a year ago, and he said, ‘Lee, I told you, you had to play golf,’ ” Elam said. “I said, ‘Mark, I am playing golf. And now there’s even a B. Lee Elam golf tournament."

Lee said the annual tournament affords him another way to link back to his community, where he practices law out of his offices at the corner of Lumsden Road and Parsons Avenue in Brandon.

“It’s one way of giving back to the community,” he said. “I’ve made it a point to spend at least half my time doing that kind of thing.”

So far, 84 golfers have paid to play in this year’s tournament and additional golfers are welcome to sign up in advance (call 813-661-4350). Walk-in golfers are welcome to sign in as well at the 11:30 a.m. registration at the Buckhorn golf course, 2721 South Miller Rd.

The cost to play is $100 per golfer and $300 for a foursome. The fee includes lunch and awards. There also will be a raffle, featuring some 45 prizes, and a 50-50 draw.

The tournament is run in conjunction with the Community Roundtable, the group that stages the annual Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade.

The group was founded about 50 years ago, as the Roundtable Charities of Greater Brandon, with its mission to support local businesses and charities with the input of the presidents of the clubs and organizations representing Brandon interests.

That mission continues today, with the annual and monthly meetings (the second Wednesday of the month) at the in Brandon. The roundtable also runs the annual race for honorary mayor of Brandon, a title given to the candidate who raises the most money for charity.

The roundtable also awards annually the for community service, the Maureen Krzanowski Scholarship for a community minded graduating high school senior and the .

Starting with this year’s recipient, A Kid’s Place, the honored charity will receive a portion of fundraising proceeds raised throughout the year at roundtable events, including the B. Lee Elam Golf Tournament.

The tournament in its early years supported the American Cancer Society, a cause near and dear to Elam’s heart, as is A Kid's Place in Brandon, which serves as a safe, stable and nurturing environment for abused, abandoned and neglected children who have been removed from their homes by the courts.

On March 29, Elam visited The Green Boutique in Valrico to pick up a donation submitted by Roz Creager and her brother, Matt. Their father, Dick Cimino, the namesake of Cimino Elementary School, was instrumental in working with Lee and Sandy Rodriguez to help bring an American Cancer Society unit to the Brandon area.

Cimino survived cancer but succumbed to heart disease, according to his daughter, who upon her father's death in 2000 has continued to serve in his place on the board of directors for the society.

Center Place shares spaces with the in the Sandy Rodriguez Center, named posthumously for Lee's old friend, at 619 Vonderburg Dr. Rodriguez' wife, Lisa, served as honorary mayor of Brandon from 2010-2011; her campaign raised money for Center Place, which the Rodriguez' helped to found and for which Lisa Rodriguez continues to serve as marketing director.

“Brandon is a very generous community,” Roz Creager said.

As for Lee, he’s “always out there to do something for people,” Creager added. “He’s a very giving spirit.”