Fendler knows way to Leavitt golf tourney Event raises money to support Jimmy Fund’s cancer research

ORONO – Sixty-three years have passed since the nine-day ordeal that made him famous.

But Donn Fendler’s friends know that no matter where they are, no matter what they’re doing, they can always think up a few more one-liners to toss in his direction.

“Did you bring a compass today?” pal Charlie Osborn asked Monday, as the pair waited with two other friends to tee off at the 11th annual Bud and Barbara Leavitt Memorial Golf Classic.

Fendler, you see, is the man whose 1939 adventure turned into the book “Lost on a Mountain in Maine.” Fendler became disoriented while climbing Mount Katahdin and wasn’t found for nine days.

He and about 60 other golfers headed to Penobscot Valley Country Club on Monday to take part in a popular event that serves as a fund-raiser for The Jimmy Fund.

But Fendler’s foursome didn’t let a hot, humid day get in the way of their good time.

“[You should] bring a GPS or something,” Osborn continued.

Another pal, Gary Lakeman, couldn’t resist a chance to add to the jocularity.

“We gotta get some dogs out here, in case you get lost,” Lakeman said. “We’re not gonna spend nine days looking for you.”

The 75-year-old Fendler, for the record, just sat back, smiled … and joined in.

“They gave me a map to show me how to get up I-95 [from Newport] to the Kelly Road exit,” Fendler said.

Fendler, who summers in Newport and lives in Clarksville, Tenn., during the winter, often plays in the tournament, which has helped raise more than $250,000 for The Jimmy Fund since its inception.

The tournament is named in honor of longtime NEWS outdoor columnist and executive sports editor Bud Leavitt and his wife, Barbara. Both Leavitts died after battles with cancer – the disease The Jimmy Fund was created to fight.

According to Suzanne Fountain, a Carrabassett Valley native and the director of The Jimmy Fund, about 150 golf tournaments are held throughout New England each year to serve as fund-raisers for the fund, and about $35 million was raised last year.

Fountain said Monday’s tourney is a nice tribute to the Leavitts.

“It’s just a really nice way to carry on their legacy and their tradition and to now help fight the disease that they both passed away of,” Fountain said.

Rick Polkinghorn, an oncologist who is married to Bud and Barbara Leavitt’s daughter, Liz, was able to attend the tourney Monday. He said the relationship between Bud Leavitt and Ted Williams – also a big supporter of The Jimmy Fund before his death – helped make the event special, as has its loyal following.

“As an oncologist in the cancer field, it’s very moving to see an event where this many people come together, really, ultimately, to help children, in this case, with cancer,” Polkinghorn said.

Rick O’Connor of Unicel, who helped found the tournament, met Bud Leavitt during the planning stages for the first tourney. He has fond memories of times spent with the colorful Leavitt.

“Things progressed so that we ended up running [the tournament],” O’Connor said. “He lived in Hampden, I lived in Hampden, so he was kind of a way-point on my way home. I’d stop and have a whiskey with him now and then and have a few chats.”

O’Connor said the man he got to know was much less boisterous than most people would imagine.

“He was one of those people who was always larger than life, but the people who are larger than life are usually the most unassuming people,” he said.

“He just had the air about him that said, ‘Nothing’s gonna bother me. We’re gonna have fun the rest of our lives and do whatever.’ That’s what I remember.”