November 23, 2024
BUD AND BARBARA LEAVITT MEMORIAL

Leavitt Classic returns Weary Quagliaroli seeing effort pay off

Doug Quagliaroli of Hampden said the past month has been busy for him as he revives the Bud & Barbara Leavitt Memorial Golf Classic, a fundraiser for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

The tournament, which originally ran annually from 1992 through 2005, honors the Leavitts, who both succumbed to cancer. Bud Leavitt, a former executive sports editor of the Bangor Daily News, died in 1994, four years after his wife died in 1990. Barbara Leavitt was a big supporter of The Jimmy Fund, which is the fundraising arm of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Quagliaroli didn’t realize how busy he was preparing for the scramble-format event, which takes place at noon Monday at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono, until he slept through the alarm one recent morning – the fire alarm.

Quagliaroli, along with his wife Linda, owns D&L Management, which holds franchise licenses for McDonald’s restaurants in Old Town, Belfast, Bucksport, Ellsworth and Machias. He had been working until 10:30 p.m., and he went to bed as soon as he got home. When the alarm went off, he kept on sleeping.

“My wife said she couldn’t wake me,” said Quagliaroli. “She went to meet the firemen when they arrived and had them check it out. Fortunately, it wasn’t a fire.

She tried to wake him again later, still to no avail.

“I just mumbled something and kept on sleeping,” he said.

But the hard work has paid off for Quagliaroli.

“Sponsorships are going great, especially in this economy,” said Quagliaroli, whose grandson Luciano suffers from leukemia. “It’s amazing how willing people are to contribute.”

Downeast Toyota is putting up a Tacoma pickup truck as a special hole-in-one prize, noted Quagliaroli, and other businesses have also stepped forward.

“John Foster at Foster Imaging has done a tremendous amount of work,” he said. “He’s doing all the signs and he’s sponsoring a team.

“And Bangor Travel has been very good. They’re donating two tickets to anywhere in the U.S. [for the post-tourney auction].”

There will be two auctions, one silent and one regular, to help raise more money for The Jimmy Fund.

Some of the local McDonald’s Restaurant franchise owners have also made significant donations as well as Thistle’s Restaurant in Bangor.

“Some [sponsors] have donated over $1,000,” said Quagliaroli, himself a cancer survivor.

Other people have called just to make donations, he said, including some who will pay for a team but don’t plan to play.

Recruiting players has gone well, also, he said, considering that many businesses plan their event schedule early in the year.

“The reception has been great,” said Quagliaroli. “All I need is two or three more foursomes to make it complete.”

The fee for individuals to play is $125; for a foursome, it’s $400.

Businesses who want to sponsor a team and individuals who want to be added can call Quagliaroli over the weekend at 745-2402 or 862-2763.

Quagliaroli has been pretty much a committee of one this year, but now that he has the Leavitt Memorial up and running again, a lot of people have offered to help in the future.

“There are probably 12 people who have volunteered [for next year],” said Quagliaroli, who added that a month is too short a time to properly set up an event such as this.

“I’ll start in January next year,” he said with a laugh.

dbarber@bangordailynews.net

990-8170


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