Calder benefit tees off Lynn tradition of giving

LYNN – They have raised more than $200,000 in nearly 20 years to benefit dozens of local organizations, and the people who host the annual John Calder golf tournament said the man who inspired them would have shied away from the attention and celebration surrounding the June 22 event.?He would hate this – John was very humble – he did his talking on the field,” said Calder?s brother, Robert.John Calder died at the age of 28 in a 1990 all-terrain vehicle accident in New Hampshire. A baseball and football player who attended Sacred Heart School, St. Dominic Savio Preparatory High School and Framingham State College, Calder was a physically imposing athlete who also demonstrated his skills on the softball field.?He was big but very quiet – just a good guy,” his friend Robert Blocksidge said.When Calder died, his family, including parents Robert and Lucy, and longtime friends like Blocksidge searched for ways to remember their loved one and friend and do something good in his memory.A softball tournament seemed like a natural starting point and six years worth of tournaments held in Calder?s memory initially raised $3,000 annually for student athletics. The first Calder tournament at Gannon Municipal Golf Course in 1995 set the stage for a June benefit that blossomed into a consistent source of generosity benefiting schools, youth sports groups and students bound for college.?We give everything we can,” said Robert Calder.Blocksidge estimated the Calder Foundation has generated $90,000 in scholarship money over 20 years. Robert Calder said last year?s tournament raised $20,000 and he estimates 140 golfers and other people involved in this year?s tournament will be at Gannon June 22.?We?re pleased – a lot of tournaments have a lifespan of eight years,” Paul Calder said.The daylong tournament includes registration and golf beginning at 9:30 a.m. as well as lunch and dinner and standard golf tournament contests, including putt-offs and hole-in-one competitions.?We will get a mixture of people – a lot of out-of-towners,” said Robert Calder.Paul Calder said a simple formula defines the tournament?s longevity.?Friendship is the basis of everything – and support from family,” he said.Framingham State has also benefited from money raised during the tournament – John Calder was inducted in the college?s hall of fame in 2003.Paul Calder credited fellow Calder Foundation committee members, including Ronald Gaudet, Ned Gunning, Frank Carrabba, Dennis Flynn and Kevin Turner, with making the tournaments successes.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy this week saluted the Calder Foundation and its contributions to local youth activities.?She?s going to try to be up here on the 22nd,” Robert Calder said.