LYNN — Jack Imperial was honored for his years of work and dedication to Gannon Municipal Golf Course during a dinner at Hardcover Restaurant last week, where members of the Gannon Building Association presented him with a plaque.
Imperial was one of the founding members of the Larry Gannon Building Association, which was created as a nonprofit to manage the golf course and its accompanying clubhouse business in 1981.
Imperial, 92, was key in establishing the restaurant and bar at the golf course, as well as the outdoor deck.
“We started without a nickel in our treasury,” Imperial said. “But within a day or two, we had raised $20,000 from members to put a makeshift bar upstairs. That was going to be our major source of proceeds.”
The association was informally organized when a group of golfers thought it was time to upgrade both the golf course and the services of the clubhouse.
Through a city-enforced building association, organized under the jurisdiction of the park commissioners, Imperial was one of the members in the association working to offer more resources to golfers and the city.
With the addition of a bar and dining option, the association also worked to get the 17th-hole fairway rebuilt, a new green on the other side of the pond, a new second-floor deck, and new locker rooms for men and women.
“A lot has happened because we’ve had a good relationship with the city and the park commissioners,” Imperial said.
Gannon Golf Course member and bartender Jason Newhall said they wanted to give Imperial a plaque to acknowledge everything he has done for the association over the years.
“Jack was always around, and he still is around,” Newhall said. “We wanted to give him something. Some kind of appreciation award for starting this whole thing.”
The association is a voluntary group whose members pay their golf dues and meet the third Wednesday of every month to discuss any business relating to the management of the course.
“Without Jack we wouldn’t even be here,” Newhall said. “We wanted to thank him and with COVID and everything, who knows when you’re going to get the chance?”
