PEABODY — Saugus firefighters teed up for a cause Monday morning at the Meadow Golf Course, raising funds for high-school scholarships doled out by the union representing the Fire Department.
The Chief George Drew Memorial Golf Tournament, named for the department’s chief from 1942 to 1955, is now in its 29th year. It serves as the union’s primary method of raising money to be awarded through scholarships to students at Saugus High and beyond, firefighter Anthony Arone said. Each year, the union is able to raise more than $10,000 from the tournament and other fundraising events throughout the year.
The tournament, which kicked off at 7 a.m., featured 144 golfers, and Arone said organizers had to turn away more than 15 teams of two because there simply wasn’t enough space on the course for them.
“Turnout is overwhelming year after year,” he said, adding that “golf tournaments don’t usually go for (this) long.”
The tournament predates Arone’s time in the department, and he said firefighters look forward to the event each and every year. And, it wasn’t just Saugus firefighters hitting the links Monday morning, with colleagues from Malden, Chelsea, Revere, Cambridge, and Boston testing their luck on what Arone described as a difficult course.
Saugus firefighters will often return the favor, playing in tournaments hosted by other area departments.
“In true firefighter fashion, it’s just a lot of firefighters supporting each other,” Arone said. “It’s very humbling for our department knowing that people want to come out, people want to be around us, host our tournaments.”
After each team completed its round of golf, attendees headed to Kowloon Restaurant for an after-party of sorts. Food was donated by the Wong family, which owns the restaurant. Arone said the Wongs are longtime supporters of the tournament, and thanked the family and WIN Waste Innovations for their support of the department.
“If not for Kowloon and WIN Waste, this tournament wouldn’t happen,” he said, adding “it’s an all-around great day.”
