Call it
coinciden
ce if you want to, but to many, there is no question that the presence of the Hanson family, particularly
Sharlene (pictured with son Brian Paul), now living in Ada, OK, made it easier to get more participants in the
25th edition of the Paul Hanson Memorial, the longest running tournament in Gallup. Last year we had 48 people, this year we had 88! It is strange how sometimes a tragedy is turned into something good, just out of the memory of a good person who was well respected and loved in his town (in this case, adopted town).
Many of his friends are gone from Gallup, most notably, the first tournament chairman,
Roy Franklin, (Athletic Director), who was a friend of Paul Hanson since their younger days in Ada, OK. and who has now moved back to their Oklahoma hometown. Within w
eeks of Mr. Hanson's cowardly
murder, Roy renamed an annual local schools event that he used to organize with his assistant,
Anita Lopez, after the slain superintendent. Because of the respect the community had for Mr. Hanson, the succes of the event with his name was immediate. A few years later,
Ed Ping, who replaced Roy after he retired, took over the event. The rest is now history, and the event has raised thousands of dollars for local deserving youngsters. With the help of sponsors and players, the tournament gives 4 to 6, $1,000 scholarships to various kids every year.
The tradition has remained alive, mainly by persistence of
John Samford (pictured below right) and it looks like
Robert Gintout and
Marco Abeita will one day be able to take over, keep a reputable name alive in the Gallup area and continue helping towards the education of deserving kids.
The Hanson family was represented by the
"Sooners" with Brian Paul Hanson (son),
Kent Hamilton (son in law),
Russell Bevelhymer (family friend and fellow golf professional) and
John David Hanson (cousin), and of course, Paul Hanson's wife, Sharlene followed the team with John's wife and Brian's girlfriend,
Juan
ita, as her round companions.
The tournament tradition has remained alive also thanks to the continuous participation of several of Mr. Hanson's contemporaries, and three teams have made it all 25 events:
"Bogey Men", this year represented by
Alan Lewis, Bob Lewis, Bill Lewis &
Scott Hamilton (who also were 4 time defending champions!);
"Patriots" represented by
Shirley Wilson, Betty Armstrong, Marilou Condrey &
Mary Batson and,
"Financial Fore" represented by
Kevin Powers, Paul Cassidy, John Samford &
George Kozeliski, who now replaced long time supporter and school/city administrator Larry Binkley, perhaps for good since Larry now lives in Las Cruces. Other teams, as of late, have become a "fixture", like "Arviso Construction" (pictured with Olsen & Orville Arviso, owners and supporters of all local events, Ray Moore & Clarence Peterson). The results were as follows: 
Gross: 1st (60) "Twilight Hackers": Mark Herrera, Ricki Luna, Rafael Rodriguez & Eric Sanchez; 2nd (60) Eric Honie, Bufford Brown, Wallace Hanley & Wayne Claw.
Net: 1st (53.5) "City Slickers" (pictured above), Tammy Smith, Jerry Smith, Craig Pirlot & Bill Miller; 2nd (54.5) "No Hacker Left Behind" Bruce Jones, Brad Vergien, John Taylor & long-hitting Bud Knight.
ce if you want to, but to many, there is no question that the presence of the Hanson family, particularly Sharlene (pictured with son Brian Paul), now living in Ada, OK, made it easier to get more participants in the 25th edition of the Paul Hanson Memorial, the longest running tournament in Gallup. Last year we had 48 people, this year we had 88! It is strange how sometimes a tragedy is turned into something good, just out of the memory of a good person who was well respected and loved in his town (in this case, adopted town).
Many of his friends are gone from Gallup, most notably, the first tournament chairman, 
Roy Franklin, (Athletic Director), who was a friend of Paul Hanson since their younger days in Ada, OK. and who has now moved back to their Oklahoma hometown. Within weeks of Mr. Hanson's cowardly murder, Roy renamed an annual local schools event that he used to organize with his assistant, Anita Lopez, after the slain superintendent. Because of the respect the community had for Mr. Hanson, the succes of the event with his name was immediate. A few years later, Ed Ping, who replaced Roy after he retired, took over the event. The rest is now history, and the event has raised thousands of dollars for local deserving youngsters. With the help of sponsors and players, the tournament gives 4 to 6, $1,000 scholarships to various kids every year.
The tradition has remained alive, mainly by persistence of John Samford (pictured below right) and it looks like Robert Gintout and Marco Abeita will one day be able to take over, keep a reputable name alive in the Gallup area and continue helping towards the education of deserving kids.
The Hanson family was represented by the "Sooners" with Brian Paul Hanson (son), Kent Hamilton (son in law), Russell Bevelhymer (family friend and fellow golf professional) and John David Hanson (cousin), and of course, Paul Hanson's wife, Sharlene followed the team with John's wife and Brian's girlfriend, Juan
ita, as her round companions.
The tournament tradition has remained alive also thanks to the continuous participation of several of Mr. Hanson's contemporaries, and three teams have made it all 25 events: "Bogey Men", this year represented by Alan Lewis, Bob Lewis, Bill Lewis & Scott Hamilton (who also were 4 time defending champions!); "Patriots" represented by Shirley Wilson, Betty Armstrong, Marilou Condrey & Mary Batson and, "Financial Fore" represented by Kevin Powers, Paul Cassidy, John Samford & George Kozeliski, who now replaced long time supporter and school/city administrator Larry Binkley, perhaps for good since Larry now lives in Las Cruces. Other teams, as of late, have become a "fixture", like "Arviso Construction" (pictured with Olsen & Orville Arviso, owners and supporters of all local events, Ray Moore & Clarence Peterson). The results were as follows: 
Gross: 1st (60) "Twilight Hackers": Mark Herrera, Ricki Luna, Rafael Rodriguez & Eric Sanchez; 2nd (60) Eric Honie, Bufford Brown, Wallace Hanley & Wayne Claw.
Net: 1st (53.5) "City Slickers" (pictured above), Tammy Smith, Jerry Smith, Craig Pirlot & Bill Miller; 2nd (54.5) "No Hacker Left Behind" Bruce Jones, Brad Vergien, John Taylor & long-hitting Bud Knight.
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