LLB Alumni Storm
Pine Ave. and East Village
By Meggan Sorensen,
Putt-Putt on Pine Chair (LLB ‘06)
Those zany Leadership Long Beach
golfers hit Pine Avenue and the East Village Arts District for the 14th time on
April 23. Golf teams spent the evening competing, laughing, catching up with
friends and exploring old and new businesses along Pine Avenue and the East
Village Arts District. Many enjoyed an evening stroll between their golf holes,
listening to live bands along the route, and others preferred a quick rest and
an elevated view from the Big Red Bus.
Putt-Putt
on Pine
is an annual signature LLB event that gathers alumni together, exposes
potential applicants to the organization, raises revenue for LLB programs, and supports
local businesses. This was the 14th successful year and the third year that
Mayor Bob Foster joined the event and expressed his strong support for
Leadership
Long Beach. Smooth’s Sports Grille
sponsored a fantastic pre-event gathering/registration and Tenth Hole Party. Twenty-five businesses participated as Hole
Sponsors this year, and about 200 golfers filled those businesses buying drinks
and sampling appetizers while contending for top score at each creatively designed
miniature golf hole. Nearly $10,000 was raised, 15 businesses sponsored the
event, and prizes worth approximately $2,700 were donated.
Click
here for photos of event and sponsor listing.
Businesses that won awards were
Best Overall Effort: The Village Grind – 443 E 1st St
Tastiest Food – George’s Greek Café – 135 Pine
Avenue
Most Challenging Hole: L’Opera - 101 Pine Avenue
Most Creative Hole Design: House of Hayden – 421 E. 1st
Street
The CSULB team, “Tolle Frauen & the Mannbediensteten” won the Serious Golfers
Award with the lowest team score, and the H&R Block team, “BLOCKHEADS: A Second Look,” won the
Zany Golfers Award for best costume.
John
McDermott of Mayberry Investors won the Hole-in-One contest and David White of the Long Beach Redevelopment
Agency won the grand prize for the Super Scratch-Off Golf Ticket. Both of
these competitions contributed to the total funds raised by the event and the
great time had by all!
Thanks to all who participated, donated
prizes, served as event sponsors, bought drinks at participating businesses, stopped
to listen to the bands (Dixiedelics, Modern Jazz Quartet, Paddy’s Pig, and the
Ricky Coz Trio), and just plain had a good time! The event would not have been
possible without your generous support.
Many thanks also go to the committee
that put it all together: Meggan Sorensen (Chair), Richard Bartlett, Colleen
Bentley, Peter Bostic, Derek Burnham, Jeff Coburn, Lisa Cochrane, Oscar Cosby,
Cathy Gies, Eamonn Killeen, Denny Moore, Sheila Nix, Rachel Ramirez, Robin
Samana, and Carolyn Smith Watts.
We can’t
wait for next year – you won’t want to miss it!
