After holding three more tournaments during the month of October, APA of San Antonio wrapped up their month-long charity drive by participating in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk.  APA of San Antonio had 26 walkers involved in the event that took place on Oct. 22 at Hemisfair Park—they were among the top 5 “Friends and Family” teams participating.

The APA team exceeded their fundraising goal of $5,000 by raising $5,170 during the month-long charity drive.

For more information about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society visit leukemia-lymphoma.org, and for more information on APA of San Antonio visit sanantonio.apaleagues.com.

On Oct. 29, 2011, St. Louis APA League Operators Joe and Kathy Gertken sponsored the Second Annual Kathleen C. Kirner Memorial Tournament at The Cue in Maplewood, Mo.  Twenty-eight teams competed in a Halloween Jack & Jill tournament.  Jennifer Waddell and Mike Rosenberg had to outplay their teammates Shelly Millard and Dan Otto to win.  Kelly Stevens and Ken Trentham along with Robbi Rohr and Travis Conoyer tied for 3^rd Place.

St. Louis APA players and friends of Kathy wore their spookiest, funniest and sexiest Halloween costumes.  The pirates, Paula Dooley and Scott Hyatt, won the vote for Best Costume.  Liz Bendick won the pumpkin carving contest with a tribute to the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.  The tournament, raffle, silent auction and sale of Jell-O shots raised a generous donation of $1,541for the American Cancer Society in Kathy Kirner’s name.

The participation, donations and efforts of many contributed to a wonderful evening.  Halloween was Kathy’s favorite holiday, and she proved it every year with wonderful costumes.  She was a true sport and contributed a lot to St. Louis billiards including feeding everyone on League nights.  She loved playing APA pool and had exactly 1,200 matches.  Kathy is greatly missed by Dan, her husband, Jonathan and Danny, her sons, and all of her family and friends.

Special thanks to everyone who went the extra mile and contributed so much to the success of this event:  Jeremy Mealey and The Cue, Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman, Major Brands and Brian Adams, Schlafly Beer and Kent Householder, Summit Distributing, PoolDawg, Pool & Billiards Magazine, Pietro’s Restaurant and Mike Marciano, Lone Star of Texas Professional Billiards Player Kim White, RackStarz, and Siam Natural.

All of the APA Players who do so much make this more than a pool league—Chad Sucher, Stacy Rulo, Mike Rosenberg, Jennifer Waddell, Brittney Owens, Erin Espy, Laura Tucker, Bob Baca, Drew Boling, Catina Smith, Ericka Battocletti, Leslie Simmons and everyone that participated!

For more information on the American Cancer Society visit cancer.org; and for more information on St. Louis APA visit stl.apaleagues.com.

If you were at Cue Ball Billiards in Bakersfield, Calif., Halloween weekend you might have thought you stumbled into a costume party.  But in reality, the men wearing bras weren’t trying to win a costume contest, they were “supporting” a good cause.  APA of Bakersfield held a 9-Ball Singles tournament to raise money for the American Cancer Society and Breast Cancer awareness.  In addition to the $10 entry fee, all participants had to wear a bra.

League Operator Michelle Henry wanted the tournament to be a fun event.  “We used APA rules, but no handicaps,” Henry said.  “Each player was given three life lines—ask a friend (coaching time-out), use a friend (have someone else shoot one shot for them), and pass (turn the table over to the opponent without penalty). The tournament was about having fun and raising money and we did both.”  A total of $400 was raised for the American Cancer Society.

Thirty-nine players participated in the modified single elimination tournament that saw Ryan Bonilla take 1^st Place.  Wayne Moore won the Biggest Supporter prize.  Moore was voted best dressed and best attitude by the participants.

For more information on the American Cancer Society visit cancer.org; and for more information on the APA of Bakersfield visit bakersfield.apaleagues.com.

During the month of October, APA of Maryland sent a flier to all teams requesting donations for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  For a $3 donation players received an APA Pink Ribbon patch, and for a $15 donation they received an APA Shoot for the Cure t-shirt.  Over 400 patches and 200 t-shirts were sent out, with the local APA Office donating the cost of the patches and t-shirts. Thanks to the generosity of APA members, $4,239 was collected for the cause!

For more information on the Susan G. Komen Foundation visit komen.org, and for more information on the APA of Maryland visit apapool.com.

Southeast Georgia APA League Operators Joel and Sandra Chue, along with APA of South Carolina League Operator Scott Bates, teamed up with Players Place Billiards owner Perry Hunsicker to collect toys for Debi’s Kids and the Salvation Army Angel Tree.  The toy drive was held over two consecutive weekends at Players Place Billiards in Charleston, S.C.  The first weekend saw Players Place host the APA of South Carolina’s 8-Ball Summer Tri-Cup tournament.  The following weekend they were the site of the Fall Singles Regional tournament, where players from Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina competed for a chance to play in the National Singles Championships held in Las Vegas every spring.  Poolplayers and friends that attended the tournaments brought toys and books to donate to Debi’s Kids.

Debi’s Kids was started by Charleston’s Live 5 News anchor Debi Chard in 1993 to help bring a brighter Christmas to children who have no other resources for the holidays.  In 2004, Debi’s Kids formed a partnership with the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program to reach more families in need during the holidays.  They provide new, unwrapped toys for children 12 and under.

Twenty-one toys were collected during the Tri-Cup tournament and 56 toys and 16 books were collected during the Fall Singles Regional tournament.

For more information on Debi’s Kids visit live5news.com.  Go to salvationarmyusa.org for more information on the Salvation Army Angel Tree. For more information on Southeast Georgia APA visit SouthEastGeorgia.apaleagues.com, and for information on the APA of South Carolina visit apaofsouthcarolina.com.

On Sept. 3, APA of San Antonio held the first of a series of tournaments at Fast Eddie’s-Embassy Oaks to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk. Thirty-two shooters participated in the 9-Ball tournament that saw Malcolm Meek take home the first place prize. Eric Sanchez finished 2^nd, with Jason German taking 3^rd place. Several more tournaments are planned to raise money for the charity.

In addition to the pool tournaments, members of the APA of San Antonio formed a team of walkers that will take part in the Light the Night Walk being held at Hemisfair Park in San Antonio on Oct. 22. This is the second Light the Night Walk that APA of San Antonio has participated in. Last year the team, captained by Joyce Boyce, raised over $3,000—they’re looking to exceed that amount this year.

For more information about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society visit leukemia-lymphoma.org, and for more information on APA of San Antonio visit sanantonio.apaleagues.com.

APA staff members headed to Joplin, Mo., on Saturday, July 23 to meet with APA members affected by the tornado and personally deliver donated goods. After the devastating tornado hit the city in late May, APA identified three families who lost nearly everything in the tornado.  The families all had children ranging in age from 9 months to 12 years. 

APA contacted the families to find out what they needed most.  “We asked the families what they liked to do and what their kids liked to do,” said Michelle Rock, APA Franchise Compliance Director and one of two APA staff members that made the trip to Joplin.  “Our hope was to bring some normalcy back to their lives as best we could by supplying them with items they might not get from other organizations— items like toys, games and books.” 

APA also delivered gift cards to the families so they can buy items such as kitchen supplies and bedding when they’re able to move back into homes of their own. 

All items were donated by APA National Office Staff and employees at other companies that occupy the same office building that APA National Offices are located.

“The families were extremely grateful and appreciative that the APA would go to this effort,” Rock said.  “I find it amazing that they could go through a horrifying F5 tornado, fear for their lives and the lives of their children, lose their homes and everything in them, and still remain positive.  They ALL were positive, smiling and enjoying life with their kids and spouses.”

Nature Coast APA member Lori Hartt knows firsthand what the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation means to someone with the disease—her granddaughter, Lexi, has it.  Every May Lori puts a team of walkers together for the Great Strides Charity Walk in Tampa.  For the past two years, Nature Coast APA League Operators Doug and Denise Hurst have helped raise money for “Team Lexi”, by hosting a charity event. 

This year’s event featured a double elimination 8-Ball tournament, Speed Shot competition, Beat the League Operator challenge matches and multiple raffles.  The event took place May 29 at BB Magee’s In Hudson, Fla., and raised $430 for the team. 

Prizes were donated by Nature Coast APA members and included gift cards from Capone’s, Publix, Outback Steakhouse, Applebee’s & Chili’s, allowing all money collected to go directly to the charity. 

For more information on Florida’s Nature Coast APA visit naturecoast.apaleagues.com; and for more information on the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and its Great Strides Charity Walk visit cff.org.

Although Buffy and Jim McKinney’s grandson, Brody Lambert, was born with a small hole in his heart last August, the doctors felt it would not interfere with his regular growth and development.  Then, while his parents were eating lunch in a local restaurant a month later, he stopped breathing.  Through the grace of God, two EMTs happened to be eating in the same restaurant. They rushed over to the distraught parents and began CPR on Brody, keeping him alive.

Once in the hospital, it was discovered that Brody actually had two holes in his heart, a small one and a much bigger one that needed to be fixed immediately for him to survive. So, at 1 month old and only 8 pounds, Brody had open heart surgery.

Buffy and Jim, who play on the same Midwest Illinois APA team out of The Break Billiards in Cahokia, Ill., were so grateful to the American Heart Association for their role in saving Brody that they decided to begin an annual 9-Ball benefit tournament in Brody’s honor.

On April 16, 2011, the Inaugural Brody Lambert 9-Ball Tournament was run with tremendous success at The Break Billiards. Brody, now 8 months old, made a special, adorable appearance for most of the morning and afternoon— until naptime! Buffy, a charity event organizer by trade, did all of the legwork and phone calls to arrange the benefit. On the day of the tournament, Jim ran the in-house Poker Run while many volunteers helped with the sale of 50/50 tickets, tickets for a wheelbarrow full of alcohol, and setting up and running of a silent auction. The silent auction included pool cues, cases, APA merchandise basket with an APA cue, jewelry, tickets to Rams football games, tickets to Cardinals baseball games, coupons for free business services, and even a cake with “1st Annual Brody Lambert 9-Ball Tournament” written in icing on top. After the tournament, the evening continued with DJ Archie playing to a dance happy crowd.

The tournament directors, Dana and Bruce Patton—APA League Operators of Midwest Illinois APA—ran a full 32 field tournament with half of all entries going to the American Heart Association. Taking 1^st Place and winning $240 was Will Freeman, 2^nd Place and $145 went to Fernando, and 3^rd Place and $95 went to Mike Mercurio. Rising star Brandon Pearson finished 4^th while his proud father Dwayne finished 5^th.

In all, over $3,200 was raised for the American Heart Association from the first of many Brody Lambert benefit tournaments to come!        

For more information on Midwest Illinois APA visit midwestil.apaleagues.com; and for more information on the American Heart Association visit heart.org.

The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill APA’s female players have come together to play pool AND make a difference in the fight against breast cancer.  Since 2006, the APA Ladies “Tour for the Cure” offers local area female players the chance to get together for some great competition while also raising money to help find a cure for breast cancer.  Leslie Boulware, APA member since 1993, is the brains behind the tour and serves as Tournament Director.  By her side, serving as the Executive Director of Operations, is Karl Kurak, APA member since 2003. 

The APA Ladies “Tour for the Cure” consists of eight, one-day tournaments a year.  The tour alternates between 8-ball and 9-ball handicapped tournaments and the skill levels of the women participating vary, everything from a skill level 2 to a couple of skill level 7’s.  The tour sells 30 to 40 tour cards a year and averages 20 players per event. The tournaments rotate through local APA host locations that choose to participate, with Buck’s Billiards in Raleigh, NC and On The Snap Billiards in Fuquay Varina, NC being the main sponsor locations. So far, the APA Ladies “Tour for the Cure” has raised over $6,000.00 towards the fight against breast cancer. 

As tour director, Leslie Boulware states, “We are very proud of what we have done over the past years.  It is a fantastic opportunity for the women in our area to get to know each other, to raise money and awareness for a great cause, and to have our own tournament to take part in.  It is always a fun day, full of ‘pinkness,’ pool and camaraderie.”

For more information on the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill APA visit apa-raleigh.com.