On Dec. 10, 15 teams competed in the 2011 ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) Fundraiser 8-Ball Scotch Doubles Tournament held at The Break Billiards in Cahokia, Ill. Winning pool cues, cue cases, large baskets of APA pool stuff and 1^st Place trophies were the father and son team of Marty and Martin Kaczmarowski. Winning pool cues, cue cases, a small basket of APA pool stuff and 2^nd Place trophies were Mark Montgomery and Niki Politte.

There was also a 3-ball contest, 9-Ball break contest, in-house poker run, 50/50 drawing and basket of booze which contained bottles of liquor from 11 local Host Locations.  Paul Malter won a cue as 1^st Place prize in the 3-ball contest. John Stoffel III won a cue as 1^st Place prize in the 9-Ball break contest. Brien Youngblood had the winning hand of four 9’s to win a cue in the in-house poker run. Brien also won $57 on the 50/50 drawing. Marty Kaczmarowski won the basket of booze.

The tournament was sponsored by Midwest Illinois APA and was held in memory of Bob Hinkle Jr. Bob became an APA member in 1993 and was a skill level 6 when he was diagnosed with ALS in October 2006. He passed away at age 50 in November 2007.

Many thanks to all who helped with the tournament and contests: Judy Hinkle, Alex Hinkle, Dale Miller, Brien Youngblood, Shelli Eichelberger, Bob Nier, Buffy McKinney and Jim McKinney.

Thanks to The Break for providing the pool room and tables at no cost for the day. Also thanks to all locations who donated items for the booze basket: Carol’s Bridge Inn, Doit’s Village Inn, Fairview Inn, Humdinger’s, Ken’s Lounge, Laurie’s Place, Old Town Tavern, Shooterz, Shorty’s Pub, Time Out and The Break Billiards.

Other donators were Gary Newingham and Rixstine Recognition.

All proceeds—a total of $1,046—were sent to the ALS Association, St. Louis Regional Chapter, which helps all families in the Missouri and Illinois Metro East areas who are dealing with ALS in their lives.

Please visit alsa.org for more information about the ALS Association; for additional information about the Midwest Illimois APA visit midwestil.apaleagues.com.

Starship Billiards in Decatur, Ill., played host to the Inaugural Cues for Kids Pool Tournament to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois.  During the tournament on Oct. 29, $999 was raised for the organization.

The goal of the event was to not only raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters, but to have fun in the process.   The tournament used a format called Hurricane 8-Ball, which is a faster paced version of 8-Ball, perfect for a fun tournament atmosphere.

League Operator Kim Jones said, “It was a small event for the first year, but I’m happy with the results.”

For more information on Big Brothers Big Sisters visit bbbs.org and for more information on Central Illinois APA visit illinoisapa.com.

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.

It was an exciting weekend at Baxter’s in Fairview Heights, Ill., as Midwest Illinois APA held their annual charity event in memory of longtime member Bob Hinkle, Jr.  The benefit raised $1,400 for the St. Louis Regional Chapter of the ALS Association.

The event kicked off Friday, Dec. 10 with an exhibition by Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman.  Dr. Cue put on a fantastic trick shot show for approximately 40 people.  In lieu of an admission fee, spectators were asked to make a donation to help fight ALS—better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. 

Saturday featured an 8-Ball scotch doubles tournament and a lag competition.  The father and son team of Marty and Martin Kaczmarowski won the scotch doubles tournament for the second straight year.  It was not an easy victory, as Marty and Martin lost their second match and had to make their way through the loser’s bracket.  Jake Freely and Kenny Fairall finished in 2^nd Place, and the teams consisting of Terry Elrod and Mike Whitelaw and Jeff Meadows and Mike Tripp tied for 3^rd Place. 

The lag competition was run by Dr. Cue and Ms. Cue, who matched the money collected from entry fees for the competition.  First Place in the lag competition went to Kenny Fairall, Travis King finished in 2^nd Place, 3^rd Place went to Marty Kaczmarowski and Niki Fudge finished in 4^th Place.  Everyone who participated in the tournament received an APA holiday patch and ornament— everyone who made a donation received an APA holiday patch and ALS red bracelet. 

Baxter’s donated all of the table time for Dr. Cue’s show on Friday night and the tournament on Saturday.  Prizes were donated by Rixstine Recognition, Gary Newingham of Cue Buddy, Patti and Steve Lash of Budget Signs, Trophies & Plaques, Joe and Kathy Gertken, Tom and Marty Rossman, Bruce and Dana Patton and Judy and Alex Hinkle, who also donated their time to help run the event.  Also donating their time to sell raffle tickets and collect donations were Kathy Gillespie, Lynn Cook and Sandy Cook. 

Please visit alsa.org for more information about the ALS Association; for additional information about the Midwest Illinois APA visit midwestil.apaleagues.com.

APA of Logan County Illinois held a charity tournament to benefit Toys for Tots on Dec. 4.  Twenty members participated in the 8-Ball singles tournament held at Glasshouse Tavern in Lincoln, Ill.  The double elimination tournament raised $352 and $50 in toys for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.   

First Place in the tournament went to Greg Battin, Sr.  Dave Bixler finished in 2^nd Place, followed by Lester Martin in 3^rd Place.

League Operator Julie Branson said, “Everyone had a good time and we plan on making this an annual event.”

For more information on the Toys for Tots Foundation please visit toysfortots.org, and for more information about APA of Logan County Illinois visit logan.apaleagues.com.

When a fire destroyed the home and belongings of APA member Rick Berg, his Central Illinois APA family sprang into action, helping anyway they could.  Taking up a collection for clothes and toys to help replace the tangible items Rick, his wife Susan, and their 18-month-old son Caleb desperately needed was step one.  Organizing a benefit to raise money for the Berg Family was step two. 

The benefit was held Nov. 6 at Rendezvous Bar & Grill in Decatur, Ill., and featured a pool tournament, auction, raffles, DJ and an all-you-can-eat buffet.  During the event, $5,950 was raised, as well as numerous toys and articles of clothing. 

Thirty-one players participated in the pool tournament, with Phil Crandall taking 1^st Place.  Kevin Newsham finished 2^nd, while Carol Gifford finished 3^rd. 

For more information about the Central Illinois APA please visit illinoisapa.com.

Chicago Central APA knows that most donations to the Greater Chicago Food Depository are received during November and December.  They are also well aware that hunger knows no season.  With that in mind, they scheduled their charity 8-Ball tournament to benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository on June 12, 2010.

The double elimination tournament drew 16 participants to City Pool Hall on Hubbard Street in Chicago. Everyone had a great time for a good cause.  Owen Bacucang took 1^st Place in the tournament, while Rick Naluz finished in 2^nd Place.  The event raised $300 and collected 150 canned food items for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

For more information about the Greater Chicago Food Depository please visit chicagosfoodbank.org, and for more information about the Chicago Central APA visit chicagocentral.apaleagues.com.

Date:  June 12, 2010
Location:  City Pool Hall, 640 West Hubbard, Chicago, IL 60654
Format:  Double Elimination
Type of Event: Double Elimination
League Operator:  Gregg Taylor
League Web Site:  chicagocentral.apaleagues.com
Description:  Charity tournament benefiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository.  Click on the flier for more information, or contact Gregg Taylor via the web site listed above.

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Central Illinois APA announced a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois.  The fundraiser, called “Cues for Kids”, will run the entire 2010-2011 League year.  Donations can be made through weekly team envelopes, or via collection jugs that will be set up at all Central Illinois APA events.  Central Illinois APA will match all contributions up to $1,000.

The program is expected to become an annual event.  The “Cues for Kids” event officially kicked off at the April 2010 spring awards presentation.

For more information about “Cues for Kids” visit illinoisapa.com; for additional information about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Illinois please visit bbbscil.org.

When longtime APA member and Host Location owner Bill “Teddy Bear” Wetherell passed away last September, Central Illinois League Operator Kim Jones knew she was going to keep his memory alive somehow.  On Jan. 30 she fulfilled that mission by holding a 3-on-3 charity tournament in Wetherell’s honor.   The tournament raised money for the Boys & Girls Club of Decatur, Ill., a charity that Wetherell personally contributed to each Christmas.

“Bill was a generous man, and we wanted to continue his contributions through an APA event,” Jones said.  “He loved the APA, playing in the League since 1989, so a pool tournament benefitting an organization that he cared about was a logical choice.”

The Teddy Bear Tournament, held at Rendezvous Bar & Grill in Decatur, Ill., raised $2,400 for the Boys & Girls Club of Decatur.  The double elimination 3-on-3 tournament included 32 teams.  The team consisting of Chris Akers, Blake Rauch and Coty Pinnell won 1^st Place. Carol Gifford, Rob Thompson and Dave Miller finished as Runners-Up.  Third place went to Todd Tibbs, Tiffany Blastenbrei and Ricky George. Ken Koshinski, Jim Irwin and Chris Sullivan finished in 4^th Place.

For more information about the Boys & Girls Club please visit bgca.org; for additional information about the Central Illinois APA visit illinoisapa.com.