Dennis celebrating with the Board
Bob Edelblut and Dan Schroeder
The Dennis Marchand era officially ended in December at the Men’s Club Winter Bash when the slate of 2016 Board Members was approved by the membership. As was said that day by Bob Eder, President Elect, “You will be a tough act to follow.” Many others who served with you over the past four years remembered clearly your opening remarks when you became President, “I am in favor of innovation” and “ Let’s try new things and if they do not work we will drop them and move on to another new thing.” Dennis, we applaud you for remaining faithful to your goals and for encouraging all of us to innovate with you and for always bringing with you a sense of joyfulness.
As Publicity Chairman in your early years on the Board you set a high bar with the articles you wrote for the Men’s Club. But there is no doubt that you will be remembered most and often for the many ideas you promoted that have actually become staples of our Men’s Club daily activities. Your list begins with the Tournament of Champions and the coins presented to all qualifiers. Another popular idea was the Mars versus Venus Tournament jointly coordinated with the MPWGA. Also we moved to rotating the Sadie and Bubba Hawkins events with the MPWGA as a co-host. You convinced the Board that our members needed MPMGA logo shirts and new bag tags listing our local rules. You dared us to once again participate in Pima Cup Events as well as becoming more involved in AGA qualifying opportunities and you also supported the creating of our MPMGA Cup Competition. As for our weekly tournaments you either authored or co- authored the beginning of our par three format, our best ball plus bonus format, our Captain and Minions format and the Tournament Course for the Preserve. Finally, you also led the effort to develop policies to improve pace of play.
From all of us who enjoyed the opportunity of working with you we offer a special thank you.