Please read this post BEFORE registering !!!

Team Registration ends August 30 at 1100 am CST !!!

Alright, folks, it's time once again to donate to a worthy cause. Come take part in the 1st Annual Team Red, White & Blue Charity Golf Tournament, and help us support our wounded veterans. The tournament will be held on September 7, 2010 at Tour 18 in Houston, where they've reproduced the most renowned holes in the history of golf from tournaments like the U.S. Open, The Masters, The Tour Championship and the PGA Championship. The course is one of the most beautiful and challenging courses in the region, so don't miss out on your chance to play at a top notch course and support a great cause all in one effort.

The day will begin with registration starting at 12:00 p.m. and will follow with a shotgun start at 2:00 p.m. We will have the "Longest Drive Contest", so bring your best Driver and some cash to purchase a couple Mulligans at $10 apiece. Following the golf tournament, we will hold an awards ceremony and a buffet dinner, as well as a gift raffle. Raffle tickets will be $5 apiece for a chance to win items such as iPods, Astros tickets, gear bags and plenty more great items. Please see links at the very bottom for a description of actual items included in the raffle. A short presentation will also be given which covers the mission and goals of our non-profit organization.

For those person(s) wishing to participate as a Beverage Cart Sponsor, Dinner Sponsor, Silver Sponsor, Gold Sponsor, or Platinum Sponsor, you may choose to have your own Company provided signage (banner or other form of signage) displayed at the mentioned site. Once the golf tournament is finished, you will obviously be allowed to take your Company sponsored signage home with you. However, if you choose not to provide a Company provided banner or signage, I will ensure that a banner and/or signage is created for your respective sponsorship package. That banner and/or signage will be maintained as TRWB property after the golf tournament. Once you sign up for the sponsorship package, I will contact you with regards to this option. In order for us to have a banner and/or sign created for you, you must register as a Sponsor on or before August 21 to allow ample time for the items to be created.

We at Team Red, White & Blue feel that our wounded veterans are a very important addition to our society and our way of life. "Thank You" is a simple phrase, and it takes less than one second to say. Yet far too often, those who fundraise for and donate to charities are only able to say “thank you” from a distance. Similarly, wounded veterans and their families are often unable to express their appreciation to the great Americans who fund the charities that support them. We have established Team Red, White & Blue in order to bridge this gap and allow donors, fundraisers and wounded veterans to say “thank you” to one another --- and build relationships that will last into the future.

Please visit our website to sign up to play, become a sponsor, or to simply make a donation. We can use all of the support we can muster, whether it be in the form of a monetary donation or the donation of a raffle item. No donation is too small, folks. If you need any clarification on any of the details, please do not hesitate to email me at garybartels1975@yahoo.com or my fellow Event Coordinator, Nick, at bigvision09@yahoo.com.

Thank You for your support and please spread the word !

Respectfully,

Gary J. Bartels, Jr.
South Central United States Events Coordinator
Lead Advocate, Houston VA Hospital
Team Red, White & Blue

Raffle Items

Nike + iPod Sport Kit

Owen Temple Autographed Concert Flyer

Astros vs Dodgers, September 11 - 6:05 p.m. Tier 1 Club Box 222, Row 1

Folks, again, it has been awhile since I've posted, and awhile since I've ran a competitive race for that matter. I recently started a new job in off-shore drilling, and it keeps me away from home quite a bit, but once it calms a little, I plan on grabbing the running shoes and the iPod and cranking it up again. In the meantime, I'm coming up with new ways to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). And that brings me to the above photo.

As all of you may or may not know, Owen Temple has become a wonderful supporter of the WWP. I have been to two of his concerts here in the Houston area, and the first time he gave me five autographed CDs that I auctioned off for around $1,000 for the WWP. During his latest concert, I did something a little different and ripped down one of the advertisement posters that the venue had posted for his concert. He signed it for me with "Thanks for supporting Wounded Warriors. Cheers and Best, Owen Temple".

What I'd like to do is open this item up for an auction as well. The poster is an 11 x 17 sized wall poster that comes in the 11 x 17 black wood frame. I went to Wal-Mart and purchased the frame, and it will obviously be included for the winner. I will also mail the winner the item out of my own pocket, so all that you, the winner, need to do is make a donation to the WWP via my donation page. My donation page is the first link on the right hand side of my webpage under the "Races to Run and Links to Follow". Click on the "DONATE NOW" link, and it's easy from that point.

So, here's how we'll do it. At the bottom of this post, you'll see a place to make comments. Leave me a comment on how much you're willing to donate and hopefully, we get a little friendly competition going here. I'll leave a comment and make the first bid at $25. I won't close the post for a little while, I was thinking of keeping it going for one month, so the bidding will end on midnight of March 15, 2010.

Good luck, folks, and thanks for helping me on this cause. As a disabled Veteran myself, it makes me smile to know that folks care about our wounded heroes! Empty the tank...everyday.