Cancer benefit great success

A little rain couldn’t stop the Kitsap Cancer Service/Humble Abode Golf Benefit for Cancer last Friday.

“We had a little rain, but in all it was a great tournament,” Mark Smaha, a volunteer with KCS, said. “We had a great event. The people at Kitsap Golf and Country Club did a great job for us.”

The tournament grew considerably this year, Smaha said. He said the group tripled its $11,000 take from last year’s event.

“Last year, we had it at Wing Point,” Smaha said. “A week before the event we had 20 people signed up. That was scary. But this event filled almost two weeks before.”

Smaha, whose wife has cancer, got involved with the group to help further its goals of providing a place where families can learn more about living with cancer.

This year’s celebrity guests included Paul Moyer, a former Seattle Seahawk; Dwayne Stewart, an ex-Washington State Cougar; Joey Hollenbeck, former Seahawk/WSU; Jim Lambright, former Washington Huskies coach; Brett Carolan, ex-San Francisco 49er, Miami Dolphin and WSU; Paul Wulff, Ex-Coug and current Eastern Washington head coach; Rueben Mayes, ex- Cougs and New Orleans Saints; Cary Conklin, a former Husky and Washington Redskin; Robbie Tobeck, current Seahawks center; Dick Baird, Huskies coach; Norm Johnson, ex-Seahawk; and Jack Thompson, formerly of WSU, the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Smaha said while the event was a success, KCS is keeping its main goals in sight.

“The thing we want most out of all this is to have a place,” Smaha said. “Our long term goal is to have a home. But that’s something we can’t do until we have someone come along with deep pockets and say, ‘here’s a space.’”

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