From Tommy Gallagher, Event Organizer:

It’s been a over a year since we lost good friend Jim Garibaldi to ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and we continue to miss his spirit and heart everyday. While Jim’s fight with ALS was short, his determination and will was inspiring to all of us. During one of my last conversations with Jim, he told me to “play as much golf as you can and enjoy every moment.”

So with that in mind, we have organized the Second Annual Bright Side of the Course Golf Tournament on September 14th at the Aurora Golf Club.This is a full day event consisting of lunch, 18 holes of golf at the Aurora Country Club (Jim Beers PGA Professional), Cocktails, and a Clam Bake Awards Dinner with entertainment.

The Golf Tournament

The golf tournament will consist of a 4-person scramble with various contents such as hole-in-one, longest drive, putting competition and more. Golfers also have the unique opportunity to be part of our fund-raising team to raise ALS research funding in honor of our buddy Jim Garibaldi.

Click here for more details and to register.

Not Golfing? Join Us for a Fun-Filled Awards Dinner!

If you don’t want to golf, but still want to take part in a fun event for a great cause, please join us for our awards dinner at Aurora Golf Club. Enjoy appetizers and a great Clam Bake all courtesy of Mazzulo’s.

Plus we’ll have fun entertainment all night long!

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets.

The Bright Side of the Course first annual golf event was an enormous success by all measures.  Over 100 golfers enjoyed a gorgeous, sun-soaked, 70 degree September day at Aurora Golf Club in Aurora, Ohio last week - and netted over $45,000 in the process for ALS research!

“The Host with the Most”, Tommy Gallagher and his supporters put on the event in memory of their dear friend Jim Girabaldi who passed away from the complications surrounding ALS last year. The day was filled with activities ranging from the golf scramble, to a putting contest, clambake, award ceremony, and was capped off with some rock and roll as Jimmy Girabaldi’s band rocked the house!!

The deep satisfaction that comes from raising money for such a horrific and relentless disease was felt by all those who attended the golf event and dinner afterwards.

An extra special Bright Side THANK YOU goes out to Tommy from all of us at Bright Side of the Road…..we cant wait until next year!!!

AJ Melaragno’s 5th Annual Memorial Scramble, held on Saturday May 22nd at the beautiful Willow Crest Golf Course in Oakbrook, IL, raised $48,500 to support ALS research.

Event organizer AJ Melaragno was proud of his golfers that more than doubled last year’s record fund-raising event (which raised over $22,000 for ALS research). Golfers were able to play in the scramble event while raising funds using various online tools supplied by Bright Side of the Road Foundation.

Event founder A.J. Melaragno explained his mission. “My good friend Barry Winovich was diagnosed with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in March 2006,” he said. “But Barry will never give up. I’ve looked into his eyes and seen a passion to beat this disease. It’s my goal to use my Memorial Scramble to raise substantial funding for ALS research.”

A big Bright Side “Thank You” to all of our corporate sponsors who also helped to make this event possible.

After an old friend was diagnosed with ALS, A.J. Melaragno decided to utilize his annual Chicago golf scramble event to raise funding for ALS research.

Event founder A.J. Melaragno explained his mission. “My good friend Barry Winovich was diagnosed with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in March 2006,” he said. “But Barry will never give up. I’ve looked into his eyes and seen a passion to beat this disease. It’s my goal to use my Memorial Scramble to raise substantial funding for ALS research.”

AJ added that he plans on beating the record fund-raising of last year’s event which raised over $22,000 for ALS research.

The Memorial Scramble will be held on Saturday, May 22nd at Willow Crest Golf Club in Chicago.

Golfers can play in the scramble event while raising funds using various online tools supplied by Bright Side of the Road Foundation including donation web pages and email support.

If you’re interested in participating in the event, or sponsoring a hole, please visit the 5th Annual Memorial Scramble for ALS website.

In March, 2008 I read an article in Golf for Women magazine about the LPGA tournament player, Cristie Kerr and her “Birdies for Breast Cancer” foundation. Kerr counts her birdies and donates a specific amount for each, to finding the cure for breast cancer.  I was immediately inspired and started my own birdies program to donate to Kerr’s foundation.  I approached my family and friends to ask for their sponsorship, and in total I made 37 birdies for my 2008 golf season and was able to donate over $1,000 to her foundation.

In February, 2009 my grandmother, Carol Dovishaw, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is an incurable, fatal, neuromuscular disease. The cause of ALS remains unclear and no cure exists. When I found out about my grandma’s diagnosis I knew I wanted to make finding the cure to ALS my permanent birdie charity.

I’m now working with the Bright Side Foundation which assists in funding research for The Cleveland Clinic.  All proceeds I earn from my 2009, Birdies Fore ALS, will go directly to The Cleveland Clinic, my Grandma Carol’s hospital.

Your donation may not be able to help my grandmother, but we can make a difference and help others. This fatal disease needs to be stopped, so I ask for your support.

Please consider making a one time donation or a per birdie donation.  Click here to learn more and contribute to my mission!

My season will conclude at the Ohio State High School Golf Tournament on October 23 – 24.  YES, I WILL be at States this year!

In explaining his involvement with Bright Side, event organizer AJ Melaragno said, “I saw Barry a couple of weeks ago, and if you saw the passion and fight in his eyes to beat this horrible disease, then you would understand why I am putting this event on. Not only is this a great opportunity to get everyone together once a year, but it’s for a great cause.”

A big Bright Side of the Road “thank you” to the golfers who played in this event:

AJ Melaragno
Ken Melaragno
Randy Mears
Don Reichert
Jay Keltner
Grant Gannon
Tiffany Fishbein
Teddy Fishbein
Kevin Dooley
Lou Coines
Bhavin Shah
Praveen Nath
Rob Colosimo
Chris Zaruszak
George Melachrinidis
Nick Panousis
Spiro Zarkos
Tim Damis
Wayne Tschirn
Alex Damis
Steve Mellor
Chris Hall
Dave Behls
Sebastian Mitchell
Kevin Thompson
George Haralambakis
John Barnes
J.P. Gallagher

Thanks also go out to Bright Side Golf Liason Jen Leonard for all of her hard work in coordinating the event both behind the scenes and on the course!