Jim Flaherty recalls it was “cold and snowy” that first Saturday in February 1997.
But that was appropriate for the inaugural edition of the winter fundraiser now known as the Chilly Open. The 2015 event is slated for Feb. 7.
A hardy group of 40-50 members of the Rotary Club of Westerville Sunrise spent the typical winter day staging an atypical outdoor event: a golf outing. It was their first shot at fundraising in such an unorthodox manner.
Working from a small, unheated tent serving Wendy’s chili – thus the event’s original name, the Wendy’s Chili Open – and Budweiser, they shepherded a surprisingly large turnout of hardy golfers for an 8 a.m. start. They played with orange balls on a makeshift nine-hole course on a corner of the Anheuser-Busch brewery grounds. The $40-per-person event included a chip and putt contest on a small green inside the tent, Flaherty remembers.
The club had picked up the idea from another club in Poland, Ohio, near Youngstown, and spent two years trying to organize one.
Finally, it was decided, “Let’s just do it and try to break even,” says Flaherty.
Flaherty was club president at the time and has been involved in each Open since, in keeping with all members’ commitment to such activities.
The club did far better than break even. From a profit of $31,408, $30,000 was donated to charity. Money went to the Archie Griffin Scholarship Fund, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Easter Seals, Recreation Unlimited and the club’s own foundation, which has its own group recipients. Griffin was honorary host the first year.
That convinced the club members that the fundraiser was a good idea, and they brought it back as an annual event, taking opportunities to expand it wherever they could. Gradually, they added live entertainment, more food vendors and a silent auction to the adults-only outing.
This year’s Chilly Open is the 19th annual. It’s now presented by Kroger and Papa John’s, rather than Wendy’s, and it takes place at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, rather than Anheuser-Busch. It features about 30 food vendors all in a large, heated tent; has children’s activities in a separate building; and sets it all to music by cover band the Debits.
With tickets at $45 apiece, proceeds – also factoring in donations from sponsors and auction bids – usually reach into the $100,000 range.
The event always benefits a variety of children’s charities in the Columbus area. One of the new ones this year is the Maria Tiberi Foundation, which raises money to buy simulators for organizations that discourage distracted driving in young people. There will also be a booth for Maria’s Message, which features a pledge people can sign affirming that they will not drive while distracted.
Tiberi, who died in a distracted driving accident in September 2013, was the daughter of Dom Tiberi, who has served as an MC for Chilly Opens past. That made the foundation a “no-brainer” as a beneficiary of the event, says Open chairman Pat Knott.
The club’s foundation shares in the proceeds and itself donates primarily to children- and youth-oriented groups, mostly in the Westerville area.
Over 18 fundraisers, the club has raised about $2.1 million.
As usual, Flaherty will be involved doing whatever is needed because that’s what club members do. One way or another, all 103 members participate, Knott says, whether at the zoo or working on details beforehand.
Knott notes the club has seen a membership spurt in recent years, owing in part, perhaps, to its sponsorship of the highly popular Field of Heroes each Memorial Day weekend in the Westerville Community Center’s activities field, an effort that strives only to break even financially, like the Chilly Open.
Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
