Pandemic takes toll on Derek Kotecki golf fundraiser, but event trucks on

Because of the covid-19 pandemic, organizers will make $8,000 less on the Ninth Annual Officer Derek Kotecki Golf Tournament at Hill Crest Country Club on Saturday.

The golf outing honors the memory of Lower Burrell Police K-9 Officer Derek Kotecki, who was killed in an ambush in 2011. The golf outing is a fundraiser for a scholarship fund in his honor awarded to students of the Burrell, New Kensington-Arnold and Kiski Area school districts.

The golf outing has been a popular fundraiser for years, but this year the pandemic presented challenges that didn’t dim the popularity of the event, said one of the chairwomen, Audra Flemm of Lower Burrell.

“It’s a time of stress for everyone and we didn’t want to not have anything,” she said. “Golfers look forward to this and it’s a way to continue to honor Derek Kotecki.”

But organizers will raise $8,000 less this year because they decided to not to solicit businesses for silent auction baskets because of the hard financial times.

“We’re still here doing the best with what we have,” Flemm said. The scholarship fund has reserves to make up the loss and organizers will try to more next year, she said.

Typically, local businesses would donate about 200 gift baskets to raffle off, which accounted for a significant portion of fundraising for the outing.

“We could see that businesses are closing,” Flemm said. “How can you ask, ‘Can you give me a $200 basket?’”

So, Flemm and fellow chairwoman of the golf outing, Shasta Meixelsberger, decided they weren’t going to ask businesses for gifts this year to use for fundraising.

“We did have some people come forward and donate for the baskets, which will available to the golfers,” Meixelsberger said.

The good news is that golf is one of the easier outdoor activities still enjoyed with social distancing restrictions during the pandemic.

With 136 golfers registered, Flemm said, “We filled up so fast this year, maybe because people aren’t taking vacations.”

There will still be food and craft vendors, 25 this year, open to the public at Hill Crest Country Club from 1 to 5 p.m. A few vendors will be outside.

Patrons might have to wait before entering the country club because of restrictions on the maximum number of people allowed in the club at one time.

Donations can be made by check and sent to the Kotecki Memorial Fund, PO Box 2802, Lower Burrell, Pa., 15068.