by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
More than $12,000 in scholarship money was raised July 13 at the Frankie Ring Memorial Golf Tournament at Blackberry Ridge Golf Club in Sartell.
Golfers came from as far away as Woodbury and Forest Lake to participate in the fundraising event in honor of Frankie Ring, a Sartell High School student who committed suicide in 2011. The event was organized by Ring’s mother, Mary Jo, along with many friends and supporters.
The scholarship money will be divided among three entities that were favorites of Frankie Ring: GREAT Theatre, Celebration Lutheran Church mission trips and the Sartell Swimming and Diving Team. Each of those entities will receive about $4,000 for scholarship money.
Ring enjoyed swimming, going on mission trips and acting in a variety of theatrical productions, in GREAT Theatre as well as in middle school and high school.
Last year, Mary Jo Ring decided to give money for scholarships. This year she and Frankie’s many friends organized the golf tournament to raise even more money.
At the event, there was dinner and a variety of musical entertainment, including a high school jazz combo and singing by a high school group known as the Testostertones.
Organizers said they were stunned by the big turnout and the generosity of everyone involved.
“As I drove home that night after the tournament, I thought to myself how Frankie was so loved by so many people,” Mary Jo Ring told the Newsleader. “There are absolutely no words to express my thanks to everyone involved who helped me make this memory that will last a lifetime. I know that Frankie was looking down from Heaven that day and that he is so very proud of what were were able to do.”