Benefactor S. Mills Ely who donated the original land will be honored at the fifth Ely Park Celebration on August 21st!

The fifth Ely Park Celebration will be held on Tuesday, August 21^st up at Ely Park near the golf shop pavilion.

Four ‘Ely Park Celebrations,’ the first in 2003, have been held to honor the people who have significantly contributed to the legacy of Ely Park.

This year’s Honorees include four women golfers—Evie McCarthy (represented by her daughter Joanie), Mary Lewis (age 98), Pat Osgood, and Millie Lentine—and two men—the benefactor of Ely Park who donated the land to the city in 1909—S. Mills Ely—and 15-time Club Champion and legendary local amateur golfer Ray Linsky.

Millie Lentine (white top, center rear) in attendance for the 2017 Celebration will be honored this year along with three other women.

The first ‘Ely Park Celebration’ honored longtime Ely Park Head PGA Golf Professional/Golf Superintendent/General Manager (in those days he did all three jobs) Steve Vaskovic and two sons of Ely Park- professional golfer Al Morley and amateur golfer Mike Popik. All three honorees were living at the time and participated in the celebratory event up at Ely Park.

The second ‘Ely Park Celebration’ honored Ely Park’s golf course designer (with City Engineer Edward Prentice) and first Head PGA Golf Professional Ernie Smith, and two long time members and successful amateurs, Walt Kozak and Bob ‘Bert’ Kollar.

Ray Linsky, 15-time Ely Park Club Champion and avid historian of the game and all things Ely Park will be honored on Tuesday, August 21st.

The third ‘Ely Park Celebration’ honored one of Ely Parks first caddies, long time Golf Professional and successful golfer Al Vaskovic (younger brother of Steve); lifetime member of the PGA of America, member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame and accomplished golfer Ed Nosewicz; legend, 1969 Club Champion and creative writer, Bob ‘the Bear & the Barracuda’ Marachek: and three guys who played Ely Park every Sunday since 1948 (57 years at the time)- Joe Gomulka and the ‘Hammer & Nails’ combo of John Hammer and Joe Kovarik.

Last year’s ‘Ely Park Celebration’ honored the only other two PGA Golf Professionals to serve the golfing public up at Ely Park—Bob Steiner and Rick Mauro. Additionally, long-time Ely Park Golfer and 1975 Club Champion Andy Reistetter Sr. was honored posthumously along with five-time Club Champion and Texas PGA Golf Professional Ron Simkulet who missed the ‘Ely Park Celebration’ while vacationing with family in Utah.

With Ronnie Simkulet and his scrapbook preparing for him being honored in 2017.

Ironically Ron Simkulet passed earlier this year on June 29^th while vacationing with family in Utah. He was a graduate of Binghamton Central High School, SUNY Cortland, and Binghamton University (Master’s Program), a Vietnam Army Veteran, a PGA Golf Professional, and a history teacher and golf coach at Susquehanna Valley H.S. Ron developed his passion for golf at Ely Park G.C., held a course-record of 62 for many years, and remained a life-long competitive player. Ron Simkulet will be remembered with a moment of silence at this year’s event.

Come up to Ely Park on Tuesday, August 21^st at 1 pm to celebrate the history and people of Ely Park Golf Course!

See you there!

The Sixteen Honorees to date:

Joe Gomulka—Played Ely Park together with John Hammer & Joe Kovarik for over fifty years!

John Hammer—Played Ely Park together with Joe Gomulka & Joe Kovarik for over fifty years!

Walt Kozak—Long-time Ely Park Golfer, Club Champion, and successful amateur golfer.

Ely Park PGA Golf Professionals Bob Steiner and Ricky Mauro, two of only four to have served in that position. were honored in 2017.

Bob ‘Bert’ Kollar—Long-time Ely Park Golfer, Club Champion, and successful amateur golfer.

Joe Kovarik—Played Ely Park together with Joe Gomulka & John Hammer for over fifty years!

Bob Marachek—Ely Park Legend, 1969 club champion and creative writer, & ‘the Bear & the Barracuda!’

Rick Mauro—Long-time Ely Park PGA Golf Professional.

Al Morley—Long-time PGA Golf Professional who played in eight PGA Championships (one of professional golf’s majors).

Ed Nosewicz—Lifetime member of the PGA of America; member of the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame.

Mike Popik—Long-time Ely Park Golfer and competitive amateur golfer.

Andy Reistetter Sr. on the par-3 second tee box back in the old days of Ely Park. The cinder parking lot and old clubhouse can be seen in the background on what is now No. 3 fairway. This is the picture that was the spark for Andy Jr. to research and begin to write the history of Ely Park and hold the Ely Park Celebrations!

Andy Reistetter Sr.—Long-time Ely Park Golfer and 1975 Club Champion.

Ronnie Simkulet—Five-time Club Champion and PGA Golf Professional in Texas.

Ernie Smith—First PGA Golf Professional & Designer of Ely Park (with City Engineer Edward Prentice).

Bob Steiner—Long-time Ely Park PGA Golf Professional.

Al Vaskovic—Long-time Assistant PGA Golf Professional and the competitive golfing face of Ely Park.

Steve Vaskovic—PGA Golf Professional, Golf Course Superintendent, and Ely Park General Manager.

Let’s go play Ely Park Golf Course!

By Christy O’Neil

BINGHAMTON, N.Y.

Reporter Christy O’Neil from WICZ FOX 40 was on hand to interview Rick and Bob and air a feature on the Ely Celebration on the evening news.

Among three other honorees recognized at the fourth “Ely Park Celebrations”, Ricky Mauro, a man who wore many hats throughout his 37 years of contribution to the golf course.

Bob Steiner, who was also honored for his great contributions to Ely Park Golf said, “Ricky came to work for me the very first year and we spent 13 years together here, then after I left, he inherited the job as the golf professional”.

WICZ FOX 40 Reporter Christy O’Neil interviewing Rick Mauro at the Ely Celebration!

Beginning work at 16 years old, Mauro not only learned the ‘ins and outs’ of the golf business’, he reached nearly impossible feats in the sport itself.

“Golf was in my blood, there’s no doubt about it”. “Hey, I golfed from six years old to fifty, how many people can say that?” said Mauro. “I got three consecutive Eagles, now I’ve never heard of that being done and I don’t know if it’s even ever been done…but I did do that and that’s the best achievement I had,” he said.

WICZ FOX 40 Reporter Christy O’Neil interviewing Bob Steiner at the Ely Celebration!

And despite all of his achievements in golf, Mauro says he takes the most pride in his work as a teacher.

“There’s nothing’s better than having a kid come back to you later in life and tell you, you helped them and they thank you for it. That means more to me than any achievements I did… I won my share of tournaments but the kids were the most important thing. I dedicated most of my career to teaching.”

After a cancer diagnosis that led to the loss of a limb in 2011, Mauro hopes now to recover and come back to golf once again.

Quite a few folks came out to celebrate Ely Park on a beautiful sunny morning!

“I’m trying to be able to walk again and hopefully I’ll hit a golf ball again, that’s my goal. I’m driven and as an underdog, I try to overcome. I’m very positive, I always taught the positive and I’m positive I can do it,” he said.

“I fulfilled everything that I wanted to do, the only thing I would’ve liked to have done is teach a little more and if I get healthy enough, I can beat the odds on a few things They’ve read me my last rights several times and I’m still here… and I’m coming back stronger than ever I think.”

With Mauro, three other men were recognized for their contributions to Ely Park: Bob Steiner, Andy Reisetter Sr. and Ronnie Simkulet.

If you’d like to visit the Ely Park Golf Course website, click here: Ely Park

CLICK HERE for the original article by Christy O’Neil on the WICZ FOX 40 Website.

CLICK HERE for “Ely Celebration No. 4 Honors Mauro, Steiner, Simkulet, & Reistetter Sr.

Pictures from the 4th Ely Celebration on August 4, 2017:

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