SUNDRE – All good things come to an end, and an organizer behind the Wade Konschuh Memorial Golf Tournament is grateful for what she called a perfect day to host the last celebration for the vibrant, fun-loving life of her late husband.
“We couldn’t have asked for nicer weather; the day was absolutely perfect,” said Bev Konschuh, who alongside daughter Becca has been involved in planning the tournament since the inaugural event in 2017 following Wade’s passing.
“I had told everybody to bring rain gear,” she said with laugh, “because it looked like it was going to be quite a wet day, and then all of a sudden we got that beautiful day.”
That set the stage for a memorable experience, she said, adding there on Saturday, May 28 were 108 golfers out on the Sundre Golf Club’s fairways. However, an additional 10 people came out to join the supper, she said.
“We had such a good turnout,” she said. “And I do believe everybody really enjoyed themselves; it was just a really special day.”
Although a few people who had registered in advance ended up being unable to attend – some as a result of contracting COVID-19 – a few other “people just stopped in and signed up, so it kind of all worked out perfect that way,” she said.
Among those who committed to attending the final memorial golf tournament were some people from B.C., Ontario as well as around Alberta.
“One of my son’s very dear friends from Ontario came down to surprise him,” she said. “We had a really nice mixture of friends and family who were able to attend this year.”
Those bonds are perhaps medicine for the soul along the journey to navigate through grief.
“I truly believe that being surrounded by family and friends, and just that friendship, love and support you get, actually provides you strength when you’re going through a tough time,” said Bev.
“Sharing some laughs and good times and just being with people that you care about, it maybe sometimes allows you to – for a moment – forget the sadness that’s in your life and just have a very good day and enjoy and appreciate all that you have.”
This marks the fifth year since Wade died of cancer.
“And that kind of was our goal,” said Bev. “That we would want to do it for five years.”
The inaugural event was held in 2018 on the first anniversary of Wade’s passing, with the second annual tournament in 2019 going ahead without a hitch.
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But when the pandemic swept around the world in 2020, the event was like so many others placed on hold.
So, finally getting the chance to bring everybody back together for the fifth anniversary finale “made this one very, very special,” she said, expressing heartfelt appreciation to everyone who supported the event.
“We do live in a beautiful community that’s so supportive,” she said, praising a “really good response” among members of the business community as well.
Although the memorial tournament was primarily about gathering people to enjoy a good time on the fairways while reminiscing about Wade, the event also serves as a fundraiser.
“This year, our goal was to donate any proceeds to the Sundre Curling Club,” said Bev, adding there after expenses remained an available $3,200.
To boot, she said the Totem Foundation maintained a commitment made for the prior two events to match any proceeds raised.
As Totem’s contributions have to be for charitable organizations, which the curling club technically is not, the matching $3,200 donation will instead be given to the Sundre Hospital Futures Committee to go toward a capital campaign to acquire a mobile digital X-Ray unit, she said.
“It’s just a little drop in the bucket; I’ve been told that’s a very expensive piece of equipment,” she said. “But every little bit counts.”
Among the reasons why Bev and Becca originally envisioned a five-year run was in recognition of the reality that life would invariably move forward and change – Becca now has two little girls of her own – making arrangements to gather everyone as the years roll on more and more challenging.
These are positive life changes, Bev added, but there’s only so much time and energy available.
Looking back fondly at the three memorial tournaments held over the past five years, Bev said there’s no better way to spend a day than by sharing it with loved ones, and added that the timing also worked out well.
“To end on the fifth anniversary of Wade’s passing is kind of a nice way to close that off for us,” she said.
