By Chase Holmes, News Reporter
BIRMINGHAM – The Eastern Women’s Committee of 50 (EWCF) held its 21 annual charity golf tournament at Highlands Park Golf Course benefiting Parkinson Association of Alabama on Thursday, May 4, 2023.
Photo by Chase Holmes: (Left) Rene Lyle. Vice President of the EWCF. (Right) Janice Braue, President of the EWCF
Over 100 golfers came out to support the organization in their effort to raise money for charity. This year, the beneficiary of the golf tournament was the Parkinson Association of Alabama.
Rene Lyle, vice president of the EWCF is proud of her team and the work they got done this year.
“Our members did a great job getting teams, golfers, auction items, and sponsors this year,” she said. “We had the largest number of golfers we have ever had. It went from 88 to 107 golfers this year.”
Lyle spoke about Parkinson of Alabama and the work they are doing.
“It benefits people with Parkinsons. They educate and give support to the patient as well as family members and caregivers.”
The EWCF was founded in 1986. Since then, they have raised over $1.1 million and volunteered over a thousand hours to benefit the Eastern Community of Greater Birmingham.
As the golf tournament began to wind down for the evening, golfers congregated in the upper room of the Highland Park Golf course and were served lunch. Before tournament and raffle prize winners were announced, Brian Corbett, President of the Board for Parkinson of Alabama, who has Parkinson’s himself, spoke at the capstone lunch.
His voice was soft, a symptom of Parkinson’s itself, but it carried behind it the weight of over 19,000 people in Alabama who also suffer from Parkinsons.
Photo by Chase Holmes: Mayor Buddy Choat was in attendance for the tournament.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone here,” Corbett said. “It means a lot to me and it means a lot to us as an organization. I want to thank everyone with the Eastern Women’s Committee of 50 for what they’ve done.”
More golfers than expected turned out in support and Corbett said he knew from the start they would see a great turnout.
“Being the recipient of the proceeds has been a year in the making,” he said. “I asked Janice (President of the EWCF), how many players do you expect and she said ‘probably about 85.’ Yeah, so we’re going to do better than that this year. Thanks to everybody in the room, we did.”
Photo by Chase Holmes: Brian Corbett, President of the Board of Parkinson Association of Alabama.
Corbett went on to explain the cause of Parkinson’s Disease, which is when the neurons in your brain that produce a vital chemical called dopamine become damaged or impaired. Symptoms can include impaired movement, balance, and bodily control as well as trouble regulating emotions.
Before the tournament began, Corbett became unsteady on a hill and fell on the ground. He took a moment to acknowledge it and had a special message for the crew at Highlands.
“Its kind of funny,” he said, laughing. “I want to say thank you to the grounds crew because when I fell on the grass out there it felt really soft.”
While speaking about Parkinsons’, Corbett became emotional several times at the outpouring of support.
“It makes you emotional,” Corbett said, “especially when I think about the fact that all the ladies in here and all the guys in here, are here to support Parkinsons and therefore are here to support me.”
As Corbett, who participated in the golf tournament, looked out on the crowd on golfing teams that filled the conference room on the upper floor of Highlands he had one question left before he handed the microphone back to Braue: “Did we win?” he asked.
After Corbett took his seat, tournament and raffle prize winners were announced. This year turned out to be an especially eventful one as the first ever tournament hole-in-one winner was among the many golfers that came out to support the EWCF and Parkinson Association of Alabama.
