Greenbrier owner Jim Justice rides past the new sculpture in front of the clubhouse. The artwork was added to mark the PGA's stop at the White Sulphur Springs resort.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- Pete Johnson of Oak Hill is staying in a camper at Fairlea to be at The Greenbrier at the crack of dawn to pick up trash during this week's PGA Greenbrier Classic tournament.
He and about 100 others have paid for their gas to drive to White Sulphur Springs, found their own lodging and are putting in 11-hour shifts sweeping out skyboxes on the fairways and emptying trash bags.
We're doing all that for the benefit of others," said Bob Browning, a retired Pineville lawyer.
Browning and Johnson are Lions, an international service group with 5,000 members in the four West Virginia districts.
In exchange for their labor, the tournament is donating $25,000 to the Lions to provide eye care for needy people.
Johnson is the incoming secretary-treasurer for West Virginia Lions' Sight Conservation Foundation. He estimates that the tournament donation will account for 20 percent of the foundation's annual budget.
Other charitable and non-profit groups also have benefited from The Greenbrier snagging a PGA event. Golf fans who bought entrance badges through the Badges for Charity program could select a favorite charity to receive 30 percent of the purchase price. Likewise, alumni of four universities -- WVU, Marshall, UVA and Virginia Tech -- could buy an Alumni Badge with 30 percent of the purchase proceeds going to their alma mater.
Nearly $400,000 has been distributed to 120 charities, including the four universities, said Lynn Swann, director of communications for The Greenbrier.
Other Greenbrier County area groups, such as Wellspring of Greenbrier County Inc. and Habitat for Humanity of Greenbrier, are earning extra income by supplying volunteers to work in concession stands operated by Prom Management Group. The company describes itself as "one of the largest catering and event food service companies in professional golf."
The amount each group receives is dependent on net sales and the number of shifts each group worked. Prom instructions forbid volunteers from wearing cargo and denim pants or shorts. Otherwise, shorts can be no shorter than 5 inches above the knee. No open-toe shoes or sandals of any kind will be allowed and "anyone wearing flip-flops will be asked to leave and will not receive credit for their shifts," cautions a Prom handout.
Concession volunteers are asked to wear a white, non-logo, collared shirt with khaki shorts or pants.
Who's who on Old White course appears to be color-coded. Greenbrier personnel are in yellow shirts, volunteers in red shirts and Lion members in purple with "Pickin' it Up for Sight" emblazed on the back.
It's the same motto that the Pennsylvania Lions used when they had the cleanup contract for the 84 Lumber-sponsored golf tournament at Nemacolin resort in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Monty Ortel was director of operations at Nemacolin when the resort put on the tournament. When he learned about The Greenbrier Classic, Browning made a pitch for the Lions to take on the ecology duties of the tournament. (Technically, the Lions are providing the staff for the ecology contract, which is held by Kiser Consultants.)
Browning is a past district governor and is a Lions International representative. He got lucky when Ortel, who was familiar with the Lions role, was named assistant tournament director for The Greenbrier Classic.
Their duties start at about 8 a.m. by clearing bleachers and walkways of debris using hand-held blowers. The Lions keep tabs on all the trash and recycling receptacles, changing plastic bags and hauling off full ones by golf cart to the Dumpsters. They sweep out the skyboxes at the end of the day and haul off the garbage bags left behind the hospitality tents.
"The patrons here don't throw trash on the ground," Browning said.
Johnson estimated that the Sight Foundation receives about 120 applications a year to help pay for eye surgeries. The foundation also obtains low vision aids for those who qualify.
Browning said the state organization, along with a matching grant from Lions International, was able to fund a $97,000 grant at the WVU Eye Institute for a research project. That research led to a $1.6 million grant for the institute from the National Institutes of Health, Browning said.
He said the Lions have been involved in sight projects since 1925 when Helen Keller, who could neither see nor hear, asked the service group to help with eye-care programs.
Browning said the Sight Foundation has no endowment. "We spend the money as it comes," he said. "We make it and we give it away."
Reach Rosalie Earle at ea...@wvgazette.com or at 304-348-5115.
