Ludington Beverage’s Tad Reed is looking to help bolster the Folds of Honor scholarship program, and he’s joining up with Scott Ashley of Lakeside Links to team up in the Michigan Anheuser-Busch Wholesaler Marathon.
The marathon is a golf marathon where the pair will play on Saturday, April 30, at American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven ahead of a Folds of Honor tournament, also at the course.
Just playing at American Dunes, Reed said, is an honor.
“That is the flagship course for Folds of Honor,” he said. “Four years back, Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, who was the founder of Folds of Honor, had been involved at the Grand Haven Country Club there for generations. Dan had gone off to be a pilot and serve his country in the Air Force and Air National Guard, and he always remained connected to golf and the golf course there.”
Rooney recruited Jack Nicklaus to help redesign the course, and it became American Dunes.
“The course is physically redesigned by Jack,” Reed said.
In the clubhouse, it has bronze plaques recognizing fallen veterans and tells stories of Folds of Honor. And Anheuser-Busch has a longstanding partnership with Folds of Honor, Reed said, including selling special cans around Memorial Day with part of the proceeds going to the charity.
Last year, Reed teamed up with Michael Rey and raised $40,000 for Folds of Honor for a 108-hole golf marathon. In part because of the fundraising done by Reed and Rey, scholarship funds from Folds of Honor went to each qualified applicant from 88 families. The pair were the first Anheuser-Busch wholesale to have a golf marathon fundraiser, Reed said, and their proceeds stayed in Michigan.
The Folds of Honor scholarships are not solely for one year, and they’re not solely for post-secondary education, either.
“Let’s say a child of a fallen or wounded or disabled vet needs special school or private school… they can start receiving that scholarship let’s say in the seventh grade if they’re eligible recipient,” he said. “Once they are accepted into the scholarship program, it’s going to follow them for the rest of their educational life, all the way through college.”
Reed said he’s seen first-hand the impact the scholarships had not only on families around the state, but also here locally, too. He said in one family, one child became a broadcaster through the benefits of Folds of Honor while another became a golf pro.
“Last year, Michael and I and our whole sales team got to present a check to a family that two young children that required non-standard schooling, and that was going to enable them to fill their not just their needs and requirements, but kind of their dream,” Reed said of another family he’s witnessed as beneficiaries. “It’s become very personal to us because we get to meet these recipients.”
This year’s golf marathon is a bit different than last year’s. Reed said a handful of Anheuser-Busch wholesalers are competing with one another as they each try to work together to raise at least $100,000.
“We want to beat the other guys, too. It’s still a competition,” Reed said. “What can Ludington do? What can Mason County and our surrounding counties do to out-raise the other guys? The way we can is to going through the link Scott and I have.”
Reed said Anheuser-Busch, Ludington Beverage and his family have long supported the armed forces. He served with the U.S. Army himself and earned the rank of major, and he’s one of a long line of Reed veterans.
“We’ve been here for four generations and three of those four generations have been veterans,” he said. “My father is a veteran, my mother’s side we’ve got veterans. We’re a military service-oriented business. Ludington Beverage has always been a supporter of our service members.”
Playing alongside Ashley is something Reed is excited for, too. And Ashley has a distinct appreciation for the military, too. Scott’s wife, Leona, is a veteran of the Michigan National Guard.
“They’re intimately familiar with the dedication and costs of families of serving,” Reed said. “Not just in time and money, but in true emotional costs and tolls it takes on families… This is part of our way of helping those people, those service members that volunteered to do this for our country and give back to their families and help to take care of their families because they are not able to at this point.
“Scott understood that mission. He’s been a proponent of Folds of Honor, and participated in Folds of Honor and PGA Folds of Honor events around the state in the past. Big supporter of veterans in general,” Reed said. “I’m proud to have Scott as a partner this year.”
Scott Ashley is a longtime PGA club pro at Lakeside Links, and he bought the 27-hole course three years ago as well.
“We want to make sure folks out there know Scott’s dedication for Folds of Honor and say thanks to Scott for what he does for veterans as well.”
To donate to Reed’s and Ashley’s goal, the public can go online to charity.pledgeit.org/t/MbWrGdBtxD. On the page, Reed states that Ludington Beverage will match the first $5,000 in donations from the public, dollar for dollar.
Reed said others may become involved in Folds of Honor, not only through funds raised or donated but also through works.
“There’s a million and one really great noble causes to raise money for in America, in the world,” Reed said. “Not everybody has money to give, but you can give your time. This is just one of many.
“We just ask that you think of these kids here in Michigan, at home, that need that advantage of education and we want to help perpetuate that.”
