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Asher Open Highlights & Champions

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10th Annual Asher Open - March 2006

Asher and Company, Ltd. was filled with excitement and anticipation on March 17th. Although the celebration of St. Patrick's Day may have been a contributor, the main reason (we hope!) was that this date marked the 10th Anniversary of the Asher Open.

The level of excitement increased further when Don Polec, from ABC's local affiliate Channel 6, paid a visit to cover this historic event. This was the second time the Asher Open was covered on his lengthy special interest feature, Don Polec's World. The first time was in 1998.

Creativity Comes Into Play
According to Asher Open historians, this year's Asher Open Design-A-Hole Contest raised the bar in terms of creativity. Golf hole themes included a tribute to the U.S.A. Curling Team using makeshift curling stones as obstacles; a tribute to the Sopranos with a windmill crafted to look like wooden bats as an obstacle; an Independence Day theme decorated with alien space ships used a computer program as an obstacle in which participants were asked three questions from the Independence Exam - the number correct determined the tee location.

The winning hole was "Over the Rainbow" designed by Randee Mellon, Jen Silvan, Elizabeth Pilacik, and Robin Fritz. Based on the Wizard of Oz, the hole included yellow bricks as obstacles along with various themed items such as a witch's hat, bicycle, pictures of flying monkey's donning the faces of various Asher staff members, and large cardboard cutouts of the main characters with faces of staff members placed on them.

This Year's Benefactor
This year's defending champion, Michael Palagruto, designated the Brian Forgione Memorial Fund as this year's benefactor. This memorial fund was established to celebrate the life of Brian Forgione, younger brother of Jim Forgione, a manager in Asher's accounting and auditing group. A bright student and exceptional athlete, Brian passed away from cancer in 2002 shortly after graduating from Susquehanna University. The memorial fund provides college scholarship opportunities to high school students and has donated a baseball scoreboard and other athletic supplies to Dunmore High School through its annual event, the BDF Memorial Golf Tournament. The Fund will make a donation in Brian's Memory to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation with a portion of the proceeds from the Asher Open.

The Grand Total
With the support and participation of Asher clients, vendors, alumni and friends for a second consecutive year, the Asher Open raised approximately $2500.

Closing Ceremony and Party
The day concluded with a catered staff party during which the day's top golfers and Design-A-Hole Contest winners were recognized and staff members who recently passed the CPA exam were honored.

This year's top golfer, Frank Baratta, was presented the 2006 Asher Open Champion trophy - a metal colander. The day's top golfers were as follows: Frank Baratta (23), 2003 Champion Jim Kochanski (24), Andrew Passano (25), and Jim Forgione (26).

The Design-A-Hole Winners, Randee Mellon, Jen Silvan, Elizabeth Pilacik, and Robin Fritz were presented their $100 Barnes and Noble Gift Certificate.

Christina Morro and Jennifer Silvan from Asher's Tax Department and Jim Hamill from the Accounting and Auditing Group were honored for recently passing the CPA exam.

All participating golfers received a small prize that they could choose from the “Pro Shop.”