Suarez softball draws family and friends
|
| By: Bob Nuse ,
Sports Editor |
07/27/2004 |
|
Event raises funds, spirits
The idea behind the first David
Suarez Softball Classic was to bring together friends and
family for a day of softball and to raise money for the
scholarship fund that was started in memory of the victim of
the attack on the World Trade Center.
Now
in its third year, the day of softball continues to grow as
people come together to remember David Suarez and the life he
led.
"It started out really as a way to
raise some money," said Mike Eskra, who helped start the David
Suarez Memorial Scholarship and helps organize the softball
game along with Jeff Tobias. "A bunch of teams would come
together and we'd sell raffle tickets and raise some
money.
"Now it has turned into a way for
everyone to get together. We had two teams from our old
fraternity and everyone was saying how this was the one time
each year we all got together. I think people have made this
something they want to do each year. After we finished on
Saturday, people were already talking about setting a date for
next year."
The softball classic brought
together eight teams of various abilities to West
Windsor-Plainsboro South to honor Suarez, a WW-P graduate who
died on Sept. 11, 2001. Suarez also graduated from Penn State
University, and the day of softball brought together friends
from high school, college and work to remember
him.
"I think it's good because it is
kind of a low-key sporting event that brings the people
together," Eskra said.
Even though there
are no high stakes, it's still a competitive tournament.
Scores are kept and teams advance through brackets. This year
the winning team was from Ernst and Young, while there also
were teams made up of fraternity brothers from Penn State, as
well as friends and family and other members of the
community.
"Some of the players are more
competitive than others," said Eskra, who attended WW-P and
Penn State with Suarez. "There was a team this year from the
local Boy Scout troop. The Suarez family still lives in West
Windsor and there are so many of his friends in the area. It
just keeps getting bigger and bigger every
year.
"I think when it started we thought
it would be nice to have this game and raise some money. And
now it keeps growing. Jeff does most of the work for it. And
in the past I would help him a little bit and so would the
Suarez family. Now he has more and more people looking to
help."
Suarez grew up in West Windsor and
was co-captain of the wrestling team at WW-P. After graduating
from high school in 1995, he went on to Penn State, graduating
with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1999.
While in college he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternal
order and helped raise funds for children with cancer. Later,
while working for Deloitte Consulting, he also volunteered for
New York Cares, an organization assisting underprivileged
residents.
This year the scholarship fund
presented a pair of scholarships to graduating seniors at WW-P
South. Those awards went to Clara Bracke and Janet
Ju.
"We go through all the normal school
programs," Eskra said. "You have to have a good academic
record. One of the things we do is we put on there what kind
of person Dave was and what he believed was important and we
ask the applicants why those things are important to
them."
With the success of the annual
softball classic, it looks like the memory of David Suarez and
what he believed in will last for a long time. That much was
evident Saturday as more than 100 people gathered at his alma
mater to remember him and raise some money along the way.
|
| ©PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment
Business - Princeton and Central New
Jersey 2004 |
|
Business 
\news25_files\spacer(1).gif){kind=spacer}
