A worthy cause: Wendy's Golf Classic celebrity outing to take place June 24

Helping to change the lives of children is what the Wendy's Golf Classic is all about.

Now in its 20th year, the annual event is set to take place Friday at the Ashland Golf Club with proceeds to benefit both the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Team Focus.

And to no one's surprise, the event is sold out once again, raising $300,000 since its inception.

"Very few teams become available each year because everybody wants to come back and play continually," said Zane Gross of Wenco, who serves as one of the directors of the classic, along with Warren Jones and Kip Matteson. "We have a standard group of companies and people who look forward to playing in it every year.

"I think mainly because of two reasons. Number one is obviously the celebrity they get to play with, and number two is all of the little added things we do for the golfer. We have the Titleist guy there, and they all get to use points and get apparel and stuff, and we actually bring a Frosty machine out and everybody at the turn can grab a Frosty, so that's always a big hit, too. "

It's the two worthy charities the participants and celebrities enjoy raising money for.

"The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is our brand cause, and Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, was adopted, so he started this foundation to raise money for homes for children, and they do a wonderful job with it," Gross said. "They actually fund people from various counties to help out local adoption agencies with getting families to adopt children.

"A few years back, I encountered coach Mike Gottfried (former broadcaster and collegiate football coach), another man who has a great heart for young boys. Most of them lost their fathers, and in Mike's story, he lost his father at a young age. He does everything he can through his Team Focus organization to teach young boys how to grow up to be productive citizens, great husbands and great fathers and teach them life skills that many probably wouldn't be in a position to learn those life skills. He puts so much time, energy and resources behind that, just like the Camp Team Focus that's always up here at Ashland University."

A bunch of celebrities will be on hand once again, such as former Cleveland Browns greats Frank Stams, Greg Pruitt and Cleo Miller. Former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar will also be there but won't be golfing.

Former Ohio State players include quarterback Mike Tomczak, Andy Katzenmoyer, Mike Doss, Michael Wylie and Justin Zwick.

Ashland University football coach Lee Owens, AU men's basketball coach John Ellenwood and former AU men's basketball coach Rob Spivery will also be in attendance.

"The NFL Alumni is a huge help to us in bringing celebrities to play in our golf tournament, and that's mainly because of the nonprofits we support, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and also coach Mike Gottfried's Team Focus," Gross said. "The NFL Alumni do a lot of different stuff for kids organizations, so they love that about our outing and really do an awful lot to support us.

"I can't say enough about Frank Stams and Andy Katzenmoyer because they're the ones who really rally behind and support us 100%, and they get most of the celebrities for us, like former Browns players and former Ohio State Buckeye players."

A charity auction, open to the public, will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Ashland Golf Club.

"We've got some great items this year for the auction, (including) the University of Cincinnati against the Naval Academy football tickets,” Gross said. “We have Notre Dame versus Stanford football tickets. Coca-Cola always gives us four tickets to Walt Disney, and my wife (Debbie) and I give our timeshare for a week. This year, the Fin Feather and Fur Outfitters donated a Smith and Wesson handgun, and we're selling raffle tickets for that and draw those on Friday when golf is done."

A complete list of the auction items can be found at wendysgolfclassic.com.

Gross said he receives a good amount of satisfaction by putting on the golf event.

"One of the principles our founder Dave Thomas had with the brand is to give something back to the communities that took care of you and your business," he said. "This is just one of those core values of what can I give back?

"I didn't have much growing up, but I didn't know it at the time because my parents did whatever they possibly could for us, so we thought we had it all. So just knowing where I came from and how can I help other kids to cross over, like I was blessed with opportunity and ability to do. So just help those kids step up in life, step up in society, step up in family success, whatever it is to help them reach the next level in whatever it may be."

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Wendy's Golf Classic celebrity outing to take place June 24