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5TH ANNUAL VT WIFFLE BALL TOURNAMENT TO BENEFIT THE TRAVIS ROY FOUNDATION TO BE HELD AUGUST 11-13 KeyBank & Best Western Windjammer Inn and Conference Center to Be Major Sponsors JERICHO, VT – The 5th Annual VT Wiffle Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation will be held Friday, August 11 through Sunday, August 13, 2006 at Little Fenway Park in Jericho, VT. KeyBank and Best Western Windjammer Inn and Conference Center are this year’s major sponsors. Their donations will be used to help support the Foundation through a very unique event. “The employees at KeyBank are not only proud to be sponsors of this event and helping support those with spinal cord injuries, we also celebrate the fun spirit of the tournament," said Lesli Blount, KeyBank's Director of Community Relations. “We are proud to be a sponsor of the Travis Roy Foundation Wiffle Ball Tournament,” said Karen Wisehart, Director of Marketing, Windjammer Hospitality Group. “What a unique way to raise important funds for spinal cord survivors and research. We hope our sponsorship will make a difference to the fundraising efforts of this wonderful event.” The VT Wiffle Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation has quickly grown into one of the most successful annual supporters of the Foundation. The inaugural event drew six teams and raised $4,000. Last year, with sixteen teams from across the Northeast competing for the coveted ‘traveling’ trophy, an astonishing $43,000 was raised. Organizers have set a goal of $60,000 this year. A new champion was crowned in 2005 as the hometown Hockey Monkeys from Essex, VT defeated the defending champion Comets Express from Chelmsford, MA 3-2 in the championship game. More than $43,000 was raised through the event, including an astounding $10,800 from the Comets Express who maintained supremacy off the field as the team raising the most in pledges. This event has now raised more than $85,000 for spinal cord injury survivors and research. “Since last year's tournament there have been major advances in spinal cord research, but we still have a long ways to go. The money raised during the tournament will help to bring a cure that much closer,” said Travis Roy, founder of the Travis Roy Foundation. “I'm grateful to all the people who will be participating in this year's tournament and their desire to not only have fun but to raise money to improve the quality of lives for spinal cord injured survivors. The buzz for this year's tournament has begun, and I can't wait for the first pitch.” The Vermont Wiffle Ball Tournament to Benefit the Travis Roy Foundation will also feature activities, including taking a shot at the Green Monster during the Home Run Derby ($5 donation), Closest-to-the-Pin ($3), and a Dunking Booth ($3). This year's event will also include raffles and a silent auction. Some exciting items have already been donated: · Autographed jersey from Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling · Baseball signed by Red Sox right fielder Trot Nixon · Hockey Stick signed by VT native and Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward John LeClair · Two nights stay at the Marriott Boston · With more arriving daily Admission for spectators is free, and all proceeds from events will benefit the Travis Roy Foundation. TRAVIS ROY FOUNDATION: The Travis Roy Foundation (www.travisroyfoundation.org) distributes grants to paraplegics and quadriplegics in financial need to enable them to purchase items and technology necessary to live more independent lives. Examples of eligible items include upgrade/maintenance of wheelchairs, vehicle modifications (i.e., hand controls and lifts), home modifications including ramp and elevator installation, and adaptive equipment. The Foundation also supports research into an eventual cure for spinal cord paralysis and supports the “First Five Project”, an innovative high intensity, focused exercise program for motivated spinal cord injured adolescents and adults with quadriplegia. The Travis Roy Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent as allowed by law. TRAVIS ROY: On October 20, 1995, only eleven seconds into the first shift of his college hockey career at Boston University, Travis Roy’s dream was cut cruelly short when he shattered his fourth cervical vertebra, severely damaging his spinal cord. Travis Roy is now a quadriplegic, with no feeling below his shoulders and no movement in his legs or left arm. With limited control of only his right bicep, Roy is able to conduct simple yet key tasks such as operating the joystick of his wheelchair. He has faced his disability with the same sense of optimism and determination that distinguished his hockey career. A graduate of Boston University with a degree in public relations, Roy is a popular motivational speaker and is actively involved with the activities of the Travis Roy Foundation. In 1998, he published a book, Eleven Seconds, based on his life. In 2004, he made his debut as a television college hockey analyst with WMTW-TV8 in Portland, ME, and in 2005, he worked as a color analyst during ESPN's national coverage of the 2005 NCAA D-I college hockey playoffs. Travis Roy is a summer resident of Colchester, VT. VT WIFFLE BALL TOURNAMENT: Founded in 2002, the event is played in Jericho, VT, a small town near Burlington. Founder Pat O’Connor built a wiffle ball-sized replica of Fenway Park in his back yard, complete with the Citgo sign and Green Monster, and has hosted the annual charity event since 2002. Construction is about to commence for a second wiffle ballpark, “Little Wrigley.” For more information about this event, please contact Marge Oppold at 802-373-4835 or vtinfo@travisroyfoundation.org. For more information about the Travis Roy Foundation, please visit us online at www.travisroyfoundation.org or contact Jana Spaulding at 617-699-8106 or jspaulding@travisroyfoundation.org. -30-
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