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Roy
benefit grows quickly Golf event draws full house,
expects to raise another $30,000 By Michael Fornabaio ORANGE, CT - In seven years, the
Travis
Roy Foundation Golf Tournament has grown from a small tournament to help
Roy meet expenses to a gala that brought a
'60s pop star to this small town. Around 500 people were at Race Brook Country Club
Monday night for dinner, awaiting a performance from Davy Jones of the Monkees.
That was after more than 250 people played a round of golf at $265 a head. The tournament, dinner and accompanying auction
raised over $30,O00 last year for the foundation, and a similar total was
likely this year, Michael Ferguson said. "Without a doubt, Travis is an inspiration to
everyone," said Ferguson, who runs the tournament with his brother, John. Roy
suffered a spinal cord injury when he crashed into the boards 11 seconds into
his first shift at Boston University in 1995. He was paralyzed from the
shoulders down, but has worked to regain some movement in his right arm. He
began the foundation to work toward spinal cord research and to help those who
suffered similar injuries, and it has since raised over $800,000. "We're helping people all around the country,”
Roy said. "There's a lot of great equipment out there. It's just so
expensive." Trumbull-raised Ted and Chris Drury are the
tournament's official hosts. Chris Drury was a teammate of Roy at BU. "The money we raise for Travis and his cause,
it's just unbelievable," said Chris Drury, whose Colorado Avalanche played
a memorable seven-game series against San Jose this postseason before falling
to Detroit in seven in the Western finals. "The attitude he's carried,
he's amazing. It's something we can all learn from." The tournament has grown from around 40 foursomes to
this year's 65, and if the course could handle the extra people, Ferguson said,
another 15 foursomes might have been filled. "There aren't too many tournaments out there
that can send out two groups on each hole in the morning and the
afternoon," said Ted Drury, whose contract with the Carolina Hurricanes is
up. He wasn't sure about plans for next year. "John and Mike work really
hard on it." Olympic hockey player Julie Chu, of Fairfield, who's
headed to Harvard in the fall, was among the first-timers at the tournament. "I can't believe I haven't been a part of
something this great before," said Chu, who played a round in the morning
and another in the afternoon. Roy spent much of the afternoon on the course,
occasionally shooting barbs at friends on the greens and said he's feeling
great. "It's just incredible how (the tournament)
continues. It's a credit to the community and to the Fergusons," Roy said. Roy said he's taking some time off this summer and
spending time in Vermont with his family. He spends nine months of the year in
Boston, and has made many speeches at colleges and conferences. Pro hockey players at the tournament included AHL
MVP Eric Boguniecki, of West Haven, who hosted Roy at the University of New
Hampshire on a recruiting trip before Roy chose BU: Boguniecki's Worcester
lceCats teammate Eric Nickulas; Bruins prospect and former Terrier Chris
Kelleher; Nashville's Mark Mowers; and new New York Ranger and former Terrier
Tom Poti Several players visited New Haven Police Officer
Robert Fumiatti at Yale-New Haven Hospital Monday morning. Fumiatti, a former West Haven High hockey player who
was shot in the face while on duty June 13, wore badge No. 24, coincidentally
Roy's sweater number. CONNECTICUT POST - SPORT PLUS Tuesday June, 25,
2002
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