I was born, raised, and currently reside in Frederick, Maryland. I have so much pride in this city and here’s the epitome of why. At 7pm, when I was driving home from work, I was flipping through my radio station presets and landed on WFRE, Frederick’s country station. This commercial came on.
To summarize: the local Beer Hockey League got ad space on the radio to promote their own hockey tournament. Is this Canada or Frederick?
Anyways, the tournament, where all 8 participating teams are named after beer (Hoegaarden, Coors Golden, Moosehead, Rickards Red, Labatts Blue, Bloodline. Carlings Black Label, and Saw Bones), begins tomorrow at SkateFrederick and ends on Sunday. There will also be a silent auction on Saturday, which features a lot of great hockey items I will detail below. All proceeds will benefit Platoon 22, a non-profit organization that helps service veterans combat PTSD and prevents these heroes from taking their own lives. There’s a special reason why OFGB picked this organization.
“In December 2012, our hockey family lost David Anthony “Tony” Johnson,” Eric Rigsby, a member of OFGB, said to me in an email. “Tony was a friend, teammate, son, brother and a United States Marine. Tony had a smile that would brighten a room; a personality that would change the day for the better; a zest for life that was unmatched within the persons he encountered. Tony struggled with PTSD following his return from combat in Iraq, and sadly took his own life.”
“Tony’s sudden passing affected our entire hockey family,” Rigsby continued. “In an effort to honor the memory of Tony, respect the wishes of his family, and benefit the community, Old Fat Bald Guys Hockey will donate all proceeds from the silent auction at this year’s tournament to Platoon 22.”
The entire weekend is essentially a giant hockey party, where tailgating occurs in the SkateFrederick parking lot. Saturday, the Freddie Long Band will also be playing from 2pm-5pm during the games and silent auction.
Items up for grabs in the silent auction include:
– 4 tickets to Hershey Bears game in 2016-2017 season
– John Carlson autographed Washington Capitals jersey
– Karl Alzner (Washington Capitals) autographed NHL logo puck
– Marc Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins) autographed NHL logo puck
– Mark Streit (Philadelphia Flyers) autographed NHL logo hat
– 2016 American Hockey League all-star game team autographed goalie sticks
– Massage Envy gift cards
– Machine Gun Nest gift certificate
– Foursome at Musket Ridge Golf Course
– Foursome at Bull Run Golf Club
– 4 Free Golfboard Rentals at Reston National Golf Club
– Foursome of golf at Musket Ridge Golf Club
– NHL Referee jersey autographed by NHL Officiating Staff
– NHL Officials Association golf shirt/hat package (x3)
– ECHL shirt/hat package (x2)
– Trenton Titans classic ECHL jersey
– Dayton Bombers classic ECHL jersey
– Foursome at Waverly Woods Golf Club
– Foursome at Blue Mash Golf Club
– One-year free skate sharpening at Beantown Blades
– Hockey East (NCAA) gift package
– Frederick Keys tickets and autographed memorabilia
– Flying Dog Brewery gift package
– Foursome at Holly Hills Country Club
– Foursome at Richland Country Club
Here’s more details from OFGB:
This year the 12th annual Old Fat Bald Guys Summer Hockey Tournament will be held, July 15-17 at Skate Frederick. The annual silent auction will be held on Saturday, July 16th from 10:00am to 6:00pm. This year the proceeds of the silent auction will benefit Platoon 22, a local 501c3 non-profit organization that helps service veterans combat PTSD, and ultimately prevents these heroes from taking their own lives. The name Platoon 22 is symbolic of the estimated twenty-two U.S. service veterans who take their own lives every day due to PTSD. For more information please visit www.Platoon22.org.
The silent auction always includes many great items and services donated from the hockey community and regional businesses. Of interest to RMNB readers, this year’s announced items includes Washington Capitals memorabilia and Hershey Bears tickets. The NHL has even donated a couple Penguins and Flyers items for the diverse hockey fan community in the DC area. Some larger, not yet announced items will be auctioned off live. All of the items and other details about the auction are being announced on the OFBG Facebook page.
We would love to see as many people as possible come out to bid in the auction and support Platoon 22! More information about the entire event can be found on the OFBG website, ofbghockey.com.
I hope to see you there!