The 2021 Agonis Club Person of the Year golf outing and banquet honoring mr jack park (Recap)

By: Jim Beck

Fantastic.

The 2021 Golf outing and Banquet was a great time had by all.  The day was wonderful and warm, and the golfers were up to the challenge of the Delaware Golf Club Course.  The day started after registration with a deli sandwich buffet and the BEST cookies!  Then the golfers got started at about 1PM and finished up at around 5:30 - Everyone told us they had a great day out on the course. 

So around the Golf Course they all went, enjoying a great day of camaderie and golf.  At this point, Jack and I (as I had the honor to drive him around for a few hours) started to meet with each of the teams and everyone seemed so interested in all of Jack's stories, that at a few points the folks behind were catching up!  Getting Jack Park to talk about Woody, and Archie, and Earl and more is one of the more inspiring and fascinating things you can hear.  His knowledge about all things Ohio State Football will make a mouse forget about the cheese!

As the day went on, and the heat increased, we saw our members and guests enjoying this day even more.  It feels like things have come back to a little more normal and everyone was full of good stories and cheer. I for one was incredibly happy to see everyone after a long absense that we all endured, and I think most of the people in attendance felt the same way.  

Each of the members had a moment to greet Jack and get pictures taken with him, so as the day went on Jack was able to meet each and every golfer, and many had old stories that made him laugh and, of course, retort with his own creative spirit. 

​So as the golfers came in off the course, most were pretty hungry and thirsty and warm.  Most decided to head on into the banquet area and get cooled off.  The mixer was great in that we saw so many people we have missed the past months.  The room was excited in anticpation of the upcoming program, and so many more attenddes came in after the golf, that filled the room. Just as we should for a man that has given so much to us all.

Congratulations to the winners from the tournament as follows:

Winning Foursome:  Fred Abbott, Greg Brightman, Chuck Olszewski, Scott Tarney – they shot 61.

Longest Drive Men:  Tim Phlegar

Longest Drive Women:  Ashleigh Walsh

Longest Putt:  Ryan Johnson

Closest to the Pin:  Scott Tarney

Pizza for a Year:  Rick Wyrick

The banquet opened when our President Bob Redfield addresssed the room and thanked everyone for the fantastic day and gave a peek into what's to come.  He introduced our fellow Agonian John Buckenroth, who generously shared the Prayer and lead us with the Pledge of Allegiance.

​After dinner, our gracious MC Dave Maetzold (FoxSports) gets things off to a great start with his words about Jack and his career. He then introduces Mr. Brian Timm as our first presenter. Brian Timm is the current Director of Sales for M2 Marketing. Brian spoke at great length about the tenacity Jack has had for his entire career, and how they used to spend time working in the sports analyst and announcer side of the business together. You can tell they had many late nights, as the shared words were gracious and enlightening.  He certainly stated what we all knew, that Jack Park was well deserving of this award!

​When Brian was done, Dave again took to the mic to introduce us to Buckeye Sports Bulletin Publisher and Owner and Writer, Frank Moskowitz.  Frank spoke to us about how his work relationships with Jack helped him to grow his publication. He and Jack were long-time collaborators and are both bound by their absolute love of Ohio State and especialy, the storied Ohio State Football Program.

And then it was onto the reason we were all gathered. To honor and hear from Mr. Jack Park himself.  When he hit the stage, you can tell he was ready to give it everything he had.  He spoke about how he got started in his career, about his times with Brian and Frank and more.  He spoke about how a specific time in his life, that a small gig he said yes to, turned his whole career into what it is. His heartfelt message about hope, and hard work, and friendship and family was inspiring to us all.  We all know that Jack knew almost EVERYTHING about Ohio State Football, but many of us learned that his heart is as big as a lion tonight. 

Jack was also able to give his two Grand-Daughters a little gift for the evening as well. He presented them both with a signed Football from none other than Jim Tressell!  

​There could not be a more important honor we can give each year at the Agonis Club, and this award, the Sports Person of the Year, was a perfect fit for this year.  We thank you Jack for your time and we honor you today and all the years in the future.

We could not end without giving a HUGE THANK YOU to our sponsors of this event and our club.  Without your support, we would not be able to have these events.  If you have read this recap, PLEASE go and support our sponsors if and when you can.  The logos are on the footer of our website for this reason. Thank you!

We also need to thank our Board Members Bob Redfield, Jeff Norris, Mike Hamrick, Linda Zelms, Bob Lash, Duane Phlegar, John Buckenroth, and Tom & Sharon Sappington.  Your work over the past year was invaluable to this event's success. Thank you!!