Disc golf league fights cancer with Relay For Life donation

The Mt. Pleasant disc golf league has been a growing community in Henry County for the better part of the past 10 years, and after one of their own was taken by cancer, the club has decided to fight back with donations.

SuzAnne Griffis, the wife of Bob Griffis and stepmother of Justin Griffis, both league members, passed away in May, but her passing has birthed a new campagin of giving: The SuzAnne Griffis Memorial Disc Golf Tournament.

The local disc golfers put on the first annual tournament on Sunday July 7, a best shot doubles tournament. The tournament, raffle and silent auction sale raised $2,214 for Relay For Life.

The league has been raising money for charity since 2012, but had topped out around $600 on their best year, but the Memorial tournament more than tripled that mark.

'As a group, we were wanting to get together anyway, for a big fundraiser of some kind,” says Steve Thirtyacre, a staple in the disc golf community. 'This just seemed like it was appropriate. Jon Clarke came up with the idea to do it, promote it and run it, and he did a heck of a good job on it.”

Clarke says the group was already getting set to raise money for charity. The group had raised money for Relay For Life before, and Griffis had been a big part of the fundraising efforts.

'We were looking for something this year, whether it be the animal shelter or something,” explained Clarke. 'We like to put something back into the town as our sport grows. Unfortunately, with SuZanne passing away, it kind of fell into place that we should do something for the family.”

Shortly after SuzAnne's death, husband Bob was involved in a severe motorcycle accident. Clarke says the group knew it was time to help out the family, with a lot of help from the local community.

'It couldn't have come at a better time for the Griffis family, and the people in the community just absolutely poured out,” Clarke says. 'Their generosity was just incredible.”

Griffis went to school in New London and was well known in Henry County. That led to the outpouring of donations and gifts from around the area.

'In this day and age, it's hard to get people to give,” Clarke says. 'But SuzAnne and Bob are very well known in this area. When we started taking the flyers around, people were like, ‘We know SuzAnne! We'll help you out.'”

During her life, Griffis was very outgoing and spirited, even when things were dull, says Thirtyacre. While this month's charity tournament was played in perfect weather, the league hasn't always gotten that lucky, but nothing stopped Griffis from sticking it out.

'She always appreciated what we did for her,” says Thirtyacre. 'I can remember one tournament where it poured down rain the whole tournament, and a lot of people left, but there were a few of us that stuck it out. When we got back, she was still there to give her talk and thank us.”

Among those who donated money, prizes or gifts to the Memorial tournament were Pizza Ranch, Russ Argo of Ottumwa Radio, Hy-Vee, Moutrie Trucking and many more. Clarke says the community was more than happy to help, and that this wouldn't be the last the area would hear from the SuzAnne Griffis Memorial Tournament.

'We will be making this a yearly thing,” Clarke says. 'Next year I think what the intentions of the club are, is we'll still do it under the SuzAnne Griffis Memorial, but we will leave it up to Bob to decide where the money goes. And hopefully, this is a tradition we can carry on for many years to come.”