Celebrity Classic fundraiser returns for 14th year

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
April 23, 2008

Come the first weekend in May, celebrity spotting in San Marcos will again become a popular pastime, like it has for the past 13 years.

The 14th annual Chartwells CenturyTel Texas State University-San Marcos Celebrity Classic, set for May 3 – 5, 2008, will bring back old friends such as Burton “Bubba” Gilliam, Jonathan Banks, Earl Billings, David Magee and Chris Mulkey, along with one-time visitor Alfre Woodard and newcomer Dan Boever, a Golf Channel favorite.

Guests will arrive in San Marcos Friday and Saturday for the Classic’s opening event, a gala dinner and auction Saturday evening in the LBJ Student Center.  Co-name sponsor, Chartwells, the university’s contracted food service and the evening’s presenting sponsor, is building the event around a “Le Neuveau Cirque” theme.

Celebrities and sponsors will return to Quail Creek Country Club Sunday morning for the Classic’s annual golf scramble.  Two new venues are on this year’s Classic schedule – the Texas State University Tennis Courts, where the weekend’s tennis tournament will be played Sunday and George’s in the LBJ Student Center where the Sunday evening reception for major sponsors and celebrities will be held this year, again sponsored by H-E-B. The Texas State and San Marcos communities are invited to go to Quail Creek and the Texas State Tennis Courts to watch golf and tennis, meet celebrities and collect autographs beginning at 9:30 a.m.

On Monday, May 5, it’s off to the Onion Creek Club for the classic’s major attraction for many participants – the annual Celebrity Golf Classic, presented by Priority Personnel.  James and Terri Isbell of Fort Worth will be striving to repeat their team’s 2007 win.

According to Texas State Graduate Dean Mike Willoughby, who chairs the event’s executive committee, last year’s Classic raised more than $100,000 for Graduate College scholarships.  Thanks to participating sponsors, this is the university’s largest scholarship fundraiser, Willoughby says, noting that more than $700,000 has been raised and 39 graduate students presented scholarships since as a result of the Classic’s success.  Beginning next year, $30,000 will be allocated annually for new graduate scholarships.

Willoughby stresses that it is the generosity of name sponsors Chartwells and CenturyTel of San Marcos, Inc., along with presenting sponsors Priority Personnel, H-E-B and Quail Creek Country Club and a long list of major and other sponsors, that has made the Celebrity Classic a financial success, transforming a fun event into a highly successful fundraiser that benefits graduate students.

Rounding out the list of 2008 Celebrity Classic sponsors are major sponsors Brown Distributing Company, CenterPoint Energy, FedEx Kinko’s, First Transit, Hampton Inn & Suites, IKON Office Solutions, International Power- Hays, The Legends Group, Chuck Nash Auto Group, NIKE Factory Store, Onion Creek Club, Rocking JT Ranch

(James and Terri Isbell) and Subway of San Marcos.  Other sponsors included Coca-Cola, Frost Bank, K-W Construction, McPherson Cellars, Maui Tacos, Ki and Wendy Norman, Staples and Wells Fargo Bank.

For more information on the Classic, call (512) 245-2396 or visit the Classic webpage at http://www.txstate.edu/classic/.