Stars to turn out for 15th Annual Celebrity Classic

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
April 29, 2009

Celebrity spotting around the San Marcos area can start in earnest Saturday, May 2, the first day of the 15th annual Chartwells CenturyTel Texas State University-San Marcos Celebrity Classic scheduled through Monday, May 4.

The Celebrity Classic is Texas State’s premiere fundraiser, providing funds for graduate student scholarships. Since it began, close to a million dollars has been raised for graduate scholarships.

Although the faces of Samuel L. Jackson, Burton “Bubba” Gilliam, Earl Billings, Jonathan Banks, Leslie Easterbrook, Richard Gant, Charley Pride and the Golf Channel’s Dan Boever may be among the standouts as far as familiarity is concerned, the participating theatre, film, television and sport professionals share a wealth of experience in their respective fields. Most of them also share a dedication to the Celebrity Classic. Classic regulars welcome newcomers Texas State Distinguished Alumnus Powers Boothe, Thomas Calabro, James Clement and Richard Karn this year.

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, promises a spectacular event.

Celebrities and sponsors will return to Quail Creek Country Club Sunday morning for the Classic’s annual golf scramble and to the Texas State University Tennis Courts for the weekend’s tennis tournament. Both golf and tennis start at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday.

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.

On Monday, May 4, it’s off to the Onion Creek Club for the classic’s major attraction for many participants – the annual Celebrity Golf Classic, presented for the first time this year by Blimpie. American Airlines is the presenting sponsor for the Celebrity Classic DVDs that are always presented to golfers and tennis players. Coca Cola will be striving to repeat their team’s 2008 win.

According to Texas State Graduate Dean Mike Willoughby, who chairs the Classic executive committee, revenue from the 2008 event reached $109,000, bringing the total of funds raised to $800,000, with more than 45 scholarships awarded. This is why the Celebrity Classic has adopted the theme “hit a ball and change a life!” for 2009.

Willoughby stresses that it is the generosity of name sponsors CenturyTel of San Marcos, Inc. and Chartwells, along with presenting sponsors American Airlines, Blimpie, 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 2009 Celebrity Classic sponsors are major sponsors Brown Distributing Company, CenterPoint Energy, FedEx Kinko’s, First Transit, Embassy Suites San Marcos, IKON Office Solutions, International Power-Hays, The Legends Group, Priority Personnel, Rocking JT Ranch (James and Terri Isbell) Subway of San Marcos, Staples/Summus Industries, and the Texas State University Bookstore. Other sponsors included Coca-Cola, Frost Bank, LifeTime Marketing LLC, McPherson Cellars, Maui Tacos, Ki and Wendy Norman and Onion Creek Club.

For more information on the Classic, call (512) 245-2581or visit the Classic webpage at http://www.txstate.edu/classic/.