05/21/2023
What a great day it was!!
TODAY IS THE DAY!!!
Clay’s Golf and Guitars Through the Years…
How It All Began
In May 2014, friends of Gail and Dr. Ed Eichler held a crawfish boil to celebrate the life of their son, Clay, who passed away earlier that year. The crawfish boil was held on Clay’s birthday (a birthday shared with his older brother, Edward) as an opportunity to share memories and uplift the family. It was quickly evident that this memorial would become an annual gathering to raise funds for the community. The Clay Eichler Memorial Fund was created in 2014, and the first Clay’s Golf and Guitars fundraiser was held May 30, 2015, at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. For the past nine years, the Clay Eichler Memorial Fund has benefitted local organizations, some from their inception, in hopes of making a positive impact on the Texarkana community in memory of Clay.
“We pick our recipients after carefully going over their missions and how they would use money the community would essentially give,” Eichler said. “We tried to choose organizations which would provide services to the most people in our area.”
Golf and Guitars
Each year, the fundraiser begins with a golf tournament hosted at Northridge Country Club. Teams, many filled with friends of Clay, gather to compete in a friendly tournament and share memories of their beloved friend. After the golf tournament, a tribute band plays, and attendees gather to eat, celebrate, and dance. The party historically includes a highly-esteemed raffle drawing. A select amount of $100 tickets are sold to provide a chance to win a vacation for four.
“The first year, we had no idea on how to throw a concert,” stated Eichler. “We had Jason Boland and The Stragglers, one of Clay’s favorite bands. We had a friend suggest a tribute band after being at a wedding in Houston and remarking how much fun it was. So, we decided to have tribute bands in the following years who offer music we like to dance to.”
Nine Years of Giving Back!
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