Fiddlesticks' tourney nets $580,000 for charities

COURTESY PHOTO Fiddlesticks member and Foundation Director Gerry Wolken, left, helps baseball hall-of-famer Johnny Bench auction off an item for the Bobby Nichols Fiddlesticks Charity Foundation. This years golf tournament and other events earned $580,000 for local children's charities.

In just six years, the Bobby Nichols- Fiddlesticks Charity Foundation has raised $1.942 million for children's charities. This year's Nichols Cup Celebrity Pro-Am tournament, held February 17-18 at Fiddlesticks Country Club, was the biggest yet. Checks totaling $580,000 were presented April 14 to: Children's Advocacy Center of SWF ($250,000, Abuse Counseling and Treatment Inc. ($235,000), SWFLAddiction Services ($85,000) and the Johnny Bench Scholarship Fund ($10,000).

The Foundation's sponsors include: Prasco Laboratories, 21st Century Healthcare, Dawson Companies, Val Ward Cadillac, Merrill Lynch, Orion Bank, FineMark Bank, Safe Zone, Herndon Carr, Crowther Roofing, Goldstein/Buckley and Colonial Bank.

The Bobby Nichols Fiddlesticks Charity Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2002, is a group of Fiddlesticks members known as Pipers who volunteer to organize and run the Nichols Cup Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament. The mission of the Pipers and the Foundation is to raise funds specifically for local children's charities, while recognizing Bobby Nichols, a Fiddlesticks resident since its inception and winner of 14 PGA Tour tournaments.