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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Foreign Administrators and Retirees Tournament of Sport XXI

By Gail D. Schoppert
17-Sep-15
Foreign Administrators and Retirees Tournament of Sport XXI


Grantham, New Hampshire, July 1, 2015: The Foreign Administrators and Retirees Tournament of Sport (FARTS) played its 21st edition in splendid weather in New Hampshire’s scenic Upper Valley on June 29 and 30. While a variety of issues (including two Achilles Tendon problems, proximity to July 4, and “helping a brother move”) caused attendance to be at a low for recent years (13), the play was spirited and the mood congenial, as usual. The only downer was the absence of any lady players, but Betsy Saff Bowen and Ruth Schoppert joined in the Awards Luncheon.
The first day was played at Canterbury Woods, a beautiful and rather difficult course a few miles north of Concord. Veteran International School Director Alan Conkey led a pack of five golfers who broke 90 this year with a sparkling 79. John Lorenz, former Board Chair when Alan was at AISRotterdam, was second with an 82, followed by Paul DeMinico (86) currently with ISS and another veteran of several major international schools, his son Peter (87), a graduate of The IS of Bangkok, and Michael Foxall (88) currently an Elementary Principal in Turkey. Conkey won Longest Drive, Peter DeMinico won longest putt (37 feet!) and Jim Kerrigan, former Business Manager in Prague and Beijing got the prize for closest to pin on the course’s deceiving downhill par three 6th hole.
On Tuesday the 30th the tournament moved to its usual “Second Day” venue, The Country Club of New Hampshire, in North Sutton. The weather held up throughout the tournament, blessedly, as it had rained hard on Sunday and is raining steadily again on Wednesday as this is written. Conkey once again played splendid golf as he and his partner, Kerrigan, shot a 74 in the two person scramble format. Lorenz and Peter Schoppert, an alum of ISKuala Lumpur and Singapore resident, finished second, with Paul DeMinico and Tournament Director Gail Schoppert (previous Director of 4 schools abroad) tied for 3rd with Peter DeMinico and regular guest Joe Ferrisi. Conkey won his fourth prize with Closest to Pin, Gail S. and Paul D. tied for longest putt when they both hit the hole while playing together, and the Longest Drive contest was the most interesting. The Senior Schoppert hit a nice drive down the middle, quite long for a person of a certain age, and one by one the big hitters missed the fairway. Then Conkey playing in the final group, banged a great drive to take the lead. During the Award Ceremony, however, Schoppert invoked a “Retroactive Farts Rule” that no player could win more than four prizes in a single tournament, and declared himself winner of Longest Drive, an announcement which was greeted with many cheers (and one jolly boo).
Playing again this year was Jeff Schoppert, ISKL alum who once again ran the separate, charitable Putting Contest. It was won by his brother Peter “The Blade”, who, since he was headed off to Singapore, kindly donated the prize bottle of Ernie Els, “Big Easy” wine back to his brother....who had selected and donated it in the first place.
Also back were Joe Harned, formerly of Bangkok and David Buck, veteran of seven schools.
Joining the gang for the first time was Bob Ater, former Director in Vienna, Brussels, Nairobi, Dusseldorf and Buenos Aires. In gratitude for his inclusion, his XXth Anniversary Shirt and his Bush’s Baked Beans shoe Bag, Bob bumped up his fee by making an additional contribution to our TWO charities. Children of Haiti Project will receive around $700 this year, and a modest contribution will also be made to C4K, a program by students from the ACS Amman to provide Crayons and coloring books to refugee children arriving in Jordan--of whom there are many! Other FARTS “members” who couldn’t make it this year sent checks to support these causes, including John & Susan Heard and Bob & Pam Schaecher. We urge all our recipients of this article to consider doing likewise, either by going online and contributing to the charities, with a memo: “FARTS”, or by sending a check to Gail D. Schoppert, 55 Brunswick Ave., West Hartford, CT 06107. He will forward.
Once again, the FARTS community thanks its sponsors. The International Educator (TIE) covered the cost of prizes, as it has for some years. Forrest Broman promises to really try to make our Awards Luncheon for FARTS XXII. And Search Associates generously sponsored the Awards Luncheon after covering the cost of our anniversary shirts last year. We are considering a change of dates to AFTER July 4th, which may permit Jim Ambrose from Search to play for the first time in years, and may result in a significant increase in players, as we would avoid the Independence Day conflict.




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