The Morgantown Area Business Association set out to raise money on Sept. 26.
The association, created in 1984, has been growing ever since. MABA decided on using their Annual Golf Outing this year, which included five hours of golfing at the Honey Brook Golf Club, to raise money for High School Scholarships.
Bob Gebhardt, the chairman of MABA and owner of Village Electrician, said, “Originally it just started out as a fun day out for the members of the organization, and one of the responsibilities of the MABA is every year we give out a couple of scholarships to high school seniors, and it was always a challenge to get the money for the scholarships. So when I started, I turned our fun day out into a fundraiser to make the money for the scholarships.”
The day started off around 11:30 a.m. for check in and members were welcome to have lunch. Tee-offs had started around 12:30 p.m., once everyone had checked in. Members played in four different sets of groups and they had mostly played for the cause, not just to win. The members were also treated with free refreshments throughout the day.
Members had played until approximately 5:30, when dinner was to be served. MABA Members were encouraged to stay for the post-round meal and festivities. The festivities included golf awards and door prizes.
MABA President Mark Cummins, owner of Thunder Wash, a full service pressure washing company, said his goal for the members was to have “a fun day” and to “make a little money.”
Gebhardt has been the Chairman of MABA for eight years now. He was in charge of the Annual Golf Outing. The goal for raising money was for scholarships in past years had been difficult to get for the winners of the scholarships, but Bob had the idea to take the Annual Golf Outing and use it to raise money for the scholarship winners. To get the scholarship money you have to be a spouse, or sibling, of a member of the MABA. To have the chance to win, the MABA requires the High School Senior to complete an essay about what their future goals and plans in life are.
Cummins says that the goals for the event golfers were to enjoy their day because it was supposed to be a fun day. He had also said that his goals for the organization had been “to make everybody more profitable.” MABA takes small businesses and helps them to improve and grow. They have monthly meetings to discuss the different businesses involved and how they can improve.
The Morgantown Area Business Association’s main focus has been to promote the many businesses of Morgantown, and surrounding businesses. They also work with different high schools to promote business education.
Gebhardt says that their future plans are to “invite businesses to join and come to the meetings, come to the outings, come to the social events to network and meet new people and try to expand the organization.”
Their next upcoming event is their Holiday Dinner in November, where members bring family and they discuss future goals, while enjoying a good holiday meal.
Also to celebrate the New Year, Cummins says they “will be starting the exponent stuff for the upcoming year.”
Meetings are held the third Tuesday of the month, as a breakfast meeting at 7:30 a.m. at the Windmill Restaurant off Route 10.
