2015 Golf Tournament Photos
Yearly Archives: 2015
Barons and Barristers – The 2015 Golf Tournament Wrap Up Report
Tee Off
2015 Golf Tournament Report
By Mike Iwahiro, Golf Committee Vice-Chair
Co-Hosting Works
Barons and barristers proved to be the right combination for the 27th Annual ABAS Golf Invitational held on September 13, 2015 at the Turkey Creek Golf Club in Lincoln, California. In a bold and now universally praised move, the Golf Committee approved a tournament "co-hosting" arrangement with the 2018 Sacramento Lady Barons basketball team. Although each tournament maintained fiscal independence, the two organizations shared many mutual benefits. At the risk of sounding like a 90s corporate retreat leader, I will say the outcome was indeed the synergistic: 1 + 1 > 2. In addition to the expected headcount increase (which by itself resulted in a tangible gift certificate benefit for each of the 100 or so golfers), there was undoubtedly an added intangible present-- a bit more energy, a bit more vibe, and really, just a bit more fun. So how did this come to be, you ask? How would Lady Barons and Barrister Golfers ever get together anyway? Well, just so happens that a Golf Committee dad, who has a Lady Baron daughter, had a "what if" moment. Need I say more? Sometimes things just fall into place and work out for all involved. Already there is talk of doing it again next year. Enough of the back story. On to the bragging rights and thank yous.
In The Money
Top prize in the Championship Division went to the Sean Wong sponsored foursome of Greg Bisi, Chip Dahl, Tom Bacon and Russ White. Russ White also stroked out the men’s longest drive. The McGeorge assembled team of Prof. Edward Telfeyan, Eurik O’Bryant, Tim Adams and Patrick Lewis posted the low score to garner top honors in the President’s Division. Brad Bates, Arcenio Reyes, Anthony Dee and Steve Kushida of Team Hana Brophy earned the Director’s Division win. Deb McSherry of Team Paik/McSherry won the women’s longest drive accolades and prize. On course conditions were near perfect as a slight breeze and cloud cover kept temperatures mild.
The Fabulous Clay Awards
A highlight of the awards luncheon was the presentation of the coveted Clay Awards (named after awards benefactor Prof. Clay Tanaka). Because these awards recognize extraordinary individual achievement and personal sacrifice for the good of the game, they are highly prized and bestowed upon only a select few. And this year’s winners are: “Most Energetic Golfer” - Josh Birdsill. “Best Practice Golfer” - Patrick Lewis. “Almost Champion” - Darrell Woo. “Most Heroic Golfer” - Jinnifer Pitcher. A good time was had by all.
Penultimate Thank You
Led by Golf Committee Chair Jeri Paik, committee members, Eric Dair, Lisa Ventura, Sean Wong and Clay Tanaka worked tirelessly to secure sponsors, round-up foursomes and tend to the many details in preparation for this year's event. Foundation board members Toso Himel, Henry Nanjo and Josh Kaizuka were on hand on tournament day to lend assistance, as were volunteers Brenda Liang (McGeorge APALSA President) and Steve Vong (UC Davis Law Student and ABAS Scholarship recipient). Many thanks go out to them all for a fine tournament of fun golf and great fundraising.
Ultimate Thank You
Lastly and certainly the most--- sincere thanks and debts of gratitude to our many golfers and sponsors (please see the sponsor list on the ABAS Law Foundation website)—some of whom have been supporters since the tournament’s inception 27 Invitationals ago and some of whom are new this year. The ABAS Law Foundation community thanks each one of you, kindly—you make this all happen.
For more information about the 2015 Golf Invitational or interest in the 2016 event, please contact Jeri Paik at abasgolf@jplawoffice.com.
Foundation Receives Japanese American Confinement Sites Research Grant
The ABAS Law Foundation has been awarded a $47,400 federal grant under the Japanese American Confinement Sites program to assist archival research on the Tule Lake concentration camp and segregation center. See Grant Letter (PDF 315KB). The ABAS Law Foundation co-applied for the grant with the authors, and administers it as the authors' fiscal agent. Foundation CFO Jerilyn Paik is carrying out the Foundation's grant administration.
To Tell an Untold Story
The grant will assist noted historian Roger Daniels and writer-activist Barbara Takei in their research about the Tule Lake Segregation Center, described on this website's Tule Lake Research Project page. The story of the Tule Lake Segregation Center is largely untold, perhaps because its subjects, the Japanese American protesters of the race-based wartime deprivation of civil liberties, have been stigmatized for seven decades as "disloyals."
Book Under Contract
The University of Washington Press has awarded authors Daniels and Takei a contract for the book that will result from the research. The book's topic and tentative title is "America's Worst Concentration Camp."
Authors Uniquely Qualified
Professor Emeritus Roger Daniels is the author of more than a dozen books including The Politics of Prejudice; Concentration Camps, North America; Prisoners without Trial; and, in 2013, The Japanese American Cases: The Rule of Law in Time of War. He was a consultant for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. He is regarded as the founding dean of Japanese American studies. Barbara Takei, a Tule Lake descendant, co-wrote Tule Lake Revisited, a site guide and short history now in its second edition, and wrote "Legalizing Detention: Segregated Japanese Americans and the Justice Department's Renunciation Program," Journal of the Shaw Historical Library, Vol. 19 (2005).Research Has Multiple Uses
This research seeks archival records for two purposes in addition to the co-authors' book about Tule Lake. First, these records will help the National Park Service's Tule Lake Unit to interpret this largest, most complex, and most repressive of the ten War Relocation Authority concentration camps. Second, Densho, a Seattle nonprofit, will digitize these documents to make them available on its website, www.Densho.org, which is an extraordinary public resource for research and learning.
Grant Program To Teach about Injustice
The National Park Service's Japanese American Confinement Sites grant program helps preserve and interpret the confinement sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. "As America’s storyteller, the National Park Service is committed to sharing this tragic episode of our nation’s past and what it teaches us about the fragility of our constitutional rights," said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. "The goal of the program is to teach present and future generations about the injustice of the World War II confinement history and inspire a commitment to equal justice under the law," the Park Service said.