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Lucas: Reece's Birthday Party
May 4, 2005 | Men's Basketball
May 4, 2005
To visit Reece's webpage and wish him happy birthday in his guestbook (he loves hearing from Tar Heel fans), click here.
By Adam Lucas
The packed room fell silent when the big man spoke.
Over 150 people were jammed into a hotel meeting room on Tuesday night for the kickoff event, an auction with close to 100 lots of quality sports memorabilia, of the first Reece Holbrook Golf Classic. Just moments earlier, the highlight of the evening had been Mick Mixon (the evening's auctioneer/comedian/goodwill ambassador) standing on a chair in the middle of the room while wearing a bright orange shirt, cowboy hat, and sunglasses.
The first lot auctioned was 18 holes of golf with Carolina head coach Roy Williams. The second was 18 holes with Brad Daugherty, and the Carolina legend was in the auction audience. Bidding reached $1,500, and then Daugherty spoke.
"I'll tell you what," he said, and the boisterous crowd grew silent. "I'll give you $3,000, and the guy who is the high bidder right now can play golf with me tomorrow."
There was a pause and then there was hearty applause. And that's the way things went throughout the two-day event, an experience that prompted one observer to say, "There is only one way to describe this: it's UNC at its very best."
At the first organizational meeting, the core group of volunteers assembled to help organizer Stephanie Williams threw out potential target numbers. At one point, $20,000 was mentioned. Maybe $30,000. Hey, if it's a great event, maybe even $50,000.
After 60 silent auction lots, 26 live auction lots, and 34 golf foursomes on Wednesday at UNC Finley, the final fundraising total: over $130,000 for the benefit of Reece Holbrook and the pediatric oncology department at UNC Hospitals.
Perhaps the best part of the event, which was held on Reece's third birthday, was that he never knew exactly why all those people wanted to help him celebrate--he just knew that they sure sang loudly (and a little off-key). At the 9 a.m. shotgun start on Wednesday, Roy Williams was addressing the crowd when Reece came running across the driving range and jumped into the head coach's arms.
The coach was facing approximately 140 golfers, telling them about the importance of the event, when suddenly the importance became very clear. Leaning down from his perch in the coach's arms and commandeering the microphone, Reece announced, "I'm three!"
Participation from individuals and businesses far surpassed initial goals. Donations came in from all over the country, and auction items were arriving at RHGC headquarters as late as just a few hours before the start of the auction. Sam Perkins took the prize for last submission by FedExing a signed example of one of his North Carolina throwback jerseys late Monday afternoon.
Perkins wasn't the only former basketball player involved. Eric Montross played golf Wednesday and spoke to the auction crowd on Tuesday, and Matt Doherty, Bill Guthridge, Jeff Denny and Travis Stephenson also participated. Dean Smith, one of the auction prizes, was a good sport despite creaky knees stemming from that bane of the retired coach's existence--18 holes at Augusta National earlier this week.
Another former player, Michael Norwood, quietly delivered one of the most moving gifts. His 3-year-old daughter, Nell, lost her fight with cancer in 2002. As a way to remember Nell and raise money for cancer research, the family produces beaded jewelry called "Nell's Jewelry." Norwood brought two pieces for the Holbrook family.
Reece's father, Chad, an assistant baseball coach, smiled as he showed off the jewelry, which had been tucked in a safe place during the golf event. He held it up and shook his head.
His next words were exactly what he'd said as he watched the auction bids go up into the stratosphere the night before, exactly what he'd said as the auction items rolled in, exactly what he'd said as the golf foursomes sold out well before the projected cutoff date, exactly what he'd said as he and Reece zipped around UNC Finley in a golf cart Wednesday morning.
He wrapped his fingers around the jewelry and looked up.
"All of this is just unbelievable," he said. "It's just unbelievable."
To be added to the mailing list for the second RHGC (likely to be held in the fall of 2006 on the weekend of a home football game), email Stephanie Williams.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. His book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about the book, click here.