Golf outing celebrates 35 years

WARREN — Since 1986, Warren Woods Public Schools alumni have teed up on the golf course for the annual Ralph Weibel Alumni Golf Outing.

The event, which raises money for student scholarships, was named after Weibel in recent years. The longtime Warren Woods Tower High School principal died in 2012.

This year’s outing was June 20, and with 344 golfers registered, was held on two courses: Pine Valley Golf & Country Club and Timberwood Golf Course in Ray Township. Afterward, everyone gathered for dinner at The Palazzo Grande in Shelby Township. With help from several committee volunteers, Laura James and Wendy Rzeppa planned this year’s outing.

“It’s been nice to reconnect with people from grade school,” Rzeppa said, while keeping things organized at Timberwood with volunteer Kelly Barkume. “You get people coming back year after year. We’d like to see the younger groups come in.”

Golfers play 18 holes, and the event is known more for the camaraderie than the sport. It reunites graduates from Warren Woods High School (Warriors), Tower High School (Vikings) and Warren Woods Tower High School (Titans). Warren Woods and Tower merged in 1983 to become Warren Woods Tower, which had its first graduating class in 1984.

The annual event began when Weibel; former Warren Woods Tower administrator Ron Wilson, who died in 2019; now-retired Athletic Director Jan Sander; and Grace Oberski, the now-retired secretary to the athletic director, planned a golf outing for alumni.

“We didn’t have very many people on the first outing,” Sander recalled. But the event grew each year at courses like Wolverine Golf Club & Banquet Center and Cracklewood Golf Club, both in Macomb Township. Golfers pay a fee to participate. Outing proceeds cover the cost of the golf, and also support scholarships for Warren Woods Tower students. Money from 50/50 raffles also go towards scholarships.

“It’s great to see the kids I coached and kids that I taught,” Sander said.

The event has been held every year since 1986 with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oberski said the largest event was in 2000 with 562 golfers and 630 people at the banquet dinner.

This year, Sander, Oberski, Tower High School Class of 1978 graduate Sue Walker, and Warren Woods Tower counselor Julie Geyman “hit ‘em straight” at Timberwood. Also coming back again for another round of golf was Class of 1987 Warren Woods Tower graduate Kristy Corsetti.

“It’s just the fun of seeing everyone. I look forward to it all year,” she said. “It’s a nice close-knit school. A lot of high school memories come back,” Corsetti said.

Michael Sorrentino, a Warren Woods Tower High School 2013 graduate, celebrated his first Ralph Weibel golf outing last week at Timberwood. He ran into some of his former teachers and current Warren Woods Tower Principal Michael Mackenzie.

“It was nice seeing them and catching up with them,” said Sorrentino, who was on the golf team when at Warren Woods Tower.

Staying out of the bunkers at Pine Valley were foursome Dave Terenzi and Dave Baldino (Warren Woods High School, Class of 1976), Dan Baldino, (Warren Woods, Class of 1974) and Dennis Calvisi (Warren Woods, Class of 1976).

“I come every decade or so,” Calvisi said. “It’s a really good time.”

“We’ve known each other since 1968,” Terenzi said. “We all grew up in the same neighborhood at 12 Mile and Schoenherr. We had a great childhood. There was the Bicentennial the summer of ’76 when we graduated.”

“A lot of us played sports,” Dave Baldino said.

Hanging out at the Tender Touch also was a regular pastime.

Bill Williams graduated from Warren Woods in 1973. He lived in Charlevoix for many years. Since moving from there to Shelby Township, he’s been a fixture at the golf outing for about 16 years while teammate Paul Szatkiewski returned to the golf outing for the first time in 10 years.

“It’s just to get together with everybody. Everyone I went to high school with is here. There are probably about 60 people here I’ve known,” Williams said. “We had a great school. It was beautiful. We had the pool, track and football field. Typing class was the closest you got to a computer. Most were eager to get to work and get their lives started.”

Mike Schajter, Tower Class of 1978, remembers when the new Tower High School was built in the 1970s.

“I lived probably three blocks from it. It was state-of-the-art back then,” Schajter said.

Throughout the day, caddies also helped keep things going, including Warren Woods Tower 1985 graduate Eric Rzeppa and Timberwood manager course manager Don DeBlouw.