With the support of businesses in Cochrane and beyond, 132 golfers braved chilly conditions and even a few raindrops to raise over $100,000 at the one-day event, which also included a dinner, entertainment and live and silent auctions. All proceeds were donated to the third phase expansion at Spray Lakes Sawmills Family Recreation Centre, which includes the construction of two additional ice surfaces for aspiring puck prospects in the community where Lindsay learned to skate and suited up for several seasons of hockey and ringette. “Lindsay was very proud of being from Cochrane and we are humbled by the incredible support of the Cochrane community of our family and Lindsay’s Foundation. Tournament chairman Mike Borody and his volunteer committee worked tirelessly to put together this amazing event and the community and businesses rallied around the cause to produce what you see today”,said Kelly Kimmett, Lindsay’s father. “As I mentioned at the dinner, we as a family are trying to carry on Lindsay’s legacy as best we can. Lindsay had many great accomplishments but in our minds the best was still to come. Lindsay, our family and the world lost so much on February 17.” Lindsay Kimmett, a former valedictorian at Cochrane High School and a medical school student at the University of Calgary, was tragically taken as the passenger in a single-vehicle rollover in February. She was 26. The Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Foundation was launched to carry on Lindsay’s legacy and to continue to chase her dream of making the world a better place. If the first annual Monumental Tournament of Aces is any indication, family, friends and even complete strangers are eager to chip in.

Bob Glasgow, grief support program coordinator for Calgary Health Region, said the outpouring of support for the fundraising tournament was a prime example of the way Cochrane residents have rallied around the Kimmett family.  “Often, the people I listen to in loss are saying ‘Where has my community gone?’ With Kelly and Dianne, it has been ‘Where do we fit in some time for solitude? Today, I see for myself the depth of your caring,” Glasgow said. “As I listen about Lindsay’s life, I hear about her compassion, and as a community, I believe you are living out her spirit of compassion.”

The Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Foundation will provide funds to youth groups and sports organizations in the Cochrane area, aid in the purchase of technical training tools at the University of Calgary Medical School and provide enduring scholarships at the high school and university level, plus provide sponsorship for minor hockey players who could not normally afford fees and equipment costs.

Three certainly was a charm for Dayne Poffenroth and Nathan Hylton. Poffenroth and Hylton cashed in on the unique three-pins-per-hole format at the first annual Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Foundation Monumental of Aces Oct. 4 at Cochrane Golf Club, each making good one of 25 chances to can a hole-in-one while raising big bucks for a worthy cause.

Hylton dropped his tee shot on the 98 yard No. 4, while Poffenroth scooped his ball out of one of three cups on the topsy-turvy green at the 70 yard No. 7. Truth is, it wasn’t necessarily the one he was aiming for. “Luck played more of a factor in my shot than anything else. I was aiming for a different hole location than the one it ended up in,” Poffenroth said. “More than anything, I was just happy to be out supporting a good cause.” While Poffenroth and Hylton had first dibs at the prize table, the real winners were the Lindsay Leigh Kimmett Memorial Foundation and the Spray Lake Sawmills Recreation Park Society.

 

Message from Bob Glasgow
Grief Support Program Coordinator
Calgary Health Region


Thanks to the organizers: Monumental Tournament of Aces.

Kelly & Dianne: a few words about Lindsay and this community.

My role: Calgary Health Region Grief Support.

Listening: More than speaking words, I listen. I have listened to Kelly and Dianne speak of their loving community here in Cochrane. Your constant reaching out to the Kimmett family and intentionality shown in honoring Lindsay’s life and memory has been deeply appreciated.

Often the people I listen to in loss are saying “where has my community gone? With Kelly and Dianne it has been where do we fit in some time for solitude?” Today I see for myself the depth of your caring.

As I listen about Lindsay’s life I hear about her compassion, and as a community I believe you are living out her spirit of compassion. And today is another way this community comes together around Lindsay’s enjoyment of sports and being together.

I have a strong feeling for words, what is said about life. I find I often can’t find the right words to say, but the words that I have listened to from Kelly and Dianne are powerful, loving, honoring words about Taylor and Reid and Lindsay in particular. They have created a picture for me of Lindsay and the way in which her life had such direction and purpose fuelled by the intense investment she had in living. So, I don’t have to come up with any words.

I so appreciate Lindsay’s website and her being remembered. The website features the words of beautiful songs but also some of Lindsay’s favourite sayings. So, we can hear her words. The sayings capture the spiritual values of her life. Values like humility for oneself and respect for others. Values like living with an awareness that life is fragile so seize the day. Values like achieving our goals so we don’t have to experience regret.

Today we remember Lindsay’s words and we draw from them because her life has taught us some life-giving values.

Someone said, “an absence is a very strong presence.” Lame Deer said, “What we see with our eyes shut is what counts.”

There is a lot of joy here tonight but also sadness. I know Lindsay’s absence is felt today but I hope that you also sense her presence as you come together today.

Henri Nouwen, a Jesuit priest, from “A Living Reminder”:

“When everything is dark, when we are surrounded by despairing voices, when we do not see any exits, then we can find salvation in a remembered love, a love which is not simply a wistful recollection of a bygone past but a living force which sustains us in the present. Through memory, love transcends the limits of time and offers hope at any moment of our lives.”

“One of the mysteries of life is that memory can often bring us closer to each other than physical presence.”

“When we remember each other with love we evoke each other’s spirit and so enter a new intimacy, a spiritual union with each other. Thus, by our creative memory our love for each other is purified, deepened and sustained.”

Lindsay’s Valedictorian Address as she graduated from high school are her words that will live on. Her words reflect a depth of understanding about what life is all about and show that at a young age she realized the importance we all have to find meaning in life.

I share your pride in Lindsay today and close with a reflection from Rabbi Pesach Krauss:

Too many people make the mistake of judging life by its length rather than by its depth, by its problems rather than its promises. Life is a series of peak moments. Such cherished moments when we bring dignity upon ourselves, when we take a stand, when we experience love, when we open ourselves to others and to the world. All of these experiences give meaning to our lives.”

Thanks to Lindsay for living such a meaningful life and for my new friends, Kelly and Dianne, for sharing her life with me.

 

BOB GLASGOW
OCTOBER 4, 2008

 

MESSAGE FROM THE KIMMETT FAMILY
MONUMENTAL TOURNAMENT OF ACES OCTOBER 4, 2008

I have had an old song from the 60’s running through my head for several months now. The song by Ten Years After said, I’d love to change the world but I don’t know what to do. So I’ll leave it up to you.” I believe those words indicate a passing of the torch from an older generation to a younger generation. Lindsay had accepted her torch and was carrying it high, she knew how to change the world and she was changing the world.

I know Lindsay would have continued to change the world but her torch was taken from her. We as a family decided we needed to pick up Lindsay’s fallen torch and carry it as best we can. Although the torch does not burn nearly as brightly as it did in her hands we will always carry it forward as her legacy. In this spirit we created Lindsay’s Foundation and with your help Lindsay will continue to make this world a better place. The Foundation has established perpetual Valedictorian Scholarships at Cochrane High Schools, provided medical textbooks to a poor university in Tanzania, and sponsored 3 nine and ten year old children to play hockey in Cochrane who otherwise could not afford to play.

The Foundation will soon establish a perpetual bursary for a University of Calgary Medical School student pursuing the field of Emergency Medicine. Through everything that has happened since February 17, I have learned that the little things don’t matter and the same goes for a lot of what I used to think were big things. The only thing that truly matters is love and we as a family have experienced an outpouring of love from our family, our friends and our community. Words cannot express our gratitude for your continuing support. Lindsay changed the world through love – her love of family, friends, pursuits, work, school, and her dreams. Everyone here today has changed our family’s world through your love and with your participation and support of Lindsay’s Foundation you are going to change the world for others. And that is truly what Lindsay did and what her legacy will be. Please continue to hold your torch high. You can change the world. How you do that I will leave up to you.