Stars will shine at first Bill Janss golf tourney

Local luminaries will tee it up in the first annual Bill Janss Memorial golf tournament, Monday, August 9 at The Valley Club.

Celebrities scheduled to break Big Bertha out of the bag include Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Peter Cetera, Jamie Lee Curtis, Scott Glenn, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis and Dweezil Zappa.

Also, Christopher Guest, Adam West, Mike Connors, Ronnie Cox, Arte Johnson, Peter Marshall, Johnny Mathis, Tom Poston, Carl Roberge, Cynthia Sikes, Grant Tinker, David Wolper, James Woods, Bud Yorkin and Super Dave Osborne.

The scramble format features teams of five golfers with one celebrity or pro heading up each squad.

Registration will be held at The Valley Club on Monday from noon to 1:30 p.m. The shotgun start begins at 2 p.m. An awards presentation and buffet will take place after the tournament.

Prizes will be given for closest to the pin on all par three’s and the longest drive contest. The first hole-in-one on the 13th hole will win a 1999 Suburban provided by Sutton & Sons Auto Center.

Money raised from the event will go toward the Bill Janss Community Center (BJCC), named for the former Sun Valley Company owner and Olympic ski team racer.

"The BJCC has been planned to address the combined fitness, recreation, cultural and educational needs of the entire Wood River Valley community," said organizer Anita McCann.

She said, "Currently, programs are scattered across the county in older and less functional facilities which do not meet the community’s expanding needs and interests. The BJCC will provide "one-stop" programs and services for the entire county."

McCann said the total cost of building and equipping the BJCC and providing short-term operating expenses is $15 million.

The city of Ketchum has provided the site for the 95,000 square-foot facility at Saddle and Warm Springs Roads, where the Park & Ride is now located.

"The $15 million must be provided through community philanthropic support. The center will then be self-sustaining," McCann said.

A good head start, McCann said, is that 21 teams have purchased hole sponsorships at $10,000 apiece for the Janss Memorial tournament.

The event is co-sponsored by Tully’s Coffee, Kristin Engl-Monroe, Sigi Engl’s granddaughter, and McCann-Daech-Fenton Realtors. Sigi Engl was the legendary Sun Valley Ski School director.

"Of course Sigi and Bill had a very long history together and it meant a lot to our family," Kristin’s husband Lane Monroe said. "And Bill and I go way back. He was instrumental in helping us establish the Sun Valley Ski Team. He basically gave us anything we wanted. We wanted it to go both ways with us helping the foundation. That is why we wanted to be involved."

A pre-tournament dinner and auction will be held at Tim and Lynne Harris’ home on Sunday evening. There is waiting list for the event.

For more information or to sign up call 208-726-6260.