Kelsa Zereski remembers her parents and grandparents working with the Lajoie family on the Lori Lajoie Charity Golf Tournament at Worcester Country Club nearly 50 years ago.
“The Lori Lajoie and the cause, Seven Hills Foundation, one way or another have been part of my life since I was a kid,” Zereski said.
The 51st Lori Lajoie Charity Golf Tournament will be held at Worcester CC on Monday, Aug. 17. Over the years, the tournament has raised more than $9 million for Seven Hills Foundation, Greater Worcester’s largest provider of programs for the developmentally and physically challenged.
Zereski, 55, and her brother, Scott Fuller, 53, both of Boylston, serve as co-chairs of the Lajoie tournament committee this year. Their parents, Mark and Jan Fuller, served as co-chairs separately in the past and Mark Fuller remains on the tournament committee and lines up the sponsors.
“Obviously it’s always been important to Jan and I to support Seven Hills,” Mark Fuller said, “but the fact that our children are picking up the mantle so to speak, that’s certainly encouraging and certainly we’re grateful that they are doing it.”
“I can remember my parents specifically running out to get prizes,” Zereski said, “and dragging my brother and I along with them, and just the heart that they put into making sure that the tournament was fun for everyone involved, but still a successful fundraiser for the cause.”
Zereski saw her parents make countless phone calls, emails and text messages to drum up support for the Lajoie tournament.
“It’s that personal touch that keeps everybody connected to it,” she said.
“It’s special because it’s the only tournament like it at Worcester Country Club,” Scott Fuller said. “It’s their flagship opportunity to do something for the community.”
For the 50th Lajoie last year, $440,000 was raised. The hope is to approach $10 million by next year.
This year, 250 golfers are scheduled to tee off in shotgun starts in the morning and afternoon with a banquet to follow.
Scott Fuller pointed out that while Seven Hills is a large organization, it still needs financial support because special needs programs are expensive.
Until Lori Lajoie died at age 37 in 2001, she had the intelligence of a young child and she spoke only a few words. She didn’t walk until she was 7. She was the daughter of Worcester CC head pro Ray Lajoie and his wife Coco. Worcester CC member Leo Malboeuf urged the Lajoies to hold a tournament to help people like Lori. The tournament began in 1976.
Ray worked at Worcester CC for 47 years, the last 27 as head pro before he retired in 1996. Coco worked at Ray’s side in the pro shop. They ran their daughter’s golf tournament until his retirement and then the club took over, but the Lajoies continued to serve on the tournament committee and sold raffle tickets on the first tee for many years. Ray and Coco died a day apart in 2018.
Zereski and her brother were fond of Ray and Coco. Ray taught them how to swing a club.
“He and Coco were a tremendous team,” Zereski said. “They were such a dynamic couple to keep that pro shop going and help everyone of all ages embrace the sport of golf.”
Scott Fuller is a Seven Hills board member and the board meetings are held on Hope Ave. in the Russell E. & Joyce I. Fuller Building, which is named after his late grandparents who used to help out at the Lajoie tournament.
Serving on the Lajoie committee is a natural fit for Zereski. Not only is she a member of Worcester CC and the daughter of former co-chairs, she is president of the Reliant Foundation, a 5019(c)(3) non-profit which raises funds to award grants to other non-profits in mental and behavioral health in Worcester County and MetroWest. One of the programs Reliant benefits is Seven Hills.
Seven Hills has expanded its programming to provide essential services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and brain injuries, as well as children and families facing economic hardship, behavioral health challenges, and complex trauma.
As fundraisers, Reliant runs a 5K road race as well as a golf tournament with an auction − the same as the Lajoie. The 28th annual golf tournament, the Drive for a Difference, was held in May at Pleasant Valley CC and raises more than $200,000 each year.
“I think this is probably what I was born to do − to raise money for charities,” Zereski said. “Between my full-time job leading Reliant Foundation and then volunteering for some great causes and being co-chair again this year, it’s just really fun.”
Zereski pointed out that “to make that world even smaller,” PV head pro Paul Parajeckas has played in the Lajoie since the beginning.
The Lajoie tournament has outlived Lori’s sister Lisa Marek, who died in 2008, and her brother John, who died in 2022. John’s wife, Susan, and daughter Jacqueline (Lajoie) Abi-Kheirs belong to the tournament committee and sell raffle tickets on the first tee. Another daughter, Jessica Jenna, also helps out. In the spirit of giving, Jenna used to work at Reliant and Abi-Kheirs used to work for Seven Hills.
Lynn Ellsworth is Lori’s only surviving sibling, and she has helped out at the tournament each year with her daughter Chelsea Ellsworth.
Zereski has been on the tournament committee for about 20 years. Last year, she served as co-chair with Dean Hickey last year and planned to step down this year, but her brother asked her to remain on as his co-chair.
“It’s been a great learning curve,” said Scott Fuller, president of the iPower Distribution Group. “I’ve seen all the effort and the work that they’ve put into it year after year. It sort of dominates their summer and I certainly know what that means now, but it means a lot.”
“This is also a big tradition for Worcester Country Club,” Zereski said. “So as a member of Worcester Country Club, my brother and I certainly want to see it forward and continue that tradition. Worcester Country Club is really a place of tradition and of giving back. I think the country club is very unique in that way. So Scott and I looked at this and one thing we want to make sure of is we do our part to see this tradition forward for the next 50 years.”Zereski doesn’t expect to be helping out for another 50 years, but she hopes the younger generations do.
Zereski’s son, Brendan Hicks, 31, of Worcester sits on the committee and so does Ashley Fuller, Scott’s wife.
“I think it’s really important to bring the next generation in,” Zereski said, “and that’s part of the handoff − to see if we can engage the younger generations to be involved. That’s how this is going to see itself forward another 50 years. It’s not through my parents or through me and Scott, it’s going to be through the generation after us.
“We’d like to see it continue,” she said. “I think it’s really special that Worcester Country Club chooses to give back to its community this way.”
Mark Fuller has often said he doesn’t believe there is another golf tournament run by members at the same private club for the same charity for 51 years. But he’s convinced that Worcester CC owes it to the community to give back.
At the Lajoie, Worcester CC members pay to play their own course.
“That just goes to show you the remarkable community spirit that this membership has,” Zereski said. “I really think that it’s unlike any other and it’s what makes our club so special and different that folks would pay to play their own course knowing that it’s benefitting people beyond themselves.”
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—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Families keep the Lajoie charity golf tradition alive