Aug 24, 2024 | By: Lakeland News
BSU’s Howe-Welle Fundraiser Tournament Celebrates Founders
You know summer is almost over when it’s time for the Howe-Welle Women’s Athletics Golf Tournament, Bemidji State’s premiere fundraiser for the nine women’s sports at BSU. But the weather still felt like summer out for Friday’s event at Bemidji Town & Country Club, making for a great day on the course.
More important than the golf, though, was that this year’s tournament paid homage to its founders: Jeanette Welle, a longtime Beaver athletics supporter, and Ruth Howe, an official founder of BSU women’s athletics who passed away last December.
“We can’t forget where we come from, and I think this event does such a good job of laying the foundation, especially for our student-athletes who are out here every year to volunteer,” said BSU Director of Athletics Britt Lauritsen. “And as we turn over coaching staff, it’s important to know that we come from a long line of greatness. And those women who really paved the way did so at a time where it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t popular, and they still stuck through it. And so it doesn’t matter what we go through. We have that base of strength and courage that we can always pull from, and that is the best part of this event for me.”