News

Playing for a Cure: A family participates in the game of a lifetime

BY

Fort Wayne, Indiana (June 3, 2008) — For Carlye Baenan, a long-time golfer and Vera Bradley supporter, participating in this year’s Vera Bradley Classic Golf and Tennis Tournament on the 18-hole course at the Sycamore Hills Golf Club Monday was truly the game of a lifetime. Not only did she have the opportunity for the first time to play alongside three generations of women in her family, she was also able to do for a cause that’s near and dear to her—her grandmother had breast cancer, and Baenan’s aunt is a 12-year breast cancer survivor.

Annie Baenan takes a swing during the Vera Bradley Classic.

The team: Bob Williams; Nancy Williams; Betsy MacLlenan; Carlye Baenan; and  Annie Baenan. “We teed off at noon and didn’t finish until 5:30 pm. We were so tired, but we had so much fun!” said Baenan.

“It couldn’t have been better,” said Baenan. “It was a beautiful day and there was so much energy from the whole group. We had a fabulous time.”

Five years ago Baenan’s 19-year-old daughter Annie began participating in the Classic with the Homestead High School Girl’s Golf Team, and Baenan was their scorekeeper. “It was fun to take four teenage girls out for the day and show them this commitment to breast cancer,” said Baenan. “Since Annie graduated last year, I wanted to continue the tradition. So I thought what better way to do so than to ask the other two closest women in my life—my mom and my aunt—to form a team. Asking my dad to be our scorekeeper was extra special.”

Preparing for the big day also proved to be a rewarding experience. Two weeks before The Classic, Baenan and her daughter began going down to the driving range everyday. They also went shopping for matching pink team shirts. “I really loved the bonding time we got to share. It was so much fun,” said Baenan.

It was also a chance for the family to come together, which doesn’t happen as often anymore with Baenan’s parents Bob, 76, and Nancy, 75, Williams now living in Key Largo, Florida, and her Aunt Betsy MacLlenan, 70, living in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The team is already looking forward to playing again next year. “It was such a moving, emotional day,” said Baenen. “You immediately get that surge that this is bigger than any of us will ever be. This is for a cure.”