Golfer hits first-ever $10K hole-in-one sweepstakes at Yorkville Parks, Educational Foundation golf outing

For the first time ever in the FORE! Yorkville Golf Outing event fundraiser someone hit the big hole-in-one sweepstakes.

The event is a fundraiser for the Yorkville Educational Foundation and the Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department.

Kris Boszko was presented with an over-sized $10,000 check and celebrated at the Aug. 12 Yorkville City Council meeting.

As for the hole-in-one, Boszko said he just let it rip.

“I didn’t even watch it go in,” Boszko said during the meeting. “I hit it and knew it was a good shot, so I walked away from it. Then the (organizers) ran after it to take a look at it.”

Boszko wasn’t the event’s only big winner, however, as more than $12,000 was raised and split between the Yorkville Education Foundation and the Parks and Recreation Department.

The Yorkville Education Foundation was also presented an over-sized $6,277 check at the meeting.

Every year, several teachers, community members, business representatives and sponsors hit the links to help support students within the Yorkville School District 115 community. This year’s outing took place on June 12 at Blackberry Oaks Golf Course in Bristol.

Director of Parks and Recreation Tim Evans said this year’s sold-out edition showcased how the collaboration between the school district and the department has grown stronger each year.

“Each year it seems to get bigger and better,” Evans said during the city council meeting. “The relationship has been something that’s really developed over the years where we now have an award-winning preschool program we share with the school district, (featuring) hundreds of kids and high school interns. We were able to do a story walk at the Junior Women’s Club Park that also won an award through the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association.”

The Parks and Recreation Department uses the extra money to help offset some of the yearly programs, like the Halloween Egg Hunt, Evans said.

The Yorkville Education Foundation is a non-profit providing grants to teachers and staff to broaden educational experiences for children.

“By investing in education, we are investing in the community and its future, because today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, and their success benefits all of us,” Leslie Smogor, president of the Yorkville Educational Foundation, said during an interview.

“Helping students have access to programs and resources helps us meet our goal of bridging the gap between what the schools receive in state and federal funding and what they actually require to fulfill their educational programs,” Smogor said.

She has been overjoyed by the innovative educational opportunities the foundation has helped fund in the community’s schools.

“We provide all of our early childhood students with their own personal library to have at home to help inspire our early learners with a love of literacy,” Smogor said.

“We even once provided every student in the district with a pair of special glasses to view the solar eclipse. It was such a fun and unique learning experience for them,” she said.

You can learn more about the grants provided by the foundation and the teachers and students they help support on their website, yef115.org.