Tickets and sponsorships are still available for the 2026 John Whiteside Memorial Golf Outing on June 24 at Inwood Golf Course in Joliet.

A buffet dinner with cash bar will follow at D’Amore Banquet Hall, 113 Republic Ave. in Joliet.

Proceeds from the fundraiser benefit the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Memorial Squad.

Unfortunately, “sponsorships are down again this year and costs are going up,” said Sharon Eck of Plainfield, coordinator of the golf outing and volunteer member of the memorial squad since 2016.

Eck said the golf outing, which includes a buffet dinner with cash bar, is the memorial squad’s only fundraiser.

‘This enables us to provide the service we do – being able to honor our veterans with full military honors," Eck said. “We rely heavily on donations because we don’t receive any government funding.”

Eck said donations pay for the uniforms – now $1,700 each – and for the maintenance, repair and ammunition for the M1 Garand rifles from World War II used during the ceremonies.

If sponsorships continue to decline, Eck estimates the memorial squad’s “rainy day account” only has enough funds to keep the squad going “another four or five years at the most,” she said.

“I know that everyone is hurting; things are tough all over,” Eck said. “Just look at the price of gas and the price of food. It’s hard; people have to choose what their priorities are. But this is a very worthwhile cause. And it’s really needed.”

Eck said the fundraiser offers a variety of sponsorship tiers, including the very affordable white sponsorship ($25) and blue sponsorship ($50).

Raffles are streamlined this year, so each ticket holder has only one number to check, regardless of the number of tickets purchased.

Tickets for golf and dinner are $165. Dinner tickets only are $40. Both prices are unchanged from 2025. Deadline is June 12.

In 2001, former U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller and Herald-News columnist John Whiteside – who died in 2005 at age 61 and is buried at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery – coordinated with the director and staff at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery to form the memorial squad.

The squad was inaugurated Aug. 26, 2003 and performed its first service later that year on Sept. 9. The first golf outing was held in 2005.

Whiteside, an Air Force veteran, came to The Herald-News as a reporter in 1971. He wrote three columns a week for almost 25 years, often featuring local heroes, military history and his own cancer battle.

In 2019, Shaw Local honored Army veteran and memorial squad member Michael Johnson of Joliet.

And in 2025, Shaw Local honored U.S. Marine veteran and memorial squad member Steve Schuler of Peotone.

For tickets, sponsorships and more information, call 815-600-2955 or visit abrahamlincolnmemorialsquad.org.