BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Despite his death from a massive heart attack three years ago, Harlan Strong's memory lives on through an annual golf outing named for him.
Proceeds from the Oct. 17 Harlan Strong benefit at Devou Park Golf Course will be used to purchase a van with a wheelchair lift for Hope Crupper, 22, of Florence. She was born with spina bifida and has had 48 major surgeries.
The $55-per-person fee includes golf greens, cart, door prizes, beverages and Italian buffet. The event will begin with a shotgun start.
"Hope is a very special young lady," said widow Brenda Strong, who knows Ms. Crupper from her days as a teacher's aide overseeing a special-education Girl Scout troop in which Ms. Crupper was a member.
Ms. Crupper lives with her grandparents in Florence.
The memorial golf event was started in 1995 by Jim Ryan, a friend of the Mr. Strong's family. The amount raised has increased each year. Last year, $4,000 was raised for a 3-year-old girl who has cancer. That amount was up from the $2,500 in 1996 (proceeds went to a baby born with multiple handicaps), and $450 in 1995, which went to the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati.
There's room for 144 golfers, with about a dozen already signed up, said Debbie Orcena, one of Mr. Strong's daughters.
Her father, who loved to golf, enjoyed being around children and helping them. He was founder of Erlanger Lions Pee Wee Football and was a 37-year employee of Viox & Viox Inc. of Erlanger.
"We know that Dad would be proud. It just makes you feel really good when you know you're trying to help somebody," Mrs. Orcena said.
Special donations can be made to any Heritage Bank in Northern Kentucky, c/o Harlan Strong Memorial (Hope Crupper).
