A Legacy of Friendship: Honoring Christian Holmberg

by ALLISON COLES

Christian Holmberg Memorial Golf Tournament

Last September, a group of students from HB Woodlawn Secondary Program in Arlington, Virginia used eBuddies (www.ebuddies.org) to bring the Best Buddies mission to their community.

HB Woodlawn shares a building with the Stratford Program which serves middle and high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities from across Arlington County.

In spite of sharing a campus, the HB and Stratford student populations had minimal to no interaction during the school day.

Without the funding to open a new chapter, the students had to get creative to bring Best Buddies to their community. Each Wednesday, the HB students would meet the Stratford students in their classroom and provide one-to-one assistance in emailing their eBuddies.

Before long, friendships developed and Wednesdays became the highlight of the week for the students. The program attracted the attention of school officials, family members and the Arlington County Board.

Mary Hynes, a former HB parent and a member of the Arlington County Board, paid a visit in late spring. As she joined the students in celebrating the birthday of one of the Stratford Buddies, she noted that the HB-Stratford community had been trying to develop a friendship inclusion program since 1995.

She praised the students and encouraged them to continue their efforts to open a fully funded Best Buddies chapter. At the time, no one knew that an Angel would step in to make this dream a reality.

In June, Tim Holmberg contacted the BBVA State Office with a generous – yet bittersweet – offer. His son Christian, a 39 year old with Down Syndrome, had passed away in February 2009 after a battle with ALS. In Christian’s honor, Mr. Holmberg and his family were planning a golf tournament and wanted the proceeds to benefit children with disabilities.

Specifically, they wanted to do something that would serve as a tangible legacy for their son. As a young man, Christian had lived in Arlington and graduated from Yorktown High School. The family elected to establish the HB Woodlawn-Stratford chapter in his memory with the proceeds from the Christian R. Holmberg Memorial Golf Tournament scheduled for October 5th.

As word of this generous gift traveled through the HB Woodlawn – Stratford community, the reaction was emotional and heartfelt. Mr. Holmberg reports that he has received notes from school staff, families and students. The HB students were stunned by the gift.

“We worked really hard last year to bring Best Buddies to our school through eBuddies and everyone loved it,” says HB student Monica Varner, a founding member of the HB-Stratford initiative.

“We can’t believe that we are actually starting this year as a Best Buddies chapter. When we heard about the Holmberg’s gift, we were all in shock. You read about people doing things like this but you never imagine it can happen in real life,” she says.

“The Holmbergs are amazing. Their gift is changing so many lives. We are going to do our best and make them proud with a chapter that will honor Christian’s memory for years to come.”

The first annual Christian R. Holmberg Memorial Golf Tournament
Monday, October 5th - Herndon Centennial Golf Course
7:30 am Registration, 9:00 am Shotgun Start

For more information about the Christian R. Holmberg Memorial Golf Tournament including registration details, please visit www.tournevents.com/crhmemorial or contact Allison Coles at allisoncoles@bestbuddies.org or (703) 533-9420.

Tournament Update – August 20th:
From Tim Holmberg: “I am very pleased to announce that Dennis Hogan, President and owner of Pro- Line Embroidery in Springfield (dennis.hogan@goproline.com) has very generously volunteered to donate the cost to purchase, design, and produce both the Tournament players golf shirts and the volunteer tee shirts for our event.

His generosity eliminates one of the tournament’s largest expenses and will go a long way towards meeting our goal of assisting Best Buddies in enhancing the lives of special needs children. Avery heartfelt thanks to Dennis and the employees of Pro-Line Embroidery.

More good news is that we are well on our way towards a sold out tournament as players and teams continue to sign up. This is a real achievement for a first year event, not to mention a touching reminder of the lives Christian touched. Thank you.

I had calls and emails from many of you saying you intended to play in this year’s event. I urge you to go to the tournament website: www.tournevents.com/crhmemorial to sign up as an individual or as a foursome as soon as possible.

You can also reserve your space by emailing me at crhmemorialgolf@gmail.com or simply call me at (571) 436-3864 and I will be happy to confirm your participation.

While we would love to have an unlimited number of playing spots, space is truly limited so please contact me soon.