For the last 10 years, Steve Azar’s golf tournament and party has raised almost $1 million to support the Steve Azar St. Cecilia Foundation.
The party, Delta Soul, has become a staple of the summer in Greenville and the money raised has funded arts programs in the Delta and beyond.
Those programs include: Arkansas Cinema Society, A.R.M. Outreach Foundation, Arkansas Sheriff Youth Ranches, Bologna Performing Arts Center, Boys & Girls Club of Washington County, Camp Looking Glass, Community Foundation of Washington County, Cora Brothers Endowment Scholarship, Delta Blues Foundation, Delta Center Stage, Delta Children’s Museum, Delta 180, Delta Music Institute/Delta State University Foundation, Delta Symphony Association, De Soto Family Theatre, Education Foundation of Greenville (Steve Azar St. Cecilia Foundation Scholarship), Families First for Mississippi, Grammy Museum Mississippi, Greenville Arts Council, Greenville Harmony Chorus, Greenville Renaissance Scholars, H.A.N.D.Y. (Helping Abused Neglected Disabled Youth), Harold T. and Hal White Scholarship, Make A Wish Mississippi, Mississippi Valley State University, Palmer Home for Children, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Missions, St. Joseph Catholic School Art & Music Programs, St. Matthew Flood Rebuilding Fund, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The Barbara Sinatra Center for Abused Children, The Salvation Army Greenville, Washington School Art & Music Programs and Washington County Library System.
This year, the party returns after last year’s virtual event, and its returns is not just a boon for the programs Azar’s foundation supports, it’s also a boon to the local economy.
“It’s a multi-million-dollar impact in our city and county,” Delta Soul Host Steve Azar said. “People start coming early. Some of them will be here Monday.”
Some of the people visiting the area are participants in the tournament, but the other group are the friends Azar brings in.
The list includes athletes Terry Ahola, John Bond, Trent Dimas, Tim Fox, Jim Gallagher Jr., Robert Gamez, Marshall Henderson, Ray Lloyd, Steve Lundquist, Corey Miller, Reggie Smith, Kris Tschetter, Michael Eruzione, Dwight Hicks, Dan Jansen, Karen Palacios-Jansen, Greg Lloyd, Mark Pattison and Pete Shaw; actors Kim Alexis, Richard Burgi, Debbe Dunning, Jacky Flynn, Richard Karn, Joel Murray, Paula Trickey; and musicians Ray Boudreax, Dez Dickerson, Preston Pohl, Mark Alan Springer, Dan Tyminski, Shawn Drover and Matt Warren.
Azar said the people who attend the event remark, “Yall aren’t easy to get to.” His response: “Y’all aren’t easy to get to from here either.”
The event begins with a dinner at Does on Thursday. Friday is the celebrity golf tournament followed by the Big Night Party at GGCC. On Saturday, the second day of the golf starts at GGCC and is followed by the Delta Catfish Fry at the Gin at Dunleith.
The event started 10 years ago after years of Azar attending other fundraisers of the same kind.
He’d recently returned to Greenville from Nashville and decided to start his own golf charity event.
“I wanted to come back and make a difference,” Azar said. “We’ve been able to do that with all our friends.”
Azar said this event is different because there is no separation between the attendants and the celebrities.
While the list of celebrities includes folks who’ve been to the tournament for several years, there are a few new names this year. There are four gold medal winners including Michael Eruzione from the Miracle on Ice, gold medal winning hockey team from the 1980 Olympics.
