EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was first published on Sept. 15, 2015. It was updated and reshared on Sept. 26, 2016 following Arnold Palmer’s death.
EDMONTON — The King, Arnold Palmer turned 86 last week. When it comes to raising money for charity, Palmer shows no signs of slowing down.
The Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard reported Monday that Palmer was still at it, raising money for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Fla.
“I like to enlighten people with what we have done with the hospital,” Palmer told Hoggard, “I’m very grateful for the efforts I have seen people put forward.”
READ MORE: Arnold Palmer, ‘The King’ of golf, dead at 87
Hoggard’s article reminded me of when Arnold Palmer paid a visit to Edmonton in 2007. Blackhawk Golf Club invited Palmer and Peter Jacobson for a charity event to raise money for the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Blackhawk GM Al Prokop generously asked me, and Edmonton Journal golf writer Curtis Stock to play one hole with Palmer and Jacobson.
It was a day I will never forget. But it’s funny just what a person recalls.
I remember Palmer taking a personal photo with each golfer, and he made every golfer feel that it was the only photo taken. I remember Palmer in the Blackhawk clubhouse, gently reminding a half dozen junior golfers to take off their caps.
I remember that even though it was a long day, Palmer had time for everyone.
I remember him asking about the Stollery Children’s Hospital, and how funds raised would help the facility.
Since 2007, I have been asked many times why I haven’t posted the video from that day on the internet. Last week, The Golf Channel re-broadcast “Arnie and Me,” a documentary which chronicles many stories, and meetings with Mr. Palmer.
So, eight years later, this is “Arnie and Me.”
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