Again this year, Highland Fall’s Jim and LeeAnn Ranieri, with the help of many community residents, will host the Jimmy Ranieri Memorial Golf Outing.

The tournament, on Monday, Sept. 28, takes place at the West Point Golf Course. The tournament remembers Jimmy Ranieri, a ‘local’ kid and athlete who died in 2021, and funds a scholarship in his memory.

Ranieri was a 1992 graduate of O’Neill High School where he excelled at three sports, and a 1998 graduate of Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas where he earned All-Conference honors for his performance as a kicker/punter for his college’s football team, and played soccer, serving as a captain of that team. He was elected to the KWU Sports Hall of Fame twice: once for soccer, and once for football.
But most of all, he was a much-loved member of the community, making the memorial tournament worthy on that note.

“Being able to offer a scholarship in Jimmy’s name gives our family a tremendous sense of comfort, allowing us to keep his spirit and love of life close to our heart,” LeeAnn Ranieri said. “We are deeply grateful to Gabe O’Connell and Kenny Hall – two of Jimmy’s closes friends – for creating such a meaningful way to raise funds in his memory, in a way we know Jimmy himself would have loved.”

Anyone wishing to donate (gift cards or certificates, items, golf apparel, cash to buy prizes), sponsor a hole or longest drive or help in some other way is asked to reach out to tournament organizers at jimmyranieri6@gmail.com.

The shotgun tournament will start at 10 a.m. (check-in is at 8:30 a.m.), again, on Monday, Sept. 28. Entry is $200 per golfer (including lunch) until August 31. On September 1 the price increases to $225.
Those who aren’t golfers but want to be a part of the day can come for lunch, at about 2:30 p.m. Tickets for that are $45.

And while not directly part of the golf tournament, that same week, the O’Neill soccer program will honor Ranieri with the fourth annual Jimmy Ranieri Memorial Tournament. Kenny Hall, the boys’ varsity coach, was not only a lifelong friend of Ranieri, but played at O’Neill with him. The first-round games are on Thursday, Sept. 24 starting at 4:30 p.m. when the boys will play, followed by the girls at 6:30 p.m. The tournament will continue on Saturday, Sept. 26, with games at 4 and 6 p.m.

Tickets to and more information about the golf tournament are available through the Community Foundation of Orange, Sullivan & Rockland at: cfosny.fcsuite.com