If this is to be the last K-9 Officer Derek Kotecki golf outing and craft show, the event certainly went out strong on Saturday afternoon at Hill Crest Country Club.
Kotecki was a Lower Burrell patrolman and K-9 officer who was ambushed and murdered by a fugitive in 2011.
Since then, the golf outing has become the primary fundraiser for scholarships given in Kotecki’s name. This year’s event was the 10th annual and sold out all 36 foursome slots in May, which was the earliest the outing has ever sold out. A craft show featuring 25 vendor and raffles for more than 150 prize baskets was open to the public.
The scholarships benefit students from the Burrell, New Kensington-Arnold and Kiski Area school districts.
“When Derek was killed, those were the communities that stepped up with helping the family out,” said co-organizer Audra Flemm. “We thought it would be fitting that we paid back those communities with scholarships.
”We’ve probably given over 100 scholarships in the last 10 years.”
But Flemm and fellow organizer Shasta Meixelberger said this could be the last Kotecki golf outing. They had planned from the beginning to stop at 10 years.
“We had planned 10 years, but we’ll see what the future holds,” Meixelberger said. “Our whole goal was to raise enough money so we can invest it to be an everlasting scholarship in those three districts.
“So, regardless if we do these events or not, Derek’s memory is going to be alive and the scholarship is going to be forever living throughout those school districts.”
Saqib Chowdhry, 42, Sarver, has taken part in all 10 of the Kotecki golf outings.
“It bums me out when they talk about not doing it again. We look forward to it every year. It’s an awesome event for a good purpose in our community,” he said. “It was heartbreaking to hear about (Kotecki’s) family going through what they did. So anything we can do to be a part of it, it’s just been a pleasure for us.
”We’ve gotten to know officer Kotecki’s wife and his friends, so it’s a pretty special tournament.”
Some of the prize baskets included a football and helmet signed by Steelers Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis and a Teddy Bleuger autographed Penguins jersey.
