It has been just over a year since the town of Marblehead lost one of its own, James Galante, much too soon. After his passing, the Galante family created a nonprofit organization called MHS19 in September 2022.
MHS19 will be hosting the inaugural James R. Galante charity golf tournament on June 5, 2023. This event will honor the memory of a beloved member of the Marblehead community and dedicated member of the Marblehead football team that won the 2021 Super Bowl.
James’ father, also named James Galante, is excited for this event.
“I think when June 5 comes, it is going to be an amazing day,” he said. “There will be over 200 family, friends, and supporters honoring James and keeping his memory alive. It is going to be a special day and event.”
The golf event will take place at Tedesco Country Club in Marblehead, and Galante is happy that is the case.
“When I contacted Tedesco about the idea of this event, they were very supportive, helpful and accommodating,” Galante said. “Tedesco is a beautiful golf course, and when I reached out to them, they only had one date available for this event, which happened to be June 5, James’ birthday.”
Galante did not shy away from expressing how great the community of Marblehead has been to his family.
“We live in a really great community here in Marblehead, and I just want to show how appreciative and thankful my whole family is of everyone that has supported us during this time,” Galante said. “The support this community continues to give us will be highlighted during this event.”
A perfect example of the amazing support Galante referenced is when tickets for the golf event became available. Tedesco can hold at most 140 golfers on the course, and the tickets sold out in less than a week. Galante said this was not a complete surprise.
“Like I said before, we live in a great community, so this event selling out so fast did not catch me off guard,” Galante said. “Despite this being the case, it still meant the world to my family. Just to see how many people want to be a part of this event, show their support, help raise money, and remember the memory of James is amazing.”
The golf portion of the event may be sold out, but hole sponsorships and tickets for the event’s dinner and raffle are still available. Tickets can be purchased at www.MHS19.org.
The mission of MHS19, according to the mission statement, is “to conduct fundraising events to provide annual financial scholarships and recruitment assistance to high school athletes who plan to continue their athletic endeavors in college or to otherwise fund initiatives to further commemorate the legacy of James R. Galante.”
Last year, MHS19 raised $26,000 for donations and scholarships, and Galante is hopeful that they will surpass that number this year.
“This golf event is hopefully the first of many events that will not only represent our mission, but will lead to obtaining financial assistance to help other student athletes in the community,” Galante said. “I am not sure what our next event will be, but we are starting to work on future planning to figure out what we want it to be. I also hope this charity golf tournament will be the first of many to come.”
James planned to continue his football and academic career at Denison University.