6-10-2023 4:22pm

DBN Foundation Golf Classic raises money for the community, honors old friends

At the Don't Be Next Golf Classic in 2021

True friendships take effort and are sometimes hard to maintain. Not for a group of 1990-1991 Hononegah Community High School (HCHS) classmates who grew up together in the Rockton/Roscoe area.

They considered themselves best friends and as close as brothers: Mike Grossen, Tom Faivre, Matt Strand, Brady Castro, Larry Moore, Paul Jentz, Gary Stephens, Matt Weldon, Patrick Insko, and Craig Weaver. Insko was senior class president and Weaver became a golf pro.

Sadly, Insko and Weaver passed away at a young age.

Their former classmates were devastated and wanted to find a way to honor Patrick and Craig and make sure they were not forgotten.

Three years ago, they formed a not-for-profit, 501c3 organization- DBN (Don’t Be Next) - explaining that "sharp wit, extremely dry and dark humor are what the founding members and our fallen brothers were renowned for... as a salute to past and future passings, we chose this as the name."

They began raising funds for HCHS scholarships and donations for area organizations in need.
DBN raised $17,000 this year and presented two $5,000 scholarships to HCHS graduating seniors at the 2023 Scholarship Night, on May 11, 2023.

The organization has donated to the HCHS athletic department, fine arts department and the music department, and the Old Stone Church food pantry in Rockton.

Donations are made each year to community organizations like “Knock Out Parkinson Disease”, the Old Stone Church Pantry, Mental Health Awareness, Buddy Baseball, Miss Carly’s, the Wimpy Christmas Fund, Special Needs-Rockford Park District, and Goldie Floberg.

The main fundraiser is a yearly golf outing at Macktown Golf Course. The Macktown course is located at 2221 Freeport Road, Rockton IL, near Macktown Living History.

This year the golf outing will be held July 21, 2023. A shotgun start begins at 9 a.m. The event includes presentations and 50/50 raffles.

Cost to participate in the Golf Classic is $125 per person and includes the use of a golf cart. A portion of all green fees go to the DBN Foundation as year-end donations.

In case of inclement weather and play is suspended or cancelled, there are no refunds. The $125 fee will be considered a monetary donation to the DBN Foundation.

“Come out and learn more about us,” Matt Weldon said. “Our goal is to make a positive difference in our Stateline communities.”

For more information or to make private donations go to the DBN website at www.dontbenext.org, or email Brady Castro at bradyc@proem.org or Matt Strand at strand.ale@gmail.com.