Golfers needed for Billy Talent tourney

The boys of Billy Talent have come out swinging against multiple sclerosis and they want a little help from their friends.
Last year, the Streetsville rock band hosted a golf tournament at Lionhead Golf & Country Club and raised about $25,000 for the MS Society of Canada Scholarship Program. The program was the idea of the band's drummer Aaron Solowoniuk, who was diagnosed over a decade ago with the disease that attacks the body’s nervous system and afflicts an estimated 75,000 Canadians.
Last year, 61 youth either living with the disease or who have a parent afflicted with multiple sclerosis received scholarships of up to $1,000 through the program.
The tournament, called F.U.M.S. Open 2008, is back for another go-round this year and organizers are looking for interested golfers. It happens on Friday, Aug. 8 and is being held at Lionhead once again.
"When I was first diagnosed, it almost seemed like a disease that affected older people and I was having trouble relating," Solowoniuk previously told The News. "I heard about younger kids being diagnosed and I was trying to think of something that revolved around youth. When I heard about the scholarship program, it just clicked and I knew it was exactly what we should do. (The applicants) had to send in essays and I sat there and read each one all the way through. It was very moving."
Organized by Solowoniuk's brother Trevor and sister-in-law Renee, the tournament will feature members of the band plus their friends and family as well as some of the personalities from radio station 102.1 The Edge's The Dean Blundell Show.
Prizes include a chance to win a 2008 Stingray LS boat on a hole-in-one as well as items from organizations and companies such as Panasonic, Toshiba, Roxy, Quicksilver, Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart, The Beer Store, LCBO, various Ontario wineries, The Drake & Firkin, HBC, the Toronto Blue Jays and Billy Talent, among others.
Tickets cost $200 and include cart rental, dinner and prizes.
Those interested in playing are asked to call Trevor at 647-887-8738.
For more information about the scholarship program, visit www.mssociety.ca.
cclay@mississauga.net