A donor left $6.85 million to nine groups and organizations in Milford, Neb. (population 2,156), including a $1 million endowment for maintenance and improvements at Thornridge Golf Course, plus $250,000 to establish a permanent retirement fund for John Melena, its Superintendent. Melena, 51, says he doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon and that the nest egg will be used for future superintendents once he does decide to end his work at Thornridge.
In January, residents of Milford, Neb., learned that an anonymous donor had left $6.85 million to nine groups and organizations in the town of 2,156 residents, reported the Lincoln, Neb. Journal-Star.
The gift included a $1 million endowment for maintenance and improvements at Thornridge Golf Course, a nine-hole course in Milford, as well as $250,000 to establish a permanent retirement fund for Thornridge’s Golf Course Superintendent, John Melena, the Journal-Star reported.
Melena, 51, said the nest egg will be used for future superintendents, as well, and that he’s not planning to retire any time soon.
“I’ve been kidding them that I’m going to hang around for another 25 years,” he said. Melena answers to a nine-member Board and has been Thornridge’s only superintendent since it opened in 1990, the Journal-Star reported.
Even though Thornridge is closed for the winter, Melena has already received plenty of suggestions from golfers on how to use the money, the Journal-Star reported, but he said no decisions have been made. The Board will look at such things as improving cart paths and equipment, he said. The course does not have a clubhouse, but has no plans to build one, Melena noted.
Like everyone else, Melena can only speculate on who gave the money, but he wants him or her to know it’s appreciated, the Journal-Star reported.
“I can’t thank them personally, but I want them to know that we will be good stewards of the money,” he said.
Other gifts, the Journal-Star reported, were given to the Milford Public Schools District ($2.5 million); the city of Milford ($1.6 million—more than half the city’s annual budget); the local library and senior center (designees through the gift to the city), an independent living community for seniors and those with disabilities, and the town’s family medical center.
The money for the city came with a stipulation it be used to enhance the community, not for tax relief, the Journal-Star reported.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.