The purpose of Steven's Tournament is to spend time enjoying ourselves while remembering a great young man who died prematurely. Steve would appreciate the spirit of camaraderie and sportsmanship in what you are all doing today. He would really appreciate the fact that many of his closest friends are absent from work and university classes in order to play golf and tip a beer in such a beautiful place. Steve was always in favor of doing something outside with friends over any ordinary inside duties. Check out Steven's Life!
Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Stephen Vacendak Fellowship in Geography. Recipients of the Fellowship are graduate students in Geography at Appalachian State University. Through this fund, students will be able to pursue their academic interests while receiving some relief from the financial strains of graduate school.
The Stephen Vacendak Fellowship Committee is dedicated to using this fund
to recruit the most qualified and promising master's degree students in the
country. The Master of Arts Program in Geography at Appalachian State University
is a unique program that will allow gifted students to follow Stephen's dream
of earning an advanced degree in geography in a great place. During all of
his travels, Stephen kept the memories of glorious fall days on the trails
and rivers of Watauga County in his mind. He was truly excited to return to
the beautiful southern Blue Ridge to expand his horizons. Your participation
in this tournament will help others to follow in his footsteps and reach his
dream.
Stephen Vacendak was born January 16, 1974, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He graduated from Northern Durham High School in Durham, N.C. in 1992 and began his undergraduate career at Appalachian State University that fall. Steve graduated with a B.S. in geography in May of 1996.
Following college, Steve ventured west to pursue his love of mountains and gravity sports: skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, mountain biking and rock climbing. He lived in Park City, Utah for a year, where he learned to ski the steeps and came to love backcountry skiing. Steve and his friend Ryan Brooks traveled to Idaho in 1997 for a two-day visit to Stanley, where college roommate Travis Bailer was serving an internship with the Forest Service. The three North Carolina boys fell in love with Idaho, the Sawtooths and the Wood River Valley. They relocated to Ketchum and spent the next two years there. The majority of his time was spent getting the most out of life in the great outdoors and adding to the lives of others.
Steve was particularly suited for a life in Ketchum. He was a backcountry skiing phenomenon. There are no pictures of him booming the slopes; film is too slow. He preferred skins to lifts, and mountain ranges to groomed ridges. Speed was his friend. As he skied, he paddled. Steve was an expert kayaker - big water and creeker. He paddled over 400 miles of Idaho's whitewater. Those of us who paddled with him treated him as the human probe. Steve loved being the first over a waterfall, down a technical chute or into the maw of the Green Room. When apartmentless, he couch surfed. His smile was epidemic.
Steve was an exemplary human being. His energy was boundless. His enthusiasm was for life was positive and genuine. He was generous and stimulating to be around. Those who knew Stephen remember him for his enthusiasm, zest for living, and exuberant approach to everything he undertook. His broad, easy smile is greatly missed by his fellow graduate students, friends, fraternity brothers, the faculty and staff in the ASU Geography and Planning Department, and all those who knew him.
Steve returned to Boone in August 1999 to pursue a master's degree in geography. He told friends that he wanted to make his contribution to society by earning a Ph.D. and teaching college. Steve died on Friday, October 8, 1999, when his mountain bike collided with a vehicle in Boone. On his desk was found a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "It is not length of life, but depth of life."
Portaging the Blue
for Steve Vacendak
1)
The cottonwoods
along the Big Wood
are still -- & yellow.
The poison ivy's red
all over the Bruneau.
Hells is on fire…
We're just waiting
for the crops to come in,
the days we can count on,
when we will ride
the Malad & Murtaugh.
The trees & ivy
are innocent.
Sometimes a green leaf
is a life-time,
as Silver Creek
is the perfect psycho-
therapeutic portage.
2)
On Highway 30,
shifting into fifth,
the Ford groans.
We load a bowl of memories:
the pick-up bed bloated
with ten gallons of beer;
the Gliss & Glides riding
beside the Topolino's
wide, blue smile.
Overlooking the Badlands
of Bliss, we eat garlic bread
& speak kindly
of the Roosevelt,
of women with dark hair-
& if we weren't paddling
my friend, we'd be there.
William Studebaker, 1999
When: October 2, 2006
Registration: 10:00am
Shotgun Start: 11:30am
Where: Springfield Golf Club: Fort Mill, SC www.playspringfield.com
To view Pictures from previous tournaments, click here
For More Information Contact:
Department of Geography and Planning
Appalachian State University - (828) 262-7127
-or-
Steve Vacendak - (803) 324-5530
page last updated
Wednesday, June 14, 2006 4:08 PM