The inaugural Drew Steele-Skip Holtz Golf Classic's dinner and auction drew nearly 800 people to East Carolina University's Murphy Center and Minges Coliseum on June 4. The evening, and the golf tournament that followed on June 5, raised more than $200,000Ê for special populations in Pitt County.

"The support, the enthusiasm of this community is heartwarming," said ECU Football Coach Skip Holtz, who served as master of ceremonies for the dinner and auction. "I've coached a lot of different places, but I've never been in a community that's so open, so warm and so welcoming. It is a special place."

Throughout the event, tributes and gifts of athletic jerseys were presented to Drew Steele, the 21-year-old Greenville resident with Down syndrome. Steele, son of former ECU basketball Coach Mike Steele, so impressed Holtz with his positive attitude and enthusiasm for sports when he met him last year at a Special Olympics golf tournament that the coach made him a part of his staff – asking him to speak to the team and giving him a job in the equipment room.

The dinner and golf tournament grew out of a desire to helpÊ Pitt County Special Populations and leave a lasting legacy in Drew Steele's name, Holtz said.

"We're going to try to run this tournament every year until we have enough money to build a facility with Drew's name on it,"he told the audience.

At the dinner, patrons helped themselves to buffets provided by Greenville restaurants The Beef Barn, Chefs 505, Christinne's Seafood Grilled & Chop House, Finelli's Café, and Logan's Road House. Starbucks, Minges Bottling Company, R.A. Jeffery's Distributing and Mutual Distributing provided beverages. Tables for dining were set up inside Williams Arena.

Silent-auction items, including sports memorabilia, artwork and services provided by local businesses, were up for bids during the evening.

A lively silent auction after dinner raised nearly $60,000. Among the sought-after items were a two-day trip for four aboard a private jet to the East Carolina University-University of Central Florida football game that garnered the highest bid of the auction, $9,000; a pair of autographed Muhammad Ali boxing gloves; and a commissioned portrait by artist Marcus McClanahan. Bidding was so contested for the Pirate Basketball Bench Experience and the Pirate Baseball Bench Experience that two bidders were allowed to purchase each of the two packages.

Contact Jane Hudson at 329-9577 or jhudson@coxnc.com.