Tribal tournament

In late spring the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of southeastern Connecticut, owners of the world’s largest casino, joined with 20 companies and dozens of individuals in a fund-raiser to benefit the Department of Pediatrics’ section of immunology. The Timber Spears Memorial Golf Outing, held in memory of a 3-year-old tribal member who died in August 2001, attracted 146 participants and raised more than $23,000. Timber Spears was born with a primary immune deficiency; his grandmother Phyllis Waite, a tribal elder, proposed the golf outing at the Foxwoods Country Club to encourage research into the condition. “We are grateful to his family for their efforts to help other children with primary immune deficiencies,” said José G. Calderon, M.D., who treated Timber from the time he was 2 months old. “The gift will provide resources and keep the child’s spirit alive.” Steve Tantillo, a Mashantucket Pequot Athletic Commission coordinator, said the golf outing will be repeated next year.