BENWOOD - Brock Melko says his late father, Scott, would have none of it, and his mother, Monica, seconds that notion.
But Scott Melko, before passing away after a battle with Leukemia in 2007, did so much for others and continues to do so. So when the Melkos found out that a Benwood baseball field had costly repairs that needed done, Monica went to work using the funds raised from her husband's annual memorial golf scramble.
The field is in pretty good condition these days, and it will be even better at the start of next season. That's because it will be dedicated in the name of Scott Melko during an Opening Day Round Robin next spring.
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Scott Melko
''If he was here, he would probably never allow it,'' Brock said. ''He'd never want his name on that.''
Monica agreed, but said she is grateful and that the gesture means a lot.
''I don't think he'd feel awkward about it, especially this field, because he coached up here for years,'' Monica said. ''He would go up and line the field, cut the grass and he did a lot for the kids up there.''
And he continues to do so.
Through the Scott Melko Memorial Golf Scramble, which today will celebrate its sixth year at Crispin Golf Course, the Melkos are able to present three, $1,000 scholarships for students at Bishop Donahue where both Scott and Monica graduated, with tuition. Last year they gave away six worth $500 apiece.
Family friend Herk Sparachane, proprietor of Undo's in Benwood, mentioned the idea about starting a scramble not long after Scott's passing on April 14, 2007. By Labor Day that year, Monica said, they had their first event.
''I approached Monica about it because naturally I wanted it to be her decision,'' Sparachane said. ''This is something that his kids can carry on and someday take their kids through the halls of Bishop Donahue and see all those scholarships.
''The naming of the field I think is phenomenal because his name will be up there for the next 100 years.''
Any event such as this one is only as good as it sponsors. The Scott Melko Memorial Golf Scramble has 40 this year, including 'Gold' sponsors Shirts 'N More, Balgo and Kaminski Law Offices and Main Street Bank. Help, Monica said, is not hard to find.
''This would never happen without Herk,'' she said. ''He has all the connections and he knows how to run something like this.
''Jimmy Nolte from Shirts-N-More donates the shirts and Brock and my daughter (Beth Ann) design them.
''A lot of it is our sponsorship. We get a hundred dollars per sponsor and we have so many flags out there on the holes. We can have four flags to a hole depending on how many sponsors we get.
''We also have the Hole-in-One where you can win a new car. It's a Malibu this year and that's donated by Bob Robinson.''
And Undo's, of course, caters the after-golf event. The city of Benwood donates the shelter and there will be door prizes and a raffle for two, four-day passes to Jamboree in the Hills.
The Melko scramble is one of the toughest fields to get into in the Ohio Valley as Monica said it's a full, 36-team event each year.
''We have pretty much the same teams and sponsors come back every year,'' Monica said. ''Everybody that's in it says they will come back for as long as we have it, and a lot of them just golf that one time a year.
''A lot of them aren't real golfers and they say they just get together to tell stories about Scott.
''It warms my heart.''
Ditto for Brock, who plays in the event and says the day of the scramble has replaced college basketball's Selection Sunday as his favorite one on the calendar.
''Just knowing how busy everyone is, knowing every year that it's going to be full is a good feeling,'' he said. ''The thing he would love the most is that everybody could get together for a day like that. I'm sure that he'd love to be able to help, especially the baseball field because that was his sport.
''But his favorite part about this would be able to get his family and friends together for a day every year and just have a good time together.''
