FOLEY – What started as a way to honor the memory of a good friend, turned into a fun afternoon in the park and raised more than $4,000 for the John McClure Snook Youth Club of Foley.

Ratthan Jones was a longtime employee of both Infirmary Health and South Baldwin Regional Medical Center. A cornerstone of the emergency department at both hospitals, the 1983 graduate of Foley High School died suddenly in late March 2012.

“Some folks you meet and go away thinking that was a really nice guy. Then there’s the person you meet for the first time and leave saying ‘That’s the nicest guy I have ever met,’” said Dr. Paul Glisson. “Ratthan was that guy.”

Since Jones was heavily involved with the Boys & Girls Club, which morphed into the Snook Youth Club, is was only natural that his friends find a way to help one of Jones favorite causes. So friends organized the Ratthan Jones Gurney Bowl, a flag football tournament as a fundraiser. The response to the afternoon event in Foley’s Heritage Park surprised the organizers.

“We invited employees of both hospitals, EMS and fire departments from the area to participate,” said Glisson. “We were hoping that two teams would show up. So when six teams showed up, we were ecstatic.

“The weather was perfect and we raised a little over $4,000 for the boys and girls club, once you take out expenses.”

The success of the inaugural event has many calling for Gurney Bowl II. Glisson, who now works at Pensacola Baptist Hospital, is reluctant to make that call.

“I work a lot in project management and that would be ‘out of scope,’” said Glisson. “I’m not ready to personally take charge of it again, but there are plenty of folks already calling for another one.”