Veteran's Affairs Plus W/ David L. Washington

Unknown Speaker 0:00
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Unknown Speaker 0:41
You can see what's going on what's going on? What's going on. Good morning, Las Vegas. This is Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5. Jazz and with the producer, the director, the engineer. Can you believe it is September this is our last show for this month. And then we're going into the last quarter of the year. Wow, how time flies. Yes, I last show in September. Ladies and gentlemen. As always, I'll start out with a few announcements. One certainly wanting to recognize and exalt. Want to recognize and acknowledge Wendy Ennis, and her family on the loss of her mother, Brenda? Harris, Miss Brenda Harris. She was a super nice lady. And they just recently had her service over at St. James Catholic Church. I trust that God was pleased with the work that she did well, here on this Mother Earth. Next month, I know they'll be having a membership drive for K and UV 91.5 Jazz and more. So I hope to participate maybe with Miss Carter layup as you come in and help to raise funds for this great organization. So Dr. Whitley, I'll be doing some work for you, sir. Another announcement I'd like to make is that from the Washington side, some of my kin folks we lost their sister cookie. That in fact, the last time I saw cookie was at chief Albert's restaurant. Darla is just a few months ago. So she recently passed away and I trust that information will be coming out soon on her funeral services. And then I learned from a text I received from my aunt magnolias, I was traveling here to the radio station that we lost. Certainly more to acknowledge and condolences to the McDowell family on the loss of Carrie. Carrie was a cousin that I've known for many, many years been here in Las Vegas, so she's recently transitioned. So again, condolences to the family birthdays. As we transition out of September, Steve sours local businessman, longtime friend of marsh Anna, Steve is a good man has several businesses that he did wrong here in our community. Vivian Washington just recently had a birthday. And on the national or international level is Winnie Mandela birthday. But she she's an ancestor. Now. Another ancestor, whose birthday was this month is Wiley Jones, my wife Marsha sister, so again, acknowledge those folks and want to pass on to their families, because we know that when people pass away generally, they're thought about and talked about, in many different ways. So condolences to all I had hoped to have a longtime friend colleague and we sit on metros metropolitan cultural committee together, Mr. Mario, and I know he's got a lot going on, and he's getting ready to open up his new store. And we certainly want to congratulate him on that because Mario has been a businessman for a long time in our community, well respected he does a lot of things for for folks in the community. So kudos to you, Mario, and hopefully, we still have a place for you here on Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5 Jazz and more. Hope to get you on soon. Also, today, later today, there'll be a parade on over in West on the west side, commemorating the 100 year of the West Side school. So congratulations to those folks who were putting that on and certainly wished him well and I trusted They will be a good turnout. I can recall. The first parade that I can recall participating in was the Martin Luther King committee that WHEN DO WE is put on we had about 1012 inches in the parade and I trust that this parade will be a lot bigger so great successes is wished and prayed for for those folks with that particular gathering. Also, the black achievement farm, which I'm a member of, they're in the process of developing a fundraise. I don't know all the details of that, but they're meeting right as I'm doing the show. So this best wishes always to them. They don't want to talk a little bit about excuse me, my family, you know, marsh and Amber. They they went to Dubai for her 70th birthday. And she just kept harping on me, When am I going to have or when are you guys gonna put on my seventh birthday party? Well, we did it just a couple Fridays ago. And I can tell you that we all from the youngest to the older ones we paid for because we had a great, great time. And Amber put together the theme it was all of the girls I would imagine. Angel Amber April. And Ray Ray Of course I saw he probably just showed up. But anyway, we had a great time and it was a 77 night 1970s type theme, you know, during the heyday of Soul Train, so we had soul train line. Ronnie yo did the spinning of the records and he took us back so thank you again, Ronnie. Oh, Angel, my middle daughter she did a poem that was well received by folks and April did the centerpieces they were tea cakes, believe it or not, which is her expertise and her passion. Along with her doing the the I always draw blank for some reason but look back program where she has the visors that encourage people to look back and don't leave the children in the vehicles whether it's summer or winter because it's not a good thing. And again, back to our son Ray, and his wife Erin, and he had Nala that baby girl and she had herself a good time running around. Oh and I must say that Amira Amira had a great time as well as she was skating and dancing. And then she complained that she's only like 689 years old. I think and one thing about him you do some stuff that you haven't done at all or in a while the body will talk to you. Once again this is Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5 Jazz

Unknown Speaker 8:11
Good morning once again, this is Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5 Jazz and more. I'm excited to have my next guests on are the first guests in fact for for the show today because I was unable to to connect with Mario who would have been on first but I know he's busy. As I had mentioned, getting his new store prepared for opening. So with that now my second guest is here he is going to be on call today versus being in the studio and this Mr. Jabali Smith, tournament Chair of Valley View golf club. How you doing Jamali?

Unknown Speaker 8:47
I'm doing wonderful day. How are you?

Unknown Speaker 8:50
I'm alright man. All right. I'm glad you were able to make it. Because I know you're a hard working man. And I can only imagine how much practice you may be doing. Because you're still so very good. So where are you from? Jabali.

Unknown Speaker 9:07
Born in Born and raised Las Vegas, Nevada. Born

Unknown Speaker 9:10
and raised right here in the Valley. So where'd you go to school? Elementary in high school.

Unknown Speaker 9:15
Elementary was Myrtle Tate elementary and high school. I graduated from Western High School in 2002. Western

Unknown Speaker 9:22
High School. All right up there. Well, Frank Hawkins graduated from CU. I think Andre Rhodes went up it went to Western I think all football players and then you come out as a golfer. So how long have you been golfing and how long have you been a member of Valley View Golf Club?

Unknown Speaker 9:43
Well, I've been around Valley View golf clubs since I was six years old. I'm 39. Now my stepfather Johnny Griffin introduced me and I've been playing ever since I had that first club in my hand. Oh, my passion. Wow,

Unknown Speaker 9:58
that is great. So what 567 years old.

Unknown Speaker 10:02
Yes. Six years old a summer of what was that? 9090?

Unknown Speaker 10:10
Me? Yeah. So what? I know that there's things that inspire or people get passionate about. And obviously golf is one of your so what drove you there in your in your opinion? Well, I've,

Unknown Speaker 10:27
I've always been competitive in golf was the hardest sport I've ever played. I swung at that ball and missed it. And I didn't like that. And I wanted to make my stepfather proud. So if he liked golf, that kind of gave me that extra incentive to put in the work and play. And after a couple years, and that just the feeling of putting together 18 Good holes, and battling yourself, because that's the only person you got out there. And you give me a lot of joy.

Unknown Speaker 11:00
Well, I know that watching you play and haven't played with you. And it was all about technique, because I think I'm five, eight, you must be 5657. And you know, I watched you hit the ball. And I remember many times with Jeanne Campbell, and I said, Let's go, wow. You know, his technique, because he's not a real big guy, to our listening audience, but he can pound that ball. And I also recall playing with you one time out at Durango Hills. And I think it's 18 either nine or 18. Anyway, you and you hit the ball over 200 Some almost 300 yards on to the green. I'm like, Are you kidding me? Who can who can stop this youngster? Who can? So did you? Did you play golf at all in high school?

Unknown Speaker 11:51
Yes, I played golf in high school. But golf wasn't popular. So I was really the only golfer on the golf team. We had a golf team of six. But the other five players were just had their father's golf clubs in the garage. So we were very good as a team. But I made state and local qualify tournaments as a individual offer.

Unknown Speaker 12:15
Okay, so beyond that you didn't you didn't pursue anything with college. I know Gene Campbell son. He came through Valley view's junior prom program. And he went on to college down in Texas. And it's no it was down in Houston. That right outside of Houston. Man where I'll think of it in a minute. But anyway, he got a golf scholarship, and he went school down and play golf. I know that this had a couple of

Unknown Speaker 12:47
golf scholarships. I didn't pursue them. Now knowing I guess, hindsight, I wish I would have taken him. But no, I got out of high school and went and got a trade went into the labor union in 2003. And I worked there till 2008. And then kind of recession hit and I tried to change career paths and now I'm a machinist. Hmm. That's,

Unknown Speaker 13:15
that's pretty unusual for young black Americans to be in it. Industry particularly coming out of Las Vegas area, I would say because I think back east, we probably got more people of African descent that may be in that particular tree. But that's interesting in you know, sometimes everybody don't want to go to college. I tell people all the time, some do and some don't. But just to watch you play and I know that you obviously put a lot of time and effort into that. Now you have a particular role with the Valleyview golf club.

Unknown Speaker 13:50
Tell us about it. This is my first full year of tournament coordinator to Valley View. So my role is to I guess book and prepare certain golf courses for our weekly play. Kind of set up special tournaments that we have coming up in a couple weeks, maybe three or four weeks. We have our annual tournament. And this is my first full year I'm still kind of ironing out the wrinkles but I enjoy again like you played with me. I enjoyed Golf I enjoyed golfers the camaraderie we have on the golf course I think is second to none. Just the passion that other people have on the golf course cut it I guess it doesn't stay on the golf course I'm I have a owner of the company that worked for he's a golfer. We talk throughout the day about golf grip. So what we see on TV, the Ryder Cup coming up for you. Yeah. And then when other people hear that I play golf, they always ask a lot of questions often brought me a long way.

Unknown Speaker 14:53
You know, I recall Lee Daniel, because I had him. Give me a few few pointers several times. Denise Tim, stop trying to hit the ball, swing through the ball. What are you doing Washington? And then I remember, Jr. Bill's dad said to me one time, because I joined right after I retired. And we were playing up at Muni and I'm in a hurry because I play fast. He said, Washington, I thought she was retired. Why are you playing? Why are you playing so fast? And our deceased friend, James Walker used to say, to all of us in our group that you know what, you guys probably could play better if you slow, we all will probably play a little bit better if we slow down, because we move quick, man, but I love the game. The only thing that still gets in my head is the time that you have to spend out there. We played Sunday, at Durango Hills, and USA executive course, par 58. We got done and in less than three hours it was it was we're all foursome. But no one was in front of us. So we, you know, in most of the times we got in the fairway. One thing I've learned about this game too, and I know you know, it will, if you stay in the fairway, more than likely you have a good shot at shooting a good round. But if you get out in the joke here, there and everywhere, it's going to be ugly, going to be ugly. So you're still excited about the game. Now? How about children? You got children? Do any of them play at all?

Unknown Speaker 16:21
Yes, well, I've had I've got five children. I brought all five to the golf course. But again, that this game isn't for everyone. So their attention span isn't what it should be out there. So they all come out and they'll put nail chip, but they don't have the passion. Right I do. In the summer, my stepdad would drop me off. At 6am, I would go into the golf course at Las Vegas golf club with the workers, right. And I would leave with the workers breakfast lunch and dinner from June to August with at the golf course, and I didn't want to do anything but play golf. I had another friend named James Payton. And we would do that maybe five, six summers. So I've put in a lot of work a lot of practice. And again, I still think about I'll lay there and think about how I'm gonna play on Saturday or Sunday. That keeps a smile on my face.

Unknown Speaker 17:17
Ya know, you you you play it well, and that's that's a good thing. So you got a special event coming up to the listening audience a little bit about that.

Unknown Speaker 17:28
Okay, on August 21, at a golf club called Painted Desert, we have a Ryder Cup of it coming up. It's going to be between our club and a couple other local clubs in the cup. And then forgot to tee it up. Okay the cup and tee it up. And we welcome all guests from single handicap to beginner golfers to come out and enjoy this day we'll have food prizes, and a quick round of golf. We won't be out there no five, six hours. We have multiple tee boxes. So the beginner beginners have a tee box that is little closer to the green with a single digit handicappers will probably play farther back and go out there and make some memories. So

Unknown Speaker 18:26
what's the what's the time frame for that for the tournament? Or the event?

Unknown Speaker 18:30
Well, you can pay the day of but it's a 630 tee shot gun tee time. Shotgun means that everyone starts at the same time. Right? The price is $120. And that includes all the green fee, the food and the trophies that are going to be given out.

Unknown Speaker 18:50
Excellent. Excellent. Unfortunately, I won't be able to be than I had planned to, but something come up with a dear friend of mine who passed away late last year. He's you probably remember her she played he was with Kosmos out of the LA area. But anyway. Yeah, they're honoring Herschel with a putting on what's called a wall of honor in his high school that he attended in San Diego. So I've got a run down there to that too, because he was such a man. Herschel was one of the guys who told me said Look, you're going to love this game. Are you gonna hate it? It won't take you long to figure it out. He said and the other thing the other thing is, you're gonna get tired of giving people your money. So you're gonna either practice or you're just gonna give it up. You say ain't no ain't no in between. You're either in or you're out. And and I have been in since since I retired and I love it. And like I say the only thing it gives me to gets into my head is a long timeframe, particularly when you get tournaments or just on a regular Saturday weekend. You get somebody playing slow men and my back tsp saying, okay, all right, you better get it moving, you better get it moving. So I would imagine that you guys certainly want to encourage others to join the organization, the Valleyview Golf Club, which is the oldest, predominantly black Golf Club in the state of Nevada. So give us some detail on how that can be done, because I trust that we have some, some veterans out there that I do know a number of them that do golf, that aren't necessarily members of Valley View. And we certainly want to encourage them to join up. Yes,

Unknown Speaker 20:35
sir. So we have a website that is Valley View golf in v.com. And that's our website, that'll give you a little bit of history about I guess what, I think the how many of you started in 1956. And you're old enough to know what African Americans dealt with here in Las Vegas, and it'll let you know how we made it to 2023. With a lot of dedicated members.

Unknown Speaker 21:04
Yeah, you said 1956 1956

Unknown Speaker 21:07
is when Valleyview started.

Unknown Speaker 21:09
I was I was five years old?

Unknown Speaker 21:11
Oh, you're fine, you

Unknown Speaker 21:15
know, but I'm just saying that. I know, there was a lot of the who's who, from the community that we're members of early on with the club. And it's continued to stay. But I know that correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet you are probably the youngest one of the youngest members of the club at this stage of life. Yes, I

Unknown Speaker 21:36
am. I started, I was one of the three that started the Valley View Junior program. And then once I started my family, I came back and wanted to be one of the officers. Again, like I said earlier Valley View and golf etiquette that it that you have to show the so the wearing the belt, the collared shirts, the etiquette that we show each other. They're no referees on them. So you have to call the penalties on yourself that just stuck with me. And, and in going through life. I use it almost every day. Excellent. And it makes things simple. So it's not just to be I guess, a professional golfer to come out there. We have I mean, you. I think we we've met, I think through golf. Right? That's right. And, and this is a brotherhood, and a family that is unbreakable. And I think it shows when we were on the golf course. And we're laughing, we're sitting in there, they always asked how long have you played who won the money? Because they see all we do is smile. Right? Right. So that's, that's, that's great. And if anyone wants to know anything about Valley View, and they go to the website, it'll give an email address and if they want to join or just come out and and see how we go about our weekly tournaments. I think the email is Valley View. nv.com is our our email and our president will answer your email and give you any questions or any answers to the questions that you have.

Unknown Speaker 23:18
Excellent, excellent. And you talk about the discipline. And the etiquette. I can tell you I've got two grandsons, who, two of the young ones now they play basketball and flag football. But Chris and David, the second, they were big time baseball players. And I tried to convince them to come out and play some golf. In fact, the last golf event we had was out at Le ante. And they were they were on hole three, you know, for the close to the pin. And they were excited me. Yeah, I want to get back into it because they can hit the ball. But I used to try to get them to go, let's go hit some on an end come out there and think you can just this is game this is a game, as you mentioned is tough to, to corral, if you will, and they'd have the ball, the spring and all over the place, Deena, get frustrated to him. This is a game that you got to go put some time and effort into because otherwise, it's not going to go so well for you. And I know that there's a number of guys that I've played with. They can hit the ball extremely long. But after that, and I won't embarrass them by calling their names after that. Their games are ragged, D. In fact, as bad as my short game is. It's it's a little bit better than theirs. Well, I really appreciate you coming on the show because I think it's, again, one of the things that I believe that we got to do is continue to grow their club, we can't let it die on the vine because I can tell you that there's a lot of young men out there that could use that discipline that that golf will cause you to have and it's all Also, I always tell people, it's a gentleman's game. Some of the rules that they have in the rulebook I don't like, for example, without calling it you're not supposed to be moving your ball and taking them on. Well, if it's muddy out there, man, it makes sense to just everybody should do it without calling it. It's wet. It's been raining. But just some of the some of the rules is they drive me crazy. But it's a gentleman's game. And no one should be out there. Cheating, none of us are going pro. And it's, it's where you go out there. You handle your business, you play well, or you don't play well. And it's a crazy up and down game. Some days. I go play extremely well, like Sunday, I had 10. Pars, believe it or not, and I'm glad you weren't here because I want money. I'm glad you were not there. Because everybody realized Jamali coming today is dramatic. You better get some birdies, man. Because if you don't get a birdie, DuVall is going to clean your clock. So what advice would you give a young person who may be interested in the game of golf?

Unknown Speaker 26:03
Patience, if you have patients, this can be a wonderful game. It's not a game of I guess, instant gratification in basketball, you know, you can lay it up in the hole is bigger football. Once you catch it, you can run and you fill it now. Again, like you said, you can hit the ball 300 yards. But if you end up behind the tree, then it was almost a wasted shot. I've been playing this game 33 years. And every time I play, I'm trying to beat a previous around. So I've never mastered this game. And I think I'm up for the challenge. So yeah, if you have the patience, and you want to, I guess, compete with yourself, because it gets you on the golf course. If you can beat the golf course, when you have better than anyone else, they'll just fall to the side, right? Because if you beat the golf course, nine out of 10 times you're gonna beat them too.

Unknown Speaker 26:58
Yeah. And that's interesting that you say that because I used to go out there trying to beat somebody. And some of you guys, you play on the golf course. That's where you gotta beat if you can, if you can, if you can get near that par thing that 7258 Whatever the party is, you got some good game going on. Because I remember. I think it's either Lee or or Mr. Bale say what you want to do Washington, you want to play par golf, you play par golf, you're gonna be just fine. Just Yes, you know, and don't get in a hurry. Take your time. Give us your information again on how to make contact. So you can anyone who's interested out there, veterans and others who are out there in our listening audience, I think it'd be a great opportunity to join the Valleyview golf club.

Unknown Speaker 27:44
Again, our website is Valley View golf in v.com. And we also have a junior golf program. So anyone that is 18 and under. We have a coach Jim Hart that has some classes on Thursdays and Saturdays. And that's wonderful. And anyone that's over there is more than welcome to come join us and play and have a ball and play the best game I think that's on Earth.

Unknown Speaker 28:15
Absolutely. And to the point on Jim Hart, I think he's being acknowledged sometime in the very near future young man, Jabari Smith man, I appreciate you I appreciate your for getting you out there. Mr. Mr. Johnny Griffin, I talked to him. Again this is Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5 Jazz and more.

Unknown Speaker 29:07
sale on the way

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