Saturday afternoon saw 66 golfers take to Elmwood Golf and Country Club in Swift Current for the Broncos Memorial Monument Fundraiser Golf Tournament.

Several Swift Current Broncos alumni that survived the December 30, 1986 bus crash just east of town were back in Swift Current for the weekend.

Bill Lee organized the golf tournament, as well as a social for the guys on Friday night.

Back in December on the 30th anniversary of the crash, which took the lives of Scott Kruger, Trent Kresse, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff, a monument was unveiled on the south side of Highway 1 at the site of the crash, just east of Swift Current. And on Saturday morning, several former players and family members of former players made it out to the monument.

Bob Wilkie was one of them, and he said being back in town with old friends definitely helped.

"It's awesome. It's been a long time coming, and things like this give closure to something that happened a long time ago," Wilkie said. "So for a lot of us it's very healing, and it's awesome to see our teammates honoured the way they should be."

Some of the others out at the monument Saturday were Artie Feher and Trevor Kruger (both are goalies who survived the crash), Lonnie Spink, who survived the crash, as well as Darren Kruger (brother of Scott and Trevor) and Carter Kresse (brother of Trent).

Saturday's golf was a scramble with 16 and a half teams of four, followed by a banquet and auction to raise money for further work at the monument, including a security camera.

Lee, who grew up with the Krugers, said it was great having golfers out, and the support he had from sponsors really made the event possible.

Some things given out included a beer fridge, golf passes, and cash prizes.

"The day was really good," Lee said. "We had lots of golfers and everything went really quickly. With the eight par threes it doesn't take long out there, so you get to spend more time in the clubhouse visiting."

Wilkie said it was great to get reacquainted with others that have been healing from the tragedy of the icy day 30-plus years ago.

"It was a special group, and we're really happy to be together again, just like we always are."

The total funds raised at the tournament haven't been tallied up yet. But Lee is determined to keep the monument in top shape "forever" to honour the four Broncos.

 Left to right: Lonnie Spink, Bob Wilkie, Artie Feher, Darren Kruger and Trevor Kruger.