Big Orange, Big Heart

Fulmer among many to donate items for Skyler Boring Foundation auction

Philip Fulmer is carried from the field by his players following his last game at Neyland Stadium as Tennessee coach in 2008. Photo by Brandon Shinn

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Among several items up for bid is a women’s Vera Bradley handbag, a beautifully appointed “boxy tote, in Olivia pink with olive trim.”

Skyler “Rooster” Boring at his Heritage graduation.

Instantly, even the walls are laughing.

“Well, that’s what it says!” exclaims Judy Mincey to a renewed round of laughter.

Six months following on Skyler Boring’s tragic passing, any levity is still a much-welcomed thing.

Mincey and the board of The Skyler “Rooster” Boring Wrestling Foundation were making final preparations for a fundraising auction. The event, coinciding with a foundation dinner, is scheduled for Friday at the American Legion post on Waters Road in Maryville.

Tickets for the dinner have been sold. The auction is open to the public.

The dinner begins at 6, the auction following at 7:45.

Boring, Mincey’s grandson, was shot and died from injuries in May, eight days following his Heritage High School graduation. No arrests have been made. No one has been charged.

In the days following the shooting, Mincey, husband, Jerry, and Amy Boring, Skyler’s mother, formed the Skyler Boring Foundation to keep his memory alive. The foundation was established to award a scholarship to Blount County’s top high school wrestler each year, with athletic and academic achievement given equal weight.

A Pat Summitt print by Orange Mountain Designs is expected to be a popular item.

Items for auction have poured in from all sides. Among some of the most desirable is a commemorative print of legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt, donated by Orange Mountain Designs. Two tickets to the Tennessee/Vanderbilt game on Nov. 23 at Neyland Stadium are on offer.

“And they’re good ones, too!” foundation member Kerri Hamrick said.

An upscale ladies purse to rival the Bradley handbag is also up for bid. Anderson Lumber Company donated 18-volt cordless drill.

“I’m bidding on that myself,” Jerry Mincey said.

Also going to the highest bidder are weekend getaways in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Townsend.

Expected to draw much interest are several items signed by former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer. An intermediary put Mincey in contact with the national championship coach. Fulmer was only too happy to help. When Mincey and two others went to retrieve the signed items, Fulmer greeted them at his office.

“Very nice man,” Mincey said, “very nice man. I think I hugged him. We got our stuff and left.”

A Phillip Fulmer signed football is among several items up for bid from the former Vol coach.

Not wanting to overstay their welcome, Mincey and the others quickly hustled out of Fulmer’s Knoxville office. Less than a mile down the road, the thought struck Mincey of an opportunity lost.

“Three women up there with cell phones, and not one of us took a picture!” she said. “I told him, in my heart, he will always be my coach.”

Pokey’s & Sports donated several items for auction, but it’s something no amount of money could make her part with that Amy Boring finds most dear.

A co-captain, Skyler helped the Mountaineers to back-to-back trips to the state wrestling tournament, Heritage finishing fourth this spring, the highest-ever finish for a Blount County team.

Amy and Skyler Boring embrace at Skyler’s graduation.

Skyler’s letterman’s jacket had yet to be finished at the time of his death. Pokey’s stitched the honors commemorating Skyler’s senior season to the garment and gave it to Amy, free of charge.

The following individuals and businesses donated items for auction: Eric Fleming; Kathy Rubio-Baeza; Pro Sign; Vulcan Materials; Kerri Hamrick; Sandi Walter; Anderson Lumber Company; Maryville High School; Alcoa High School; Pokey’s; Dyna Body Fitness; Douglas Hamrick; the Heritage wrestling team; Hatcher’s Karate; Treasures Jewelry; Old Navy/Gap; Orange Mountain Designs; Rex Matlock; Electric Sting; Rocky Top Village Inn; Ripley’s Best Italian Restaurant; Mountain Breeze Motel; Dollywood; Bennett’s BBQ; Tally Ho Hotel; Cades Cove Stables; Cowboy Tubing; Carriage House Restaurant; Willocks Brothers; Tellico Grains Bakery; Gracie’s Restaurant; Debbie Brimer; Big Orange Barber Shop; H & H Builders; Midland Restaurant; Kelly Brewer; Texas Roadhouse; Olive Garden.