by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Her days this week start at sevenish and end at nineish, she says. That’s 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., in case you’re wondering, and she is Charlene Shirk, a former TV anchor/reporter who is in the middle of her third Players Championship as director of community relations.
Tracking Shirk down for a photo or a comment isn’t easy. You better have on comfortable and durable shoes, be willing to walk, talk, write and snap while tagging along and you certainly have to be patient due to necessary interruptions.
Welcome to the week of The Players for Shirk and her two-person staff comprised of one part-timer and one intern. Starting Monday, Shirk began hosting events that cover the gamut of everything that’s not golf this week, although much of it has a golf theme.
The Players Stadium Village features a putting green and a simulated 17th hole complete with water and a safety net for attendees to partake in, but Tuesday morning the village was all about 21 kids in Community PedsCare and their families. The pediatric palliative hospice program for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions was the focus of Tuesday’s “These Kids Can Play and PaintFest” event.
To help out, dozens of the wives of PGA Tour members and Players Championship participants volunteered to chauffeur the kids and their families around the area.
All the while, like a conductor, Shirk was orchestrating the event.
The media were told quickly what’s going on and where.
Photographers from the PGA Tour were told what Shirk is looking for to use in her press releases.
The wives were warmly greeted and given their “uniform” – a one-piece mesh pullover that ties on the sides.
In between, Shirk beats a near nonstop path from the front desk to the face-painting area – stopping sometimes to say hello or answer a question and often doing both without stopping.
“There is a million moving parts,” said Shirk, who didn’t have her pedometer on this particular day, but noted that one day during last year’s event she racked up about 5,000 steps.
Shirk, and just about everyone else associated with the tournament says this week is the culmination of 51 weeks of preparation.
No matter how well you plan, what factors you consider, who shows and who doesn’t, Shirk said the key to her success during the week is to be prepared for the unexpected.
“You just have to deal with it,” she said.
The 15 years on camera certainly helped Shirk prepare for her second career – one she said she loves.
In fact, Shirk said she has the best job in town. There’s a scripted facet of TV news, but the ability to ad lib and adjust on the fly is necessary.
It’s apparent after following Shirk around for around 30 minutes that she’s the “go to guy.” Everyone seems to seek her out for even the simplest of things such as water for face-painters.
Waking up and going to sleep this week are two very different tasks for Shirk. She’ll wake up at 5 a.m. every day, but actually getting to sleep some nights is another matter. The day’s activities still swirl – what went right, what went wrong, what can be done better next time – but she also loses sleep over the next day’s events.
The golf portion of the day takes care of itself.
Good shots, bad shots – those are both on the players. The weather is out of everyone’s hands. But, the off-course activities, the ones that help remind the public that The Players donated $3 million to local charities last year are on Shirk, her staff and the volunteers that give their time to the effort.
“My whole purpose is I want the community to know the impact they make when they support the tournament,” said Shirk, who eats about six times a day (she says she’s a “grazer”) and makes sure she has on comfortable shoes. “We are just the vehicle, the conduit along with the sponsors.”
If The Players is the end of the marathon, there were plenty of stops along the way. Shirk said she helped organize, attend or host 156 Players-related events last year. All of them are designed to touch the community in some capacity.
So, if The Players is a year-round event that revolves around the best field in golf playing for 72 holes, what is this week to Shirk?
“It’s go time,” she said, walking away.
Quickly, of course.
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