June 17, 2012 7:00 a.m. — It was far from a slow news day for The Meadville Tribune on Wednesday, June 19, 1963.

President John F. Kennedy was on his way to visit the Berlin Wall. Congress was tangling over his recent call for a civil rights bill. And Governor Raymond P. Shafer had just cut the ribbon on the first section of Pennsylvania’s new Erie-Pittsburgh-West Virginia Freeway, otherwise known as Interstate 79.

The Academy Theatre was showing Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in “Days of Wine and Roses.” Loblaw’s grocery store was offering eggs for 10 cents a dozen and porterhouse steaks for 99 cents a pound.

In the sports section was a report on Cassius Clay knocking out British heavyweight champ Henry Cooper in the fifth round. And the Milwaukee Braves’ Joe Torre had hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5.

Then there’s this smallish item on page 19 of that day’s edition. It started like this:

“The Women’s Golf League of the Park Golf Course will sponsor its first invitational golf tournament July 23.

“A field of 80 will participate representing courses throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh and Hubbard, Ohio. ...”

Back then, few probably could have imagined that what this item was announcing would become the most enduring and popular golf event in Crawford County’s history.

Fifty years later, the Women’s Invitational is still going strong.

The tournament, celebrates its golden anniversary with 140 golfers playing 36 holes Monday and Tuesday at Oakland Beach Golf Club, the event’s home since 1967. Action starts at 9 a.m. on Monday and at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

And folks shouldn’t expect this year’s tournament to be much different than the previous 49.  

“Really, it’s a great tournament and we don’t like to make too many changes because of that,” said tournament chair Molly Caprara, a member of the Oakland Beach Tuesday Morning Ladies League, which hosts the affair.

“The weather looks great. We give out cash prizes. And the women that come here really want this to be competitive,” she added. “On the other hand, they keep coming back because it’s a lot of fun.”

There will be a couple special touches for the 50th anniversary. For example, tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. there will be a gathering for the golfers and organizers at Oakland Beach’s clubhouse. It’s a chance, Caprara said, for everyone to, “Hang out and not golf before everything kicks into gear on Monday.”

Then on Monday there will be a showing of a DVD slide show depicting the tournament’s storied five-decade history.

“I have five photo albums full of stuff,” said former tournament chair Vicki White. “Right before the 40th anniversary I came into the Tribune and pulled all the articles. And some of them, they’re a scream some of the headlines and stuff.

“I had them all in these books and I had them scanned. And on Monday we’re going to show all of them on a DVD that we made.”

Otherwise, this year’s Oakland Beach Women’s Invitational is going to be all about the game. And this year’s field boasts quite a crew of golfers.

Four returning champions will be on hand this year. And those four alone have collected a whopping 14 OBWI titles over the years.

Seven of those titles belong to Talmadge, Ohio’s Hazel Dunderdale, who was the top golfer in 1980, 82, 88, 91, 92, 93 and 98. Dunderdale will be competing in the AA Flight this year.

Five other tournament championships — 1994 and 97, and 2007, 08 and 09 — belong to New Castle’s Lori Mort, who will be looking for No. 6 starting Monday.

The tournament also welcomes back defending champ Carolyn Thompson. The women’s golf coach at Seton Hill University, Thompson won last year’s tournament with a two-day total of 156. That gave her a four-stroke win over runners-up Gemma Winnen and Patti Nelis.

Nelis is the other returning champ, having won the 2010 tournament after a two-hole playoff against Mort.

Mort (6), Nelis (8) and Thompson (9) are among the six Championship Flight golfers with handicaps under 10. That list also includes Becky Barnes (6), Alyssa Gerhart (7) and Gwen Paden (8).

“It’s a tough Championship Flight, really,” said White, who will also be competing up in the top flight.

“My index is 12.9 or something,” she said. “So it kind of takes the pressure off me. I can just enjoy playing with these great players and try to keep up.”

Not that White would mind adding her name to that now historic list of tournament. Nor would anybody else, for that matter.

“I want to win it,” White said. “It’s my course, darn it. I’m there every day. I live on it. I know how to play thses crazy greens.

“I should, anyway.”