David Meyers is an avid golfer who doesn't ever have to worry about forgetting his wedding anniversary because it almost always occurs during the same week as the U.S. Open golf championship.

	Lake Fong, Post-Gazette
	U.S. Open volunteers, from Left, Louis Shearer, 42, Chris Shearer, 39, Carolyn Meyers, 65, Brent Meyers, 17, Taylor Shearer, 2, and David Meyers, 67. Click photo for larger image.

Of course, Meyers' wife, Carolyn, insists that had her husband known in 1962 what he knows now, the two might never have been married, at least not during this particular week.

"He'd have surely left me standing there [at the altar] if he knew he had a chance to be a part of this," Carolyn Meyers, 65, said with a laugh. "It is just so much fun, to meet the golfers, to come down here and be a part of something like the Open. That's why we like to volunteer every time. And it isn't just U.S. Opens -- we've done pretty much every major event they've had here and two years ago we even did the Senior PGA event at Laurel Valley."

The Meyerses, who live in Murrysville, were married June 16, 1962. Two days later, Jack Nicklaus beat Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff at Oakmont to win his first U.S. Open championship. David Meyers insists he remembers his wedding and honeymoon far more than that playoff between Palmer and Nicklaus despite his wife's suspicions. But, through some friends, he had heard about what a great experience it was to serve as volunteers for that tournament and wanted to give it a try.

That's why, when the U.S. Open returned to Oakmont in 1973, he and his wife began what has now become a family tradition -- volunteering for major golf tournaments.

This year is their fourth U.S. Open, but it is special to them because it is the first where three generations of their family are represented among the group of volunteers.

Meyers, 67, and his wife volunteer in the transportation area along with their son-in-law, Lou Shearer, 42, of Level Green, while their daughter, Chris Shearer, 39, is one of the special areas marshals. She helps to contain the crowds in areas where the golfers are walking the course. This will be the second U.S. Open for the Shearers -- they also worked the 1994 Open.

The Meyers' grandson, Brent Meyers, 17, will serve as a standard bearer -- the person who walks the course with each group and holds a sign letting the crowd know which players are playing that hole and their scores. This is his first time volunteering to work the U.S. Open. The Shearers also have been able to bring their 2-year-old, Taylor, with them, making it her first U.S. Open as well.

All of the family members say volunteering is fun and exciting, but not nearly as much fun as it was in the days before Sept. 11, 2001, when security measures were mostly at a minimum. In 1994, the golfers were more accessible and it was far easier to navigate your way through the country club than it is now.

"You have no idea how much different it was then than now," David Meyers said. "We used to drive the golfers from the airport to the club and to their hotels and we could hang around outside the clubhouse and they'd stop and have conversations with you. Now, they are so inaccessible to everyone because of all the security and you can't just walk around the club like you used to.

"It is different than it used to be, but we still enjoy being a part of it and all of the people that you meet are very good people."

Meyers said one of the family's most prized possessions is a painting of all of the U.S. Open champions before 1994 that was signed that year by every player in the picture, with the exception of the late Ben Hogan and Johnny Miller.

Brent Meyers, a senior at Franklin Regional, said he has enjoyed his first Open as a volunteer because he loves golf, but he can also remember the 1994 Open because the Meyerses brought him along when they volunteered and he got to meet many of the best golfers in the world.

To volunteer, the Meyerses had to take a week off from work, which might be hard for some, but they have a special deal with the boss.

"We all work for my dad in the family business," Chris Shearer said. "So getting time off is not a problem because he wants to be here just as bad as we do."

David Meyers is the owner of Meyers Co., which is a distributor of staples and nails, in Plum. Chris Shearer is the office manager, Lou Shearer is the sales manager and Brent Meyers is the groundskeeper, or as David Meyers politely put it "the grass cutter."

And Carolyn?

"I'm the boss," she said with a laugh, but she was quickly cut off by the other four who explained that they try to keep her as far away from that business as possible.

"Actually, we are a close family," Chris Shearer said. "But since we spend so much time together working and volunteering, well, we use the holidays as time to get away from each other and not the other way around."