Fred Stein-Smith, left, an instructor with Bergenfield’s Tri-Valley golf program for children with autism, talks about the program with golf legend Arnold Palmer. They were at opening day ceremonies for the U.S. Golf Association’s museum in Far Hills.

Participants in the Bergenfield public schools’ Tri-Valley golf program for children on the autism spectrum were the special guests of the U.S. Golf Association’s opening-day ceremony for its museum in Far Hills.

Fred Stein-Smith, an instructor with the program, made a special presentation to golf legend Arnold Palmer.

Palmer, who has won 62 PGA tournaments, expressed his admiration of the Tri-Valley program to behaviorist Zoe Lloyd and Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Kuchar.

As Fred Stein-Smith said to Palmer, "Your perseverance to overcome adversities leads us in Tri-Valley to believe that with hard work and commitment we, too, can become professional golfers or anything else we dream we can be."