Peggy Merryman Memorial Golf Tournament to be July 14

By Ashley Rader

The Elizabethton/Carter County Community Foundation will be holding a golf tournament Saturday, July 14, that will serve as a fundraiser to the foundation and honor a former city leader who had a passion for golf.

The annual Peggy Merryman Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on Saturday, July 14, at the Elizabethton Golf Course. Registration will begin at 11 a.m.; lunch provided by Chick-fil-A will be at noon and the shotgun start will be at 1 p.m. All proceeds to the event will benefit the foundation.

Merryman was former mayor of Elizabethton and the wife of former City Judge Lewis Merryman. Foundation members felt naming the tournament in Merryman’s honor was appropriate because she was a founding member of the foundation and had worked toward organizing the golf tournament as a fundraiser.

“She was an avid golfer,” said Helen Wilson, member of the Foundation. “She wrote a column for the STAR on the women’s golf tournament for years.”

Wilson noted the golf tournament is the Foundation’s primary fundraising event to raise money that will be given back to other non-profit and public agencies in Elizabethton and Carter County. Over the past two years, the Foundation has raised $14,910. These funds have been awarded to 11 projects of non-profit organizations to support a variety of areas which include education, the environment, arts and culture, family programs, animal welfare, historic preservation and others.

In 2010, the Foundation gave out five grants totaling $7,000. Recipients of the grants in 2010 were Assistance Resource Ministries, East Tennessee Spay and Neuter, the Roan Mountain Recreation Foundation, Carter County Master Gardeners and the Watauga Historical Association. In 2011, the foundation gave six grants totaling $7,910. The 2011 recipients were Appalachian Family Outreach, Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development Council, East Tennessee Spay and Neuter, Frontier Health, Hands On! Regional Museum and the Watauga Historical Association.

The funds raised through the 2012 golf tournament will be used to distribute the grants for this year’s winners.

Play in the golf tournament will be a select shot with two-person teams in four divisions; men, women, mixed and seniors. Winners will be awarded plaques and prizes. The tournament is available for any golfer regardless of ability. Cost is $50 per person and a mulligan, red tee and putting contest package is available for $10. Early registration is encouraged by calling Jim Wilson at 543-1938.