Sports

Have a sports story tip? Tell us about it by calling 250-378-4241 or emailing newsroom@merrittherald.com. Merritt team tops at local fundraiser

A softball tournament this past weekend raised over $2,500 to help a woman with eyesight problems.

Jake Courtepatte NEWSROOM@ MERRITTHERALD.COM

Both players and specators were out in full force on Saturday at the ball diamonds in Central Park for a good cause.

A softball tournament was held to help out with living costs for Corrine Munro, put on by her husband Clay. Altogether, the tournament raised over $2,500.

Corrine has been out of work for a few months due to an issue of debilitating eyesight. She will soon be seeing Neuroopthamologist Dr. Brian Sexton in Vancouver.

“I was just fundraising to help her with her living costs, etc.,” said Clay. “Until we can figure out what’s going on with her eyes. I love my wife, I’m just doing what I’m supposed do to take care of her and my kids.”

The Bandits (pictured right), out of Merritt, came out on top at the end of the day. The Punishers out of Chilliwack finished in second place.

The consolation bracket was won by the Bulldogs out of Logan Lake.

GOLF TALK: Sloan reaches PGA playoffs with clutch performance in final week

Jake Courtepatte NEWSROOM@MERRITTHERALD.COM

Merritt’s own PGA pro will be playing for the FedEx Cup.

It took right up until the final week of the PGA Tour season for 34 yearold Roger Slaon to book his ticket to the postseason. He came ever so close to clinching his first PGA win this past weekend at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, falling to multiple-time winner Kevin Kisner in what was a sixway playoff.

After finishing the opening round on Thursday with a mediocre 71, Sloan was able to shoot a pair of 64s over the subsequent two rounds before closing out with a 66 on Sunday.

His round on Sunday was capped off by a particularly good back nine, when he birdied two of the final three holes to put his name in contention for the playoff.

The par-three sixteenth hole saw Sloan stick it within eight feet off the tee, draining his first putt.

It was another one-putt on the parfour seventeenth, from just under six feet.

The tournament wraps up what has been an impressive streak for Sloan to close out the season - in the past three tournaments he has competed in, he has finished T-16, sixth, and now T-2.

The finish soared Sloan 39 spots up in the Tour standings, from 131st to 92nd. The top 125 players at the end of the season on the Tour secure both a spot in the race for the end-of-season FedEx Cup and a Tour card to compete in the next season.

Sloan earned a purse of $389,440 for his finish.

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THURSDAY, August 19, 2021 • 19 BUSINESS FEATURE

Do you want to nominate a business? Tell us about it by calling 250-378-4241 or emailing reporter@merrittherald.com. Community garden harvests for Food Bank

CONTAIN-IT STORAGE

Jake Courtepatte NEWSROOM@MERRITTHERALD.COM

Beans, beets, turnips, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini...all harvested for donation.

A total of 220 pounds of food was harvested from the Nicola Valley Community Garden on August 14, all going to the Nicola Valley Food Bank. This year alone, 729 pounds of food have been plucked out of the garden, with just under 500 pounds being donated to the food bank, and most of the remainder going to the Merritt Bread Basket Soup Bowl Society.

Michael Furman, the Chairman of the garden, estimates that there is still around 100 pounds left to harvest before Merritt gets its first frost.

“The bounty that we have is just amazing,” said Furman. “We have a ton of food growing.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of the garden used to rent out the beds. However, since then, with the beds being tough to rent out, they decided that everything would just be grown for the community as a whole.

“We just dedicated every single bed to the community,” said Furman. “We just went to the soup kitchen, Merritt Moms and Families, the food bank, things like that.

“So when this year came up, we said, ‘you know what, that worked, so let’s do it again.”

Furman said that there are now no plans in the future to rent out the beds: in the future, they will always simply be used to benefit the community through charity.

To make this a reality, next year’s garden will need a larger Board, a larger volunteer base.

“We’re just going to go to volunteer groups instead.”

For this year’s garden, in the meantime, there was one significant difference: the outside space of the garden, which is located on Reid Avenue behind the hospital, was utilized as edible landscaping, providing an even larger harvest for the community.

The Endowment Society owns the proerty, though they lease it to the Board for one dollar per year.

The beds within the gardens are also easy to access: Furman said that those with disabilities, particularly seniors, can easily wheel or walk right up to the beds to pick their own fresh produce.

“Often people come and they help out, and then they just take their own produce home.”

The hope is also to begin a program with the local schools, though that idea was put on hold when students started learning remotely due to the pandemic.

Furman and his team of volunteers would like to thank Aspen Planers for donating the mulch that covers the garden and the surrounding area, along with $1,000 to kickstart this year’s supply of plants.

“The weed suppression and esthetic appeal makes a big difference on the gardens and volunteers’ time.”

■ Approved mini-storage ■ On-site rentals ■ Secured ■ Sale of New & Used storage containers 1750 Hill Street ■ Phone: 250-315-3000

THE CHURCHES OF MERRITT WELCOME YOU

Crossroads Community Church

2990 Voght St. • 250-378-2911• Service Time: Sundays 10:00 a.m. Merritt Baptist Church

Sunday service (indoors), 10 am. Phone (250)378-2464 for more info and for prayer support. Merritt Lutheran Fellowship

in St. Michael's Anglican Hall • 250-378-9899 Service Time: 3rd Sunday each month 1:00 p.m. Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Corner of Jackson & Blair • 250-378-2919 Mass Time: Sundays 9:00 a.m. St. Michael’s Anglican Church

1990 Chapman St. • 250-378-3772 Service Times: 2nd and 4th Sundays only - 10:00 a.m. Trinity United Church

Corner of Quilchena & Chapman • 250-378-5735 Service Time 2nd & 4th Sundays 10 am Somang Mission Community Church (SMC)

1755 Coldwater Ave. (The Cadet Hall) Sunday Service Time: 4:00 pm • 250-280-1268 Nicola Valley Evangelical Free Church

1950 Maxwell St. • 250-378-9502 Service Time: Sundays 10:00 a.m.

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