Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter
Smoky River Community Hall held its third annual Golf Fundraiser at 5 Star Golf Course on June 20, with a sold-out course bursting at its seams with golfers.
Organizer Alain Turcotte says 5 Star is a course nestled in the Smoky River river banks south of Falher, making it a perfect venue to host the hall’s annual fundraiser. He says thanks to this annual fundraiser, the hall is in a healthy financial position.
“Our hall is in a position now where rentals are covering our monthly operational costs,” Turcotte says.
“The community really rallied behind the hall when it was in financial dire straits, booking the hall for weddings, trade shows, markets, Christmas Markets and many other activities. To be in a place where rentals are covering all our operations is huge,” he adds.
Turcotte says the fundraiser will help fund a variety of things the board has in its long-term plan, including fixing the steps to the dance entry, replacing eavestroughs, ripping out paving stones and replacing with a smooth pavement.
“We’re excited to have such great support from our community,” says Turcotte.
“All funds go to repairing this community hall, a hall that we all use multiple time in our lives,” he adds.
Turcotte says their initial goal was to have at least two teams per hole, but they ended up welcoming 31 teams with 124 golfers in tow. He adds the support received by people in the community has been greater than they ever anticipated.
“It’s important to use this fundraiser to generate as much income as possible,” he expresses.
“We had two rounds of nine holes of golf, a silent auction, live Calcutta auctions. I thought it was a really good day and everyone had an exceptional time.”
Turcotte says teams placing first to 12th had only three strokes separating their scores in the four-ball, best-ball tournament. He adds there were five all female teams participating.
“We had a lot of volunteers, which made things run smoothly,” he says, expressing his gratitude to everyone who helped.
“We had 140 for the evening supper of either steak or chicken. And the clubhouse staff also catered hotdogs, hamburgers, smokies and all the fixings for lunch.”
Turcotte says to keep a lookout for next year’s event, which he anticipates will be once again held on the third Friday of June. He indicated there will likely be a 9 a.m. start instead of 10 am. To accommodate all teams.
“We were happy that our event went without a hitch,” he says.
“With all of those people there was still good flow and movement of people. Everyone was here to help raise funds and have a good time.”
The Smoky River Community Hall extends their appreciation to all the businesses and community members who helped by providing prizes for their silent auction.
“Thanks to our community, we are now in a position to give back to the community that helped us survive,” Turcotte says.
“We’re going to be partnering with minor ball in December to share revenue from the annual gala.”
Turcotte says to watch the Smoky River Community Hall Facebook group for any updates on upcoming events. Events have been selling out very quickly and it is best to scoop up tickets as soon as you can.