This summer just keeps getting better.
I’ve covered three editions of the Smithers Celebrity Golf Tournament, but I have never had the opportunity to play in it, until now.
It was even more fun than I anticipated.
So, I cannot say thank you enough to the great gang at Seabridge Gold for adopting me for the tournament on Saturday.
Our celebrity, Dana Ferguson, was also really great to be around.
I’ve never been very much of a star-struck kind of person and the more I get to rub shoulders with celebrities, the less so I become because, with a few notable exceptions, they’re mostly just like anybody else.
Sure, most of them are A-type personalities because the focus, determination and dedication it takes to reach the elite ranks in their chosen professions require them to be.
But on a personal and social level, the vast majority of the hundreds of celebs I’ve had the opportunity to meet, interview and hang out with have been gracious, humble, down-to-earth and engaging. Regular people with extraordinary accomplishments.
That was certainly the case this past weekend. And I am thankful to all of them as well for coming to Smithers having a great time and lending their cache to the community. Credit goes to our local celebs, in particular, Joe Watson, who invite their friends and contacts in that world to fill the roster.
However you may feel about golf and/or hockey, this is an amazing event for the community.
Especially this year coming off the past two years of doom and gloom.
It brings a ton of money into the town supporting our businesses.
It raises the profile of the community, which has positive tourism implications.
And, of course, at the end of the day, it is about what it does for charity.
Since 1991 it has raised millions of dollars for local charities improving the amenities and services we enjoy in the Bulkley Valley.
To that end, it is our local businesses who deserve credit for supporting this thing, because it is their contributions, both financially and in-kind that end up putting six figures of cash in the coffers of great local non-profits that improve all of our lives.
Finally, if it were not for the tireless efforts of all the volunteers, it would not happen at all.
Enough cannot be said especially about Kent Delwisch. In typical humble fashion, Kent passes off the credit, but we all know that while a lot of people put a ton of time and energy into these things, there has to be someone to orchestrate it all.
When I put on the Lake Kathlyn Float Fest last summer, I tripled my estimation of how much time and energy I would have to put into it and when it was all said and done, the commitment was probably triple that again.
The float fest was a logistical drop in the lake compared to the SCGT. I can barely even imagine what it takes to orchestrate this tournament, yet ever other year, Kent does it.
Kudos.