Last Saturday, Oct. 20, The Sedona United Methodist Church held its 2nd annual benefit nine-hole golf tournament at Oakcreek Country Club.

This year’s beneficiaries were the Sedona Red Rock High School Library and the Sedona Community Food Bank. One-hundred percent of the auction and prize drawing proceeds will be directed to help our local school library with the purchase of new books and remedial care of existing volumes.

“The tournament netted just over $3,500, which was comprised of proceeds from the silent auction, ticket sales and Mulligan purchases from members of SUMC,” SUMC “Food for Thought” Tournament Chairwoman Kathleen Huff said.

Tournament players also brought cans of food for the Sedona Community Food Bank.

“The missions team of SUMC has been in discussionwith the high school about the lack of new books for three years due to budget cuts,” Huff said. “ Elaine Vail, the high school’s librarian, brought worn out, taped together books from the library to the luncheon to demonstrate the scope of the school’s needs.”

The church made it a priority to find better books for the school library.

“Despite the books being worn out there were no funds for the purchase of new relevant books,” Huff said. “Elaine’s support of this cause stood out to our church as an important need in our community.”

Members of the church began donating books prior to Saturday’s golf tournament.

“We have already donated over $200 through the church and the food bank,” SUMC church member Jane Brothers said. “More money will probably slip through the cracks after the silent auction.”

Brothers and her husband Rick have been SUMC members since 2009 and have made it a priority to support the church.

“Rick is on the board of trustees and I am on the finance committee so we are part of the church,” Brothers said. “We enjoy the people, pastor and the message he delivers us every Sunday because we as a society need to get back to Christianity.”

The event format was a four-member scramble featuring a shotgun start.

“The tournament attracted 48 players of all levels, including members of the Sedona Red Rock High School golf team,” Huff said. “The format was a fun four-person scramble with prizes for low gross and low net teams.”

Many United Methodist Church members appeared on Saturday with their clubs in hand for a good cause.

“I am a member of the church and I enjoy supporting the community so I plan on donating quite a bit,” Camilla Ross said.

“I am a former teacher and I think Arizona needs as much funding as it can get,” Larry Rathburn said. “Unfortunately, Arizona is not in the top 10 percent for funded education so anything we can do to help is awesome.”

Per the National Education Association, Arizona ranks 49th out of 51 in regards to public school revenue spent per student in attendance with $8,921.

Other competitions included longest drives, closest to the pin and longest marshmallow drive.

A luncheon, awards ceremony, prize drawings and a silent auction followed the tournament.

“We were blessed by perfect weather to play at the beautiful Oakcreek Country Club,” Huff said. “Besides the accommodating
staff from OCC, many volunteers from the church insured the event was well organized.”

Local businesses donated thousands of dollars worth of gift certificates for items including Jeep tours and rentals, ATV rentals, hiking gear, artwork and meals at local Sedona restaurants.

“It takes a caring community to make a difference when there is a substantial need,” Huff said. “Sedona is a very giving community;
we saw this from local restaurants, businesses, Oakcreek Country Club, friends and neighbors.”