Many who are familiar with Lake Wales Care Center have taken part in its various fundraisers at one point or another. Care Center is well known for hosting an annual charity golf tournament, Run Like You Care 5k/10k, and its annual Empty Bowls auction. For the first time, however, Care Center hosted a clay shoot on Saturday, March 19th. The event was sponsored by The Story Companies, and lunch was provided by Weikert Ford. In total, 60 shooters participated in 15 different teams.
The event began early Saturday morning at the FFA Training Center in Haines City. Shooting stations were hosted by Catfish Creek Sporting Clays, which is one of the few clay shooting ranges in the area. Shooters took their places at ten different stations, each featuring a different style of clay shooting. For example, one station would throw two clay pigeons one after the other, while another station would throw them simultaneously. The setup of these stations, in combination with the various levels of difficulty, paralleled a golf tournament in some respects.
The winners of the tournament were broken into two categories: best team and best individual. The winning team was from the Polk State College Foundation, including Mike Huff, Tracy Porter, Robbie Manikis, and Keith Hartsfield. The best individual shooters were Tracy Porter (93 out of 100 shots) and Dr. Mark Shabla (95 out of 100 shots). Winners received a commemorative stainless steel tumbler and, of course, an invitation to next year’s tournament.
“I think it was a great first-time event. We hope to make it an annual event,” event sponsor Vic Story said of the event. “I hope that it exposed more people to the mission of Care Center and I had a good time doing it.” The event raised over $10,000 toward Care Center’s ministries.
For more information on how to take part in Care Center’s next special event, visit their website, www.lakewalescarecenter.com, or follow them on Facebook @lakewalescarecenter.
Polk State College Foundation
Mike Huff
Tracy Porter
Robbie Manikis
Keith Hartsfield
With tournament sponsor – Vic Story
Tracy Porter – high score female – 93 out of 100
Dr Mark Shabla – high score male – 95 out of 100
Tournament sponsor – Vic Story
