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Swinging for a good cause

Local business support once again comes through for the 19th annual joint Cloverdale Rotary and Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce golf tournament.

Time is running out to get in on the Cloverdale Rotary and Chamber Golf Tournament.

The 19th annual fundraising event – a joint operation between Rotary and the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce – takes place at the Surrey Golf Club on Aug. 11. Marian Maletta, president of the Rotary Club of Cloverdale, says the tournament receives lots of support and participation from the local business community.

“I think that’s a big part of it,” she says. “There is lots of networking that happens, and it’s an enjoyable day.”

With 144 spots available for golfers, Maletta says roughly 90 per cent have been taken.

The signup fee covers lunch and dinner, as well as a pair of Callaway golf shoes for each participant. Jay Janower, sports reporter for Global TV, will emcee the event.

Maletta notes that organizers decided to forego a silent auction during the tournament this year in favour of a more exciting event: a loud auction. A professional auctioneer will be on hand to oversee the bidding process, which promises to be lively.

Funds raised from the golf tournament will go to local initiatives, but Rotary and the Chamber have not yet nailed down exactly which cause will receive the cash. More than $150,000 has been raised for Cloverdale causes over the history of the tournament.

The golf tournament follows Maletta’s installation as president of the Cloverdale Rotary Club on July 1.

Under her leadership, she says the club plans to continue its effort to have Rotary International take a Cloverdale initiative worldwide.

The project would introduce commercial beekeeping practices from the West to developing countries, where the current system involves crushing honeycombs to extract honey. This method means bees have to rebuild their nest every time and beekeepers end up with impurities in their honey.

Maletta says the project would make these entrepreneurs become more efficient, speeding up production and driving growth in the area.

“It’s a way of teaching other places to make their own economies instead of just throwing money at them,” she says.

Getting the program up and running will be a long-term project. The Cloverdale branch started working on it last year, and it is currently making its way through the larger Rotary approval process.

Another ongoing Rotary initiative involves raising funds to aid children in Haiti. The money goes toward providing clean water and education, as well as fun stuff like school playground equipment.

To me it’s a no-brainer,” she says, “because that country has been hit so many times.”

And these international efforts are all in addition to local projects like the annual Christmas parade and the Blueberry Festival.

For more information on the Cloverdale Rotary and Chamber Golf Tournament contact Bev Robinson at bjrobin2@gmail.com.

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