ALTON – To commemorate a young Altonian who was tragically killed in a car accident in February 2018, many of the loved ones of Trinity Buel have created a charity in her honor to carry on her gentle legacy of caring for animals and the environment.
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Called Trinity's Way, the group was founded by Buel's mother, April Gray. Currently, Gray's said the non-profit's mission is to work on special projects for furry friends of the Riverbend. As of now, that means installing more watering stations to the Alton Dog Park and completing a puppy house at the Hope Rescues. To do that, the organization has taken on quite a few feats, such as undertaking a successful short-notice music festival in May as well as a few litter cleanups garnering massive amounts of waste removed.
Their most recent fundraiser is a disc golf tournament. Disc golf, for those not hip to the lingo, is a sport in which flying discs (often known collectively as the popular brand, Frisbee) are thrown toward baskets. Much like regular golf, the shortest amounts of attempts wins the day, and most baskets have a par number.
This tournament was held at the disc golf course at Rock Springs Park in Alton with registration taking place at 8 a.m. Last Saturday morning at the park's upper pavilion. Tickets were $25 per person with family tickets being $40. Ticket purchases placed each player into either round one or two. Each of these rounds was nine holes and prizes were given to the top players in each round.
Gray said the event raised just under $1,000 Saturday with more than 80 people in attendance, including as many as 20 competitors.
Players also received a complimentary player's pack with a commemorative Innova DX Shark midrange disc, an event tee and “other goodies.”
“As a family, we were always looking for fun and inexpensive activities to do outside with young kids,” Gray said in a Facebook message. “Disc golf is perfect! We'd all get some sunshine, exercise and a lot of laughs at wild throws. It brought us together just to have a good time.
"When we began planning this event, we realized we had very limited experience with disc golf, and planning a tourney from start to finish was going to be a challenge," Gray said in a Facebook message. "But when we watched strangers who had just met and formed a team a few hours before return from the first round laughing and joking like they were old friends, all our countless hours of hard work, research, and visits to the course, became totally worth it. We’re thrilled we had the turnout that we did for this first-time event! Bringing a tourney back to the Rock Springs course, plus raising funds to support our mission, is an all-around win."
Player packs are still available for purchase at the Canine Carnival at the Alton Farmer's and Artisan's Market this Saturday morning and at Bushfest Saturday afternoon.
Tickets will also be available this weekend at each of those events for the upcoming "Dine With Your Doggo" event on Dec. 1, 2018, at the Alton KC Hall.
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