Time of Remembrance golf tournament held in Warden
Golfers pose together during the 2022 Time of Remembrance Golf Tournament at the Sage Hills Golf Club in Warden. The tournament is held to support an event held in the Tri-Cities which supports Washington Gold Star families.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/MORGAN DERRINGTON
Banners memorializing fallen service members were placed along the paths at the tournament. A Gold Star family is a family which had a direct family member die in the line of duty while serving in the U.S. military in a time of conflict.
WARDEN — Golfers gathered at the Sage Hills Golf Club on Saturday morning for the Time of Remembrance Golf Tournament, which raised money for the Time of Remembrance held in Tri-Cities in September.
“It actually went really well,” Tournament Organizer Morgan Derington said. “We had a pretty big turnout, I think we had over 15 teams – so, that’s four-person teams that showed up.”
Derington said that the tournament was in jeopardy of not happening about a month before they took to the course on Saturday, so he was thrilled to see the community's outpour of support.
“For the cause, the Gold Star families of the state of Washington, Idaho and Oregon, it’s really amazing,” Derington said of the support the tournament received.
The tournament memorializes Jeremiah Schmunk, a native of Warden who was killed in action in July of 2004. Along with Schmunk the names of other service members from the Pacific Northwest are memorialized on banners throughout the event.
“Especially for (Schmunk), he was a local veteran of the National Guard,” Derington said. “So, to see the veterans and his high school wrestling team guys kind of come together as one for that day, and have a great time golfing and having lunch and other things like that, it was a really awesome time.”
Along with golfers playing throughout the course, there were side games that included a marshmallow drive, a wooden putt, longest drive and closest to the pin.
“We had some donations, Sage Hills donated to the first place teams,” Derignton said of the prizes awarded to winners for the side games. “The 19th Hole, the restaurant over at Sage Hills, they came together last minute with a couple of raffle prizes and they also provided the lunch.”
The tournament raised money through registration fees, hole sponsorships and donations, with the money being put toward the Time of Remembrance held in Tri-Cities from September 23-25. During the Time of Remembrance, Gold Star families are brought in for a weekend of honoring their fallen loved ones.
“It’s a cause that is bigger than anything,” Derington said of the Time of Remembrance. “It doesn’t get much bigger than losing a loved one overseas.”
Included in the weekend is a candlelight vigil at the Regional Veterans Memorial in Kennewick beginning at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Also included is a memorial ceremony with guest speakers General James Mattis and ambassador Ryan Crocker.
“At the Time of Remembrance parade at the park, all 375 fallen hero banners will be displayed,” Derington said.
Derington added that he is hopeful to host the golf tournament again next year, this time in late spring.
Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. You can also hear Ian each week on the Studio Basin Podcast, available on Spotify and other podcasting services.
