With the last glimmer of boating season almost behind us, some people on the Bay will turn to other outdoor pursuits, including the Chesapeake’s waterfowl tradition. Shooting clays becomes a popular way to brush up on skills and to spend time outside in the autumn weather.
That’s the appeal of the Casey Cares 5th Annual Sporting Clay tournament. Casey Cares is a Maryland organization that supports childhood cancer patients and other critically ill children and their families in the Bay region and beyond.
The Point at Pintail, a 300-acre outdoor destination along the Wye River with a nationally-recognized sporting clay course, will play host to the Casey Cares tournament next Thursday morning, Oct. 12.
Promising “fun and friendly competition”, the tournament welcomes novice and experienced shooters to Pintail Point’s four miles of waterfront. Right now 11 corporate teams are signed up, and new teams or individuals are still welcome to register.
“The sporting clay tournament was the idea of Casey Cares Board Member Steve Manekin, an active Sporting Clay aficionado who often shoots clays at the Point at Pintail on the Eastern Shore,” said Dawn Weissman, Casey Cares Director of Corporate Relations.
Casey Cares embraces the Chesapeake Bay lifestyle for other fundraising efforts, too. Along with the sporting clay tournament, the charity holds a rockfish tournament in Kent Island every June. Next year’s date is already set for June 14, 2024.
In addition to hosting events on the Eastern Shore, Casey Cares also supports young patients who live there. Saige Wheelton, 13, is from Ocean Pines, Maryland, just outside Ocean City. Saige has spina bifida. Casey Cares keeps her and her family feeling positive with trips to the Maryland Zoo and Delaware State Park, as well as at-home movie and pajama nights.
Saige’s mother, Kathie, says, “Saige is a very outgoing girl. She has never let her disability stop her in any way shape or form, even with all of the surgeries that she has had. A lot [of surgeries] would have stopped a lot of children. Saige has overcome so much in the almost 14 years she has been alive.”
Kathie says the family loves “that everyone [at Casey Cares] reaches out and wants to help and be there for the children.”
It’s not too late to sign up for the sporting clay tournament as a foursome, pair or individual and help Casey Cares’ mission. For more information, click here.
-Meg Walburn Viviano
