Earlier this year, Philomath High School launched boys and girls golf programs to give student athletes another extracurricular activity option in the spring.
The Philomath Booster Club, which provides various types of support for local athletics, holds the Gary Cox Memorial Philomath Warrior Golf Scramble, an annual fundraiser at Diamond Woods Golf Course near Monroe.
That’s pretty much the extent of any golf-related stories that I’ve produced for this publication. Then I came across a press release from Wildhorse Resort and Casino, which is located in Pendleton, and learned that we have a pretty good golfer named Selanée Henderson Pendleton among us here in Philomath.
The resort and casino announced that three professionals received sponsor exemptions to compete in this year’s Wildhorse Ladies Classic, which is scheduled for Aug. 15-17. The tournament is part of the Epson Tour, the official qualifying tour of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
“The allowance of three sponsor exemptions enables Wildhorse Resort and Casino to select professionals based on their outstanding performances, combined with potential fan interest, to play in the tournament,” according to the press release.
Henderson Pendleton played at the UC Irvine, where she was inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame in 2023. She was runner-up on Golf Channel’s “Big Break Atlantis” in 2012 and was named the 2006 Big West Conference women’s golf athlete of the year. A descendant of the Walla Walla Tribe, Henderson Pendleton’s maternal grandmother was born on the reservation.
Wanting to find out more, I started searching over the internet for background information on Henderson Pendleton and discovered a feature story that had been published in January 2023 on the UCIrvineSports.com website.
Written by Stacey Shackleford, the feature goes through Henderson Pendleton’s life in athletics from playing girls soccer and boys varsity golf at Granite High School to her vast list of accomplishments at UC Irvine with the Anteaters (don’t you just love the school’s nickname — I covered the school years ago when I was a sports writer when UC Irvine played a men’s basketball game at Northern Arizona).
She comes from an athletic family — her brother, Dan, was a two-time Olympic wrestler. Shackleford’s article coincided with Henderson Pendleton’s induction into the UC Irvine Hall of Fame.
In addition to Henderson Pendleton, others receiving sponsor exemptions were Maisie Filler, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and Lauren Beaudreau, of Lemont, Illinois.
2. PCS facing challenges
Philomath Community Services held a fundraiser Thursday evening with a special event at Cardwell Hill Cellars. The organization’s executive director, Sharon Thornberry, provided an overview of new challenges related to funding issues.
“We lost 17% of our food supply to the food pantry with a cut of one USDA program, just one program, and all of that product is high protein nutritional food,” Thornberry said. “We also lost 9% of the food that was coming to our gleaners program. So that’s a huge amount of food and it’s hard to replace those high protein items.”
Thornberry said the canned food items that come to the organization are good but they don’t replace items such as fresh eggs and citrus from across the country.
“So we’re in a position where we have to grow, we have to raise more money,” Thornberry said. “We have to find a better place to do our job. That’s something we’re definitely thinking about and you’re going to be hearing more about in the days to come.”
This past spring, the U.S. Department of Agriculture made more than $1 billion in federal funding cuts and program pauses.
“Now almost more than ever, the amount of people who need food, who need clothing, who need resources, that number is going up,” Philomath Mayor Christopher McMorran told the crowd. “And the amount of resources and support that we’re getting from the government — that number is going down. There is an inverse correlation in a very bad way.”
Thornberry said significant cuts and changes to SNAP will be coming in October. SNAP, an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a federally-funded, state-administered program designed to reduce hunger and improve nutrition for people with limited incomes.
“We’re going to have to provide people with opportunities to volunteer in order to get their benefits and that takes management,” Thornberry said, a reference to SNAP’s changing criteria.
Thornberry asked those in attendance to think about volunteering and offering other ways to support the organization’s food programs.
Thornberry opened her comments with a brief history of Philomath Community Services from Nancy Flegal’s food deliveries via bicycle in the mid-1970s to June Anderson’s “baby bank” in the early 1980s to the establishment of official nonprofit status in the early 1990s.
Oregon Rep. David Gomberg (D-Otis) and his wife were at the event. In fact, Gomberg led a live auction toward the end of the evening that raised thousands of dollars.
A number of other public servants attended. In addition to McMorran and Gomberg, county commissioners Pat Malone and Gabe Shepard were on hand, as well as City Councilor Diane Crocker, School Board member Tom Klipfel and Fire and Rescue Board member Ken Corbin.
3. Cardwell Hill Cellars anniversary
Oregon Wine Press, a monthly publication that covers vineyards, winemakers, food and more here in our state, put together a nice piece on Cardwell Hill Cellars, which is located just outside of Philomath in the Wren vicinity.
“Cardwell Hill Cellars began on a hiking trail in Switzerland, where a conversation at 6,000 feet forever changed two lives, leading to a 25-year celebration at the vineyard,” the publication’s Greg Norton wrote.
The winery plans to celebrate Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, which falls on Labor Day weekend, with live music, bocce ball, tours and wine tasting.
“From that pivotal conversation on a Swiss mountain trail to becoming award-winning winemakers, Dan and Nancy Chapel have created something extraordinary,” Norton wrote. “As they celebrate the last two-and-a-half decades, Cardwell Hill Cellars represents much more than a business success. It epitomizes bold decisions, long views and the rewards of following a passion all the way home.”
Coincidentally, I was at Cardwell Hill Cellars on Thursday evening for the Philomath Community Services event (see above). In fact, Nancy filled the glasses of me and my wife with their tasty pinot noir.
For a detailed look at the Chapels’ journey, give Norton’s piece a read.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
