Pine Belt residents will get the opportunity to see a star of the silver screen and support a local children’s organization when “Uncle” Si Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” fame headlines the fourth annual Si Robertson Sporting Clay Competition to benefit Homes of Hope for Children.
The event, which is presented by Parish Tractor, will be held from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. March 29 at the Pine Belt Gun Club, 546 Caney Church Road in Lumberton, with all proceeds going to the direct care of the 28 children being raised at Homes of Hope.
“Si has always been real generous with us – he’s always come down to help us raise support for the boys and girls that we serve,” said Michael Garrett, director of Homes of Hope for Children. “This is the biggest fundraiser that we do every year, and 100 percent of the proceeds go to help us meet basic needs on campus – everything from feeding our kids to clothing them, taking care of our utilities and all that.
“So the event itself is incredibly important to us and our ability to be able to meet the needs of the boys and girls that God sends to us.”
The event will consist of two sporting clay shoots: a morning shoot at 9 a.m. and an afternoon shoot at 1 p.m. Shooters will compete on 12 stations per course.
For each team of five shooters, the entry fee is $200 per shooter. That price includes a team photo with Robertson, lunch, drinks throughout the tournament, 100 shooting clays per person during the tournament and a gift bag for each team member.
After the competition, awards will be given to the overall top shooter and to the best teams from each shooting event. Four guns will be raffled off, in addition to a Mahindra Roxor off-road utility vehicle.
Participants can register online at www.hohfc.org or by calling (769) 456-7021, with an entry form and payment deadline of March 20.
Last year’s event raised more than $225,000 for Homes of Hope for Children, and Garrett expects another good turnout, with between 80 and 90 five man-teams at this year’s competition.
“This is an event that already, in just three years, has raised well over $500,000 for our ministry,” Garrett said. “It’s grown each of the years that we’ve done it, and to my knowledge, it’s the largest sporting clay shoot in the state of Mississippi. Certainly, I don’t know of anybody that’s raising more money with a sporting clay shoot than we are.”
The sporting clay competition will be followed on March 30 by the second annual Si Robertson Poker Tournament at Hattiesburg Country Club, which also will benefit Homes of Hope for Children. Registration information for the poker tournament can be obtained by calling (769) 456-7021.
“We have prize sponsors, so we’ll have a first, second and third-place prize,” Garrett said. “And then the first three people to get Si to go all in and take his chips, each one of them will get a special gift from Si.”
