Scholarship Golf Tournament

On September 28th Mountain Harbour Golf Course will be hosting the annual Bethel-Guidry College Scholarship Golf Tournament benefiting deserving high school seniors.  Shotgun start is 9:00 am with continental breakfast before the tournament followed by a celebratory luncheon and awards presentation.  Qualifying seniors from both Clay and Towns County High Schools will benefit from this golf tournament.

We are still signing up golfers and accepting sponsorships for this worthy cause.  For more information about the scholarship and the tournament please contact either Jose Arias at jose_m_arias@hotmail.com  (239) 595-1865 or Sanford Freeman at sanfordleefreeman@gmail.com  (706) 202-7819, or visit the website www.goodshepherdhayesville.org/bethelguidry-scholarship-golf-tournament.  We’re looking forward to a great day of golf and fellowship.

Photo caption:
Jonathan Bethel takes a swing at the golf tournament benefiting students from Towns and Clay counties.

Talley Breedlove to Serve in Philippines

            Talley Breedlove of Hayesville, NC, has been accepted into the YASC program and will be leaving in August to serve in the Philippines. She is the daughter of Susan Morgan and the Rev. William Breedlove, Rector at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Hayesville.

            YASC (Young Adult Service Corps) is an international service program of the Episcopal Church for individuals between the ages of 21- 30. This program sends young Episcopalians to receiving diocese all around the world for year long commitments to service.

            “The amount of support and love I have received from this community is amazing! I am blessed beyond belief. Thank you so much. I feel all the more ready to go because of all the enthusiastic support.

            “I will be doing my service in the Philippines working for The Episcopal Church of the Philippines’ E-CARE program. E-CARE stands for The Episcopal Community Action for Renewal and Empowerment. This organization works with Philippine communities doing asset based community development to help them improve their lives. I will be placed in one of those communities and the work I will do will be based on the needs in that area. You can follow along at breedlovetk.wixsite.com/followingthelamb.”

            The fundraiser hosted June 20th by Good Shepherd Episcopal Church raised $7600 which guaranteed funding for Talley’s first year in the YASC. Suzi Herbert led the Low Country Boil and raffle. Wally Figura and his Holy Smokers made the Low Country Boil. The big raffle prize was a week at Jane Oliver’s Pawleys Island home.

Photo Cutline:

Talley Breedlove with parents Susan Morgan and The Rev. Bill Breedlove at her mission fundraiser by Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.

College Scholarship Golf Tournament Seeks Sponsors and Players

Suggested Photo caption: Bethel-Guidry Scholarship Golf Tournament benefits graduates

             September 28th will be the date for this year’s Bethel-Guidry College Scholarship Golf Tournament held at Mountain Harbour Golf Club in Hayesville, NC. This event raises funds for deserving high school graduates from Clay County, NC and Towns County, GA to attend the university or trade school of their choice.

            The Golf Tournament is an initiative of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Hayesville. The Bethel-Guidry Foundation is named for the church’s deacon, Turner Guidry and his wife Georgia Bethel, who have worked tirelessly as teachers and mentors for the youth of our area over the last several decades.

            Approximately 10 area youth have received financial assistance for their entire college or trade school education through this event’s efforts over the past few years. Scholarships for 2019 were awarded this spring to Sylvan Schuette of Towns County and Laney Burch of Hayesville.

            To ensure the tournament’s success and guarantee that the Class of 2020’s chosen scholars are rewarded, the event is putting out the annual call for Sponsorships, Participants and Volunteers. Event Co-Chairmen Jose Arias and Sanford Freeman urge individuals, businesses, or groups of interested citizens to step forward as Golf Tournament sponsors. Sponsorship levels range from $100 to $500 with exciting benefits available at each level. Sponsors can also opt to support contests such as the Hole In One and Putting Contests or to underwrite the Refreshment Cart or Golfer Continental Breakfast.

            Arias adds, "As preparation is under way for this year’s Bethel-Guidry College Scholarship Golf Tournament, we hope to have even bigger turnout than years past.  We are in the process of getting some great gifts, sponsors, and items for our silent auction. We hope that if you are a golfer, you'll sign up and play.  Even if you’re not a golfer, help out by being a sponsor or by donating gifts for our golf gift bags or our silent auction.  All proceeds will benefit a senior from both Clay and Towns County high schools."

            Participation to play in the tournament costs $100 per person entry fee and includes a Golfer Continental Breakfast, range balls, gift bags, and a celebratory luncheon. Additional luncheon tickets are available for $30 each. A cash bar is also available. All proceeds from the tournament benefit the Bethel-Guidry Foundation. Last year’s Golf Tournament raised $12,000 for the Bethel Guidry Foundation, and its many sponsors were a large reason for the success.

            For more information or to sign up for sponsorships, golf participation or volunteering, write to: Jose_m_arias@hotmail.com or sanfordfreeman@gmail.com. Please put “Request for Registration Form” or “Sponsorship” in the email subject line. Please send registration forms, event sponsorships and checks to: Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, PO Box 677, Hayesville, NC  28904. Visit www.goodshepherdhayesville.org/bethelguidry-scholarship-golf-tournament to download this year’s tournament flyer and information about the scholarship.

Good Shepherd Honors Founder Ellie Wilson

Good Shepherd Sunday School “reunion” 60 years later: Sarah Atwood (daughter of former member), Tommy Ledford, Becky Ledford Van Gorder, Florence Wilson Atwood, Pam Roberts Owenby, Danny Wilson, Pat Roberts Payne.

Good Shepherd Honors Founder Ellie Wilson

            On May 19 Good Shepherd Episcopal Church celebrated its Founders Day on what would have been Eleanor Lambert Wilson’s 100th Birthday. The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Hayesville was begun by four couples: Ellie and Monroe Wilson, Dorothy and Rufus Vick, Ruth and Quentin Moore, and Evan and James Ledford. They met in one another’s homes, then in the Masonic Hall, until they built a small concrete block church on Myers Chapel Road near the high school in 1959. The church moved to its current location on Hwy 64 in 1981.

            A capacity crowd showed up for picnic fare, including some of Ellie’s recipes. On display were wooden candlesticks, offering plates, and other gifts turned on the lathe or built for the church by Monroe. Many of these treasures, as well as items gifted to the church at its founding, are still in use today. A plaque commemorating the founding of Good Shepherd by the four original couples was unveiled for display in the church.

            Ellie died in 2010 at the age of 91. Present for the 100th anniversary of her birth were her son Danny Wilson, currently residing in Clay County Care Center, and youngest daughter Florence Atwood and her family. Daughter Ann Harper and son John Wilson sent greetings and remembrances.

            Local residents Becky Ledford Van Gorder and her brother Tommy Ledford were present to honor their parents as well. The Roberts sisters, Pam and Patty, came to share memories of attending Sunday School when their mother Francis Roberts played the organ.

            Ellie’s book about the founding of Good Shepherd and its first 50 years can be downloaded in PDF format from the church website at http://goodshepherdhayesville.org/history. Two autobiographical books by Eleanor Wilson, My Journey to Appalachia and My Life in Brasstown, can be purchased on line or from the JC Campbell Folk School. To learn more about the dynamic church she and Monroe helped to found, visit the church website or “Come and See.” The church is located one mile east of Hayesville on Hwy. 64.

Good Shepherd Episcopal Church honors Eleanor Lambert Wilson, a founder of the church, who was born 100 years ago and died in 2010.