Valour on the Green: Supporting Veterans Through Golf

Today on Bring Back The Porch Brian welcomes Rhonda Burry, a Hatter who is organizing an incredible event for local veterans from around Medicine Hat.

The second annual Valour on the Green golf tournament will be taking place this June at the Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club. Many veterans face challenges after leaving military service, and initiatives like this tournament aim to bridge that gap by fostering community support and camaraderie. Today on Bring Back The Porch, we’ll explore the origins of the tournament, its growth, and how you can get involved to make a difference.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Purpose of the Tournament

01:09 Inspiration Behind the Event

03:04 Charitable Beneficiaries and Fundraising

04:05 Public Participation and Event Details

04:55 Veterans' Feedback and Emotional Impact

06:18 Remembering Veterans and Their Challenges

08:59 Sponsors and Community Support

10:23 Social Media and Prizes

11:38 Canada's Growing Support for Veterans

12:37 How to Support and Get Involved

The Inspiration Behind Valour on the Green

The idea for the Valour on the Green tournament came from a local veteran who inspired the organizer to take action. Recognizing that service doesn’t end with retirement from the military, the organizer sought a way to give back. This led to the conception of an annual golf tournament designed not just to honour veterans but also to create a platform for them to connect and share their experiences. 

It’s not just about the game; it’s about creating a supportive environment where veterans can feel valued and recognized. The first tournament saw overwhelming gratitude from participants, highlighting the importance of such initiatives. Many veterans expressed that this was their first experience of receiving recognition and appreciation for their service, reinforcing the idea that their contributions are valued year-round, not just on Remembrance Day.

Growing Participation and Community Support

Since its inception, the Valour on the Green tournament has seen a remarkable increase in participation. Last year’s tournament faced challenges in filling the field, but this year’s registration opened on January 1st and quickly filled up with over 100 veterans signing up within hours. The surge in interest is a testament to the community's commitment to supporting its veterans.

The tournament not only supports veterans but also opens its doors to the public, allowing community members to join in on the fun. This year, the registration for public participation will begin on May 1st, further expanding the event's reach and impact. It's a wonderful opportunity for civilians to show their support and connect with those who served.

Other notes:

Years of Service:

Between the veterans participating in the tournament and the volunteers supporting the event, there was a combined total of over 2,200 years of military service represented at Valour on the Green.

Volunteers – 3CAV:

3CAV Coriano Ridge (Medicine Hat)

3CAV Ypres (Calgary)

Sponsors:

Tournament Title Sponsors (to be announced at tournament)

CannaConnect

Medicine Hat Toyota

Molly Maid (Medicine Hat)

Southern Gas and Safety

Generous anonymous Donor 

T.R.A.D WORM IND.

Colleen & Marty Vredegoor

V-EH (Veterans and Everyday Heroes)

3CAV Ypres

USW (United Steel Workers) District 3 – Veterans of Steel Committee

Correction: Union Name During Podcast:

United Service Workers Union should have been USW (United Steel Workers) District 3 – Veterans of Steel Committee, who donated and sponsored a team.

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Transcript

0:00

Hey, this is Brian again. And I'd like to ask you to do a favor. We can't do this work without people like you. So if you can, please. Like, share, subscribe, tell your friends about. Bring back the porch. I got home that day from the tournament, and, I had, like, I don't know, probably about 10 or 15 emails in my inbox from vets who, when they got home, wanted to talk about their experience and how much, how grateful they were for it. Some stories I heard were that was the first time they've ever had anyone do something that that for them. This episode of Bring Back the Porch, brought to you by Bernie Leahy, River Street Realty. Let's get your home in this time on the porch. I am pleased to welcome Rhonda Burry who is in charge of the valour on the Green Veteran Golf Tournament. Welcome. Thank you for having me. It is the second time around the block for the tournament. Last year was the first. Yes it was. I learned a lot, I think, in that first organization. I learned, a great deal. It was it was quite an experience from start to actual fruition. And seeing it at the tournament and learning from that experience afterwards to applying it to this year's tournament. Where did the idea come from last year? What prompted you to even take on an adventure like this? Well, I was inspired by a local veteran and I wanted to do something and I couldn't figure out what to do. And through him, I met so many other vets and like him. Service doesn't end when you retire from the military. And I've heard many conversations, I've had many conversations with vets and they talk about their struggles, you know, and I thought what can I do. And it's Medicine Hat Sunny City. We have lots of golf courses. And I thought let's do something in the summertime and not just think of them in November. But yes, and they have to be thought of all year round. So I thought, let's do a golf tournament. Yeah. Simple idea. Yeah. And I don't even play golf. So how did you manage to pull it off? I have no idea. Just happened. Yeah. It's, I would reach out to people and they're like. Yeah, sure. I just kept talking to people and kept talking about it and what I wanted to do. And through talking about it, more and more people wanted to sponsor, donate and wanted to, be a part of it. Wanted to volunteer. And it just became it's like I say, it's kind of like a train that I couldn't stop. Everyone just kept donating and contributing and stepping up. Now, last year was held at the Riverside Golf Course in Radcliffe. Yes. And you were telling me that even up to a couple of days ahead of time, you were still trying to fill the field? Yes. Not the case this time. No, no. Day one, when I opened registration on January 1st.

By 6: 2:49

00, I had 60 veterans registered for the tournament. By the middle of January, I had 78. And right now I'm at 104. And that is capacity. Yes. Capacity for the golf course, they told me, was 100 and I have 104 right now. And, we also are going to open it up to the public May 1st so we can have the public be a part of the tournament and play along with that. Okay. This tournament supports a couple of charities. Yes it does. Who's who are the benefactors? The charity that will receive the donations or Field of Crosses, which is, a memorial in Calgary that takes place on Memorial Drive and Paws for resiliency, which is a local charity in Medicine Hat that helps vets, with service dogs. Yes. Yes. Like dog park. Okay. The sponsorship you said people have just been, fantastic coming forward. Yes, I have received. Right now, as of today, I like. Well, I should say, as of last week, I received it's total about 18,003 what we receive for sponsorship. The sponsorship is twofold. So it makes sure that no veteran has to pay to play. It takes away the financial barrier and the remainder of the funds that we receive, along with raffle, silent auction, mulligans and that kind of stuff gets split between the two charities. Okay. You mentioned that the public is going to get a chance to take part in this on May 1st. What happens on that day? Well, the golf course opens it up to the public so that anyone who would like to participate, they can sign up through Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club. Okay. All right. So they'll be paying the golf course? Yes, they'll pay the golf course. But the money comes to us as our group, and then we take that money and a portion of those pays for obviously their fee. Yes. The golf course and whatever is remaining from those fees that are paid to the golf course come to us, and that gets added to the total of money getting distributed to the two charities, and you're doing it on the, 12th of June, which is a Friday. Yes. Significance to the Friday? Yes. There is. It's red shirt Friday, which is remember everyone deployed. It's also right after D-Day. Yes it is. Yeah. So that you have a sort of a double, I guess message there too. Yes. Yeah. You started this tournament last year and it has grown. What did you learn from the veterans who took part? Oh, I might get a little bit emotional because some of the responses, some of the responses I received, I got home that day from the tournament and, I had, like, I don't know, probably 10 or 15 emails in my inbox from vets who, when they got home, wanted to talk about their experience and how much how grateful they were for it. Some stories I heard were that was the first time they've ever had anyone do something that that for them. We had a little a gift that I kept a secret for a really long time. Not a very well kept secret, but, we did cards, and I wanted to say thank you. And I was like, how can I say thank you? And I went to our local teacher, my friend Heather McCaig. Oh, we know Heather well. Yeah. And Heather helped me out. And we had students from Crescent Heights High School who wrote each veteran, a card to say thank you. They had drawings and all these things on them, and that's a lot of the vets when they got home and they're reading these cards, they had the tournament and they were seeing these cards in their swag bag, and they didn't get to see it until the end when they got home. And I got these really emotional responses of how how much it made them, how much of an impact it made on them. You mentioned that we have to remember our veterans, not just in November. Yes, that's what this tournament does because when they finish their service, sometimes we do forget. We do. And they didn't step up to serve just November 11th. No, they stepped up to serve. And their every day of the year and their service doesn't end when they retire from the military. It's something that they carry with them and they find different ways to step up and serve after their service. What did they tell you about life after service? What's the biggest challenge that they face? Some told me different things, like some were. It's they have struggles with Veterans Affairs. Some told me they struggle with their mental health, PTSD, PTSD. Some told me that they have struggles with connecting outside of because there's a certain camaraderie that you have in the military. I'm not familiar, as I don't have it served, but they talk about that camaraderie that you have, and when you leave that structure, that sense is kind of gone. And it's like they don't have that sense of belonging like they did when they were in the military. I think they have an expression I've got your six. Yes. Got your back? Yep. And it is a brotherhood and sisterhood. It is. Yeah. And you say when that, when that ends, you're kind of. I guess if you were to leave your family and not have anybody to to maybe lean on. No, in this turn, it gives them a sense to come back together and that sense of camaraderie that they, they like and they enjoy and that they crave. And it's, and lots of them, like, I can't even count how many times I heard at the tournament, how many times they either reconnected with old service members, people they served with ten, 20, 30 years ago. And not just one. Sometimes there was like, they met 5 or 6 guys or more and same thing with the women. Same thing with it was just, some people they haven't seen in years and they're on the other side of the country because we had people from Ontario come here. Really? Yeah. We had people from BC, northern Alberta and southern Alberta. We had vets from all over and they all found their source of connection. And it was just nice to see that's what this is about. Okay. The veterans you have I think on the tee boxes, some crosses. Yes we do to remember those. Yeah. We have 18 crosses plus two. I should say 20. We have 18 crosses, one at every hole marker. And each one of those crosses is from the field of crosses. They allow us to have one of their crosses at each one of the tee boxes, and they have two from the 120, which is Canadian. We lost 120,000 soldiers. So they have two of those crosses at their, booth, and then they have one at every hole marker. And that is for a service member that has from the Medicine Hat or southern like Medicine Hat Redcliff area. Okay. You talk about the, Memorial Drive in Calgary and if you've been there, you know, all of the crosses that are along that road. Yes. So these are part of it? Yes. They are. Yep. Okay. Yep. Talk a little bit about the sponsors, because they need to get a shout out for stepping forward. I have a lot two I can't really name yet. Oh, it's a surprise. Yeah, it's a surprise. Yeah. You'll see on the tournament day, they'll be there. I have kind of connect, which is one of my sponsors. They are a clinic that helps, service members and RCMP. I have Molly Maid, medicine hat, Medicine Hat Toyota. And I have Southern Gas and Safety. And I also have another anonymous donor that contributed the same equal amount of money. And then I have quite a lot of team sponsors, trad wind farms. And Roxann was awesome. Yeah, she always is. She is. She's the best. And I have, veterans and everyday heroes. I have the Cav who donated, and I had a local, lady from Calgary who donated as well. Plus, I also had a union step forward, the United SteelWorkers union, which is they have a Veterans of Steel committee, and they donated a team, sponsored a team of vets. So we I say thank you to them as well. Yes. Without them, it would be a lot harder to put this on because it would be the veterans don't pay. No, no veteran has to pay to play. That's my motto and that's what I'm that's my goal. Yeah. You also have a presence on social media. I do, yes. I have a Facebook page of valour on the Green Valley. Oh, you are Canadian spelling. That's the proper spelling. Yeah. And, on that page you have a lot of different things posting some of the draw prizes that people might be able to win. Yes, I have some pretty cool ones. I'm really excited about the Canadian flag from Juno Beach. Yes. How did you manage to get an artifact like that? Well, they're really nice people at the at Juno Beach, and I told them what I was doing, and they wanted to, step forward. They donated a Canadian flag last year. The gentleman who bid on that donated it to the, armories in Medicine Hat. And this year they were we received another one and they wanted to do more this year, and they sent me a ton more stuff. All I had in the email was prizes, and I open up the box and, well, there was prizes. Lots of them. Lots of them. So I guess in a sense, through your activity here, you've gained more family members as well. I have yes, it's a very big family and it's getting bigger every, every, every single, every single day. I have new sign up on the wait list. Well, I often think that, you know, when we look at, our neighbors to the south, they remember their veterans more frequently than we do here in Canada. But I think we're starting to catch up. I think we are, too. Like, I do know that in in states it's they do a lot for vets in the US. And I think Canada's starting to get a little bit more with that. Part of the thing that we do at our tournament is we. My goal was I wanted to sponsor veterans so they didn't have to pay to play, and I wanted to include in the swag bag information of different services that are out there that will help our vets and or companies that want to show their support. And I also wanted to have stuff set up on the tournament for companies that are there to support them, like because there's different types of therapy that help them with their what they struggle with, whether it be physical or the invisible wounds that they struggle with. So I wanted to make sure I incorporated that a lot in my event. It's all about connections. Yes. Yeah. And making building and keeping relationships. Yes. Yeah. So June the 12th is the day still got a little while between now and then. People who are watching or listening to the podcast, how can they help? Well, you can reach out to me through the valour on the Green Facebook page, or you can email me, which is Rhonda Burry two zero at gmail.com. And that's b u r r y yes, yes or on my phone number. They can call or text me on that. Okay. Well we'll look forward to another good day. Hopefully the weather will be good on the 12th of June. Yes, the second annual valour on the Green Veteran Golf tournament in Medicine Hat at the Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club. Anything else that you wanted to touch on? No. That's everything. All right. Well, thank you for stopping by. And thank you for having me. You're welcome.