Optimist annual mud volleyball tourney to be held Aug. 20

The 8th annual Sarah Williams Memorial Mud Volleyball Tournament, hosted by the Gordon Optimist Club, will be held on Saturday, Aug. 20. The event will be held at the Calhoun Recreation Department fields on McDaniel Station Road in Calhoun.

Since its inception, the tournament has raised over $50,000 for local charities as well as scholarships for local students who have faced challenges in their lives. The Optimist Club’s primary focus is on childhood cancer. Bob and Susan Williams, parents of the late Sarah Williams, started the Sarah’s Snacks program that provides snacks for young cancer patients in treatment at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga.

This year’s mud volleyball tournament will be played in honor of Charlie Wright, who passed away in February at the age of four. “We wanted to do something special for this family that has been so strong through a very difficult time, and we thought having this year’s tournament in honor of Charlie was a fitting tribute,” said Gordon Optimist president Allen Bowen.

The Gordon Optimist Club is a civic organization that assists children and youth in our community. It is a chapter of Optimist International, an association of more than 2900 Optimist Clubs around the world dedicated to “Bringing Out the Best in Kids.” The Gordon Optimist Club meets every Wednesday at noon at Big John’s Treat Shoppe, located at 131 Lovers Lane in Calhoun.

There is room for additional teams and sponsors for this great cause. Anyone interested in participating can contact Robert Williams at 770-878-1380 or robertwilliams@ att.net.