Texas 'sporting clays' event helps spread word on safe digging practices
It’s a community fundraiser that kills the proverbial two clay pigeons with one stone.
This past month, in Springtown, Texas, Enbridge was the title sponsor of the Springtown Area Chamber of Commerce’s fourth annual Sporting Clay Shoot. The yearly fundraiser allows the chamber to provide essential services in the community – and it gives our staff the opportunity to share important safety messages during Safe Digging Month.
HITTING THE MARK: Enbridge was title sponsor at this year's fourth annual Sporting Clay Shoot held by the Springtown, Texas, Area Chamber of Commerce.
Sporting clays is a form of clay pigeon shooting, often likened to “golf with a shotgun.” Instead of holes, there are stations – usually between 10 and 15 per course – with shooters, at each station, firing at one or two brightly colored clay discs launched from machines called traps.
This year’s event at Springtown drew 200 people to the Fossil Point Sporting Grounds for a day of sport, camaraderie, raffles, breakfast, and a BBQ lunch.
“Recreational shooting is pretty big here in Texas,” says Danny Bull, a senior manager with the North Texas district of Enbridge’s Gas Pipelines and Processing division, “so the event is a good way to get people involved in their community and to spread the word.”
Spreading the word, that is, on safe digging practices. About 15 Enbridge volunteers attended the Springtown sporting clay shoot to get the word out – just as our Enbridge safety and public awareness team members did across North America, as part of April’s Safe Digging Month activities in the United States and Canada.
The Common Ground Alliance and the Canadian Common Ground Alliance were both busy in April spreading the message of safety. Enbridge’s own company-wide Safe Digging Month campaign included:
- The start of a five-month Call 811 safe digging advertising campaign in 16 U.S. states involving print, radio, internet, and digital video, which has already drawn thousands of Enbridge’s neighbors to our Call 811 webpage;
- Safe digging messaging via Enbridge’s social media channels;
- A Call 811 essay contest in the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma, with college scholarship money up for grabs;
- A pair of ClickBeforeYouDig.com awareness events in Edmonton, organized by our Damage Prevention team, which included distribution of coloring books by the Enbridge Energy Kids (you can get your own coloring books by e-mailing cdnpublicawareness@enbridge.com); and
- A Dig Safe campaign organized by Enbridge Gas Distribution in Ontario, which include public outreach at 21 Home Depot stores across the province.
Back in Springtown, the chamber relies on this Enbridge-sponsored annual sporting clay shoot to fund initiatives such as college scholarships for local students, and Christmas gift programs for low-income seniors.
“The clay shoot is our second biggest fundraiser of the year so it’s really important for the work that we do,” says Amy Walker, executive director of the Springtown Chamber of Commerce, which raised more than $12,000 at this year’s event.
“We really appreciate the role Enbridge has played in making the event happen — they’ve supported us every year,” adds Walker. “The whole community really benefits from the event.”
