The golf scramble that wrapped Christmas gifts into summer

A golf tournament in Middlesboro, Kentucky, has turned a mid-July afternoon into a promise that some local students will have something to open in December.

The Middlesboro Ladies Golf Association's fifth annual Christmas in July Golf Scramble raised $19,000 for Christmas gifts for students who may otherwise go without. That is the figure in the body of the Middlesboro News report published July 14. The headline says $18,000, and the article does not explain the difference, so the careful version is this: the tournament raised at least last year's total, with the story reporting $19,000 this year. 1

I like the honesty of the small complication, because it does not change what the money is for. This is not a vague pledge or a feel-good photo opportunity. It is a local system for getting gifts to children through people who already know where the need is.

The association works with social workers at Middlesboro Middle School, Yellow Creek School Center and Middlesboro High School to identify students who need help. MLGA then works with parents and guardians to choose the gifts. Volunteers buy and wrap them, and the presents go to guardians anonymously with blank tags. 1

That last detail matters. A blank tag keeps the focus on the child receiving the gift, not on the organization that paid for it. It also gives families a little privacy at a time when privacy can be hard to preserve.

The money comes from a charity golf scramble at Middlesboro Country Club, dressed up for the occasion. In one of the newspaper's photos, a giant red ornament sits outside the clubhouse beside a small Santa figure. In another, Middlesboro Police Department's Floyd Patterson poses with Santa after escorting him around the course. 1

The tournament has been building on itself. The article reports that Christmas in July raised $13,500 in 2022, $14,000 in 2023, $15,000 in 2024 and $18,000 last year. The reported $19,000 this year would continue that upward run, though the headline and body should be reconciled by the newspaper before anyone treats the exact total as settled. 1

Celia Shoffner, who spoke for the MLGA, said the group was proud to see the event grow and grateful for the generosity of players, sponsors, volunteers and the wider community. The paper names Y-12 Credit Union, Middlesboro Coca-Cola Bottling Works, Soapy J's Car Wash, Middlesboro Independent Schools, Redmond Auto, Hearthside Bank, Middlesboro ARH, JRS Restaurant Corporation and Christy McGregor among the sponsors. 1

There is something reassuringly practical about the whole arrangement. The MLGA is a nonprofit built around charitable, educational and social opportunities for women in the community. Its members organize the event, sponsors help fund it, volunteers handle the shopping and wrapping, and school staff help make sure the gifts reach the right households. 1

The best part is that the work does not ask children to perform gratitude in public. The gifts arrive through their guardians, without a donor's name attached. By December, the tournament will be months in the past. What remains will be a wrapped present, chosen for a real child, waiting at home.