Benona Shores hosts First Tee golf marathon The next Asparagus Queen to be named Saturday

Three West Michigan women are hoping to claim the 2023 Asparagus Queen crown this Saturday in Hart, with the National Asparagus Festival’s Queen’s Pageant and Fundraiser taking place at the West Michigan Research Station, 5185 N. Oceana Dr., at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the door and a $7 donation is requested of those 13 and up, $5 for ages 6 to 12 and admission is free for those 5 and under. Doors will open at 4 p.m. for attendees to meet the candidates before the pageant begins. Kendra Larios-Mendez, the 2018 Asparagus Queen, will emcee this year’s event.

Light refreshments will be available and are sponsored by Dark Water Coffee Roasters and Merten’s Farmhouse Market LLC. This year’s winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship that can either be put towards her educational goals, or as a contribution to a local nonprofit organization that the NAF Board of Directors approves.

The three candidates are Mackenzie Leedham, Chelsi Walicki and Emma Woller.

Leedham is sponsored by Change Parts, Inc., and lives in Mason County surrounded by farmland and has an immense desire to learn more about the farming and agriculture industry. Along with her husband, she dreams of creating their own hobby farm with a variety of animals and produce in efforts to become more selfsustainable. Mackenzie graduated from Ferris State University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in health information management with aspirations of pursuing a master’s degree in business administration in the future. She began working with her degree in Cadillac, Michigan immediately after graduating. However, in 2020 she moved back to Mason County out of a desire to spend more time in the community in which she was raised. In 2021, she was able to transfer her job to Manistee to be closer to home. In her free time, 5Mackenzie loves exploring walking trails with her two corgis and bike trails with her husband, as well as other activities such as camping with family, hunting, and boating. She loves asparagus and cannot wait to celebrate its impact on Oceana County and the rest of the nation.

Walicki is sponsored by Quick-Way Inc. and Walicki’s A-1 Auto Body. She is returning this year after serving as the 2022 Asparagus Queen Runner-Up. She had a great time in 2022 and would like to represent the National Asparagus Festival and Asparagus industry again in 2023. She resides in Ludington but has a strong connection to Oceana County through her family. Following high school, Chelsi earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting at Davenport University and has been employed as an accountant with QuickWay Inc. of Ludington for the last five years. In her free time, she enjoys sports, volunteering with the Oceana County 4-H Youth program, and is a member of the Oceana County Farm Bureau. Her hopes are to begin construction on her new home in 2024 and start on her hobby farm. The events and appearances Chelsi participated in during 2022 has her thinking about new events for the festival and other opportunities to promote the NAF and asparagus industry. In 2023, Chelsi hopes to help the current board reinvigorate the festival to the true celebration it once was.

Woller is sponsored by Woller Shady Lane Farm. Emma Woller is a senior at Michigan State University studying crop and soil science with a minor in agribusiness management. After graduation, Emma will use this degree working with MSU Extension specializing in specialty crops in Michigan.

Emma has grown up on her diverse family farm where she gained experience growing and harvesting asparagus along with other row crops and raising bottle calves. She grew up participating in Oceana County 4-H and was a part of Montague FFA.

Emma was able to scout asparagus throughout Oceana County while being a scouting intern for Nutrien Ag Solutions of Hart and working with MSU Extension while collecting TomCast data throughout the county in the off season. Emma is currently a Michigan Grown Michigan Great Ambassador for the Michigan Ag Council where she serves the community through farmer’s markets and festivals while promoting Michigan agriculture.

Emma has enjoyed her time volunteering within the Agronomy Club and Sigma Alpha at MSU hosting events promoting Michigan Farm Bureau’s Farm State of Mind Initiative which supports farmers with mental illness. In her future, she would like to be the connection between consumers and growers while being able to support growers with the advancements within the agriculture industry.

Emma is excited to have the potential of being the Asparagus Queen.

By Brendan Samuels The Oceana Echo Sports Reporter

The average game of golf lasts nine holes for most and 18 holes for the more ambitious. At Benona Shores Golf Course on Monday, May 22, 12 people hit the links with none of them playing less than 100 holes.

The reason for such an outrageous number of holes played? The chance to raise funds for First Tee West Michigan, a nonprofit committed to teaching junior golfers life skills through the game of golf.

First Tee West Michigan is a youth development organization that enables kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges. By integrating the game of golf with life skills, the staff there creates active learning experiences in an effort to build inner-strength, selfconfidence and resilience.

With donors committing dollar amounts to each hole played, a group that included Donnie Anderson, Rick Zoulek, Keith Zoulek, McKenna Inglis, Chris Wenk, Corey Parmalee, Shawn Pranger, Tyler Rebone, Tony Buck, Amanda Boyk, and the Waugh/Larabee duo set out to play as many holes as possible. The group teed off in the early morning hours, with eyes set on golfing until they were forced to quit.

Anderson played the most holes with 270, which is 100 more holes played than by the next golfer. Anderson started at 6:55 a.m. and had reached 115 holes completed by Noon. Pranger – Benona Shores’ superintendent – golfed 162 holes alongside Parmalee.

Other totals of holes golf included Rick and Keith Zoulek with 144 holes each, Inglis at 100 holes, Wenk at 108 holes, Waugh/Larabee at 126 holes, Rebone at 108 holes and Buck and Boyk at 112 holes.

In total, the group raised $17,776 for First Tee West Michigan.