Once a year Gold Dust takes a day to open our doors and show off our fields for our Field Days Open House. On Tuesday, August 25th, guests from Frito Lay, PD Sproule, our banks and other companies that help us provide high quality chipping potatoes were invited to a day of tours and golf.
The day started at Pappy Ganders in Merrill where our guests enjoyed a wonderful breakfast before heading out to the fields to see our potato crops. After visiting several of our fields, the group stopped by our packing shed to check out the facilities as well as to see samples of this year’s potato crop.
After seeing the chippers and the facilities, our staff and guests were treated to a round of golf at the Running Y Golf Course. By 1:30 pm, our crew loaded into golf carts stocked with Gold Dust golf towels and golf balls. At 1:57, we raced to our designated holes for a shotgun start to the 18-hole scramble.
Once the last team was off the course, drinks were poured and a buffet of hazelnut chicken, tri-tip, twice baked potatoes, salad and tomatoes from Blue Sky Hydroponics and rolls was served at the lodge. While the awards for the golf tournament were handed out, everybody enjoyed lemon bars and brownies for dessert.
The winning team for the 18-hole scramble was John Walker, Jared Marshall (Marshall Insurance), Jason Black (Frito Lay), and Ken Hibbard (Rabobank). There was a tie for second place with scores of 65 between Group 9 and Group 5. Ron Marshall (Marshall Insurance), Howard Klassen (Huffman Brothers), Jason Tryan (Choice Financial) and Ray Roebacker made up Group 9. Group 5 had Paul Sproule (PD Sproule), Dick Halousek and Bart Crawford (Blue Sky Hydroponics), who put up a valiant effort with a smaller team.
Paul Sproule took home the longest drive for the men while our very own Lexi Crawford won it for the women. Closest to the pin was won by Rhoda Cummins and Jason Black. To celebrate Gold Dust’s offices getting networked this summer, the prizes revolved around a technology theme.
Great people and beautiful weather made this year’s Open House Field Day a great success. We’d like to give a big thanks to everybody who turned out this year as well as to Lexi and everyone else who put the event together. We look forward to doing it all again next year!
