Archery tourney to raise funds for Bailey Holt Scholarship

BY BOBBIE FOUST
Special to The Marshall County Daily

Archers will compete and win prizes while seeking to raise $8,000 to finish the $25,000 endowment for the Bailey Holt Nursing Scholarship. The tournament is scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21 in the gym at Marshall County High School. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students, children under 5 free. Archers also paid a $7 entry fee and all proceeds will go to the scholarship endowment.

The scholarship is a living memorial to 15-year-old Bailey Holt who lost her life in a shooting at the high school on Jan. 23, 2018. More than $17,000 of the endowment has already been raised, said Bailey’s mother, Secret Holt. Fundraising started May 15, 2018 — Bailey’s 16th birthday. “The community has been so supportive of any fundraiser we’ve had, and we are so appreciative of everyone’s support. It really means the world to us,” Secret Holt said. “Bailey wanted to be a labor room delivery nurse, and we want to help anyone who wants to achieve that.” Organizers hope to award the first scholarship next year.

The archery event was organized by Murray State University interim Dean of Nursing Dina Byers, her husband, Murray High School archery Coach Chuck Byers and his team, and Marshall archery Coach Alan Smith, though Smith credited Dina Byers as the instigator. “This is her brainchild and her baby, and we are just happy to be helping with it,” Smith said.

The two-in-one tourney will likely last all-day and spectators may come and go as they please, Smith said. “We have what we call our bullseye tournament, which is our standard archery tournament where we shoot a bullseye target,” he said. “All the students will shoot the same distance and they will shoot at the same kind of target. “We will also have what we call a Three-D tournament, which is a simulated animal target. (An archery tournament) isn’t like a basketball game where you go, the teams play a game and then you leave. Every hour of that day we’ll have a new group of archers on the line to shoot. So, this will go on from 8 o’clock in the morning, and it probably won’t end until 5:30 or 6 o’clock that evening. We do appreciate the support we are getting from all the schools in the region that are coming to this and helping with it.”

Registration is full, Smith said. “We had to open it early so we could get everybody assigned times,” he said. “We have 378 archers registered for the bullseye tourney and 140 registered for the Three D event, and every student in the tournament paid $7 to participate. So, if you do the math on that, that’s a big piece (of the remaining endowment) right there not counting the gate receipts.” Also, concessions will be available.

Smith concluded by noting that he grew up with Secret Holt, and though he doesn’t know her children, he’s happy he “can do something” in Bailey’s name.