Written By PAULA BROWN

LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Family, friends and community members will be raising money for local charities in the first annual Natasha Paterson Memorial Golf Tournament this coming weekend.  

The sold-out event is scheduled to take place on Sunday (July 25) at the Dunadel Golf Association in Dundalk, with 36 golfers set to participate. 

The golf tournament is in memory of Natasha Paterson, a local 12-year-old girl who tragically died in August of 2015 while preparing to participate in the annual Fiddle Parade. 

In previous years, the Paterson family has held an annual memorial car show to raise funds for local non-profits, but the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To continue their contributions the family decided to hold a golf tournament. 

“It's keeping her memory alive, and doing it in a positive way where we're able to support the community and local charities,” Duncan Paterson, Natasha's father, tells the Free Press. 

This year money donations are being raised for Feral Cat Rescue in Shelburne as well as the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dufferin County. 

Duncan says so far they've raised $6,000 and will have raised a total of $40,000 since starting the memorial in 2016. 

As part of the memorial golf tournament, a silent auction will be held to include the larger community. There are 16 items in the silent auction including a custom made deck cooler, a roadside emergency kit, and medium reading. 

Community members can place a bid by going to the Natasha Paterson Memorial Facebook page, and placing their bid in the comment section under the item photo. 

The auction will close on July 25.