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Lake City Reporter





LIFE


Sunday, May 29, 2011


www.lakecityreporter.com


Section D


GARDEN TALK


S&S Golf Tournament a major fundraiser


Nichelle Demorest
dndemorest@ufl.edu


It's hot

enough

for fire

ants

f you have ever
 been stung by fire
 ants, you are prob-
 ably watchful for
 mounds showing
 up in your yard. Fire ants
 are dreaded for their pain-
 ful, burning stings that
 result in pustules. These
 pustules can persist up to
 ten days and, if broken,
 can become infected. The
 itch that accompanies
 the sting is intense and
 relentless. Fire.ants
 attack anything that dis-
 turbs their nest including
 you, your pets, livestock
 and wildlife.
 These aggressive little
 ants are reddish brown to
 black, and are about 1/8
 inch long. Imported fire
 ants usually build their
 dome-shaped mounds of
 soil in sunny, open areas.
 Our lawns and gardens are.
 prime locations for. colo-
 nies of fire ants to establish
 their mounds. Colonies
 include adults, immature
 cream-colored ants, eggs
 and larvae. A single queen
 in an established colony
 can lay more than 2,000
 eggs per day.
 Worker ants go out and
 forage for food to feed
 everyone back home.
 They scout around and
 report to other workers
 when a food source is
 located. These expedi-
 tions can take them as
 far away as one hundred
 feet from the nest They
 forage day and night,
 whenever temperatures
 are between 70 and 90
 degrees.
 If you've ever waged a
turf war with fire ants, you
know the ants will eventu-
ally win. Even after you
think you have run them
off, they'll return with
larger numbers. When
chemical treatments are
used, native ant species are
also destroyed. When the
fire ant returns, they go
into a rapid reproductive
mode so they will outcom-
pete the return of other ant
species.
 The good news is
there are several reliable
treatments including
baits and mound applica-
tions that you can use in
the lawn and garden. I
recommend that you con-
centrate on smaller areas
where the children play
or where yot have cook-
outs. Don't take on the
entire yard. Be careful,
and don't attempt home
remedies that are danger-
ous or contaminate the
environment
 Remember... they
will be back.
 For more on fire ant
control visit http://solu-
tionsforyourltfe.com or call
the UF Master Gardeners
at 752-5384. Visit the
Master Gardeners at the
Fort White Library from
1-4 p.m. Wednesday.
* D. Nichelle Demorest is
a horticulture agent with the
Columbia County Extension
ofjthe University of Florida
Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences.


By C.J. RISAK
crisak@lakecityreporter.com
Any competitive
 golf tourna-
 ment will have
 winners and
 those who
fell short, and the S&S
Charities Tournament was
definitely a competitive.
event However, the S&S
Tournament has defied
accepted logic by becom-
ing a winners-only affair.
 This is possible because,
whatever the scoresheet
says, the winners were the
organizations that benefit-
ted from the fundraiser.
 With the nation's econ-
omy still sliding, it can be
difficult to find those with
something to give. But
S&S managed, collecting
$62,339.07 in donations
at the tournament, to be
split between Take Stock
in Children at Florida
Gateway College and the
Christian Service Center.
 'This was our 11th
year," said Kristi Eberlin of
S&S. "Ifs our biggest char-
ity event of the year. We've
always had Take Stock (as
a beneficiary), and we will
rotate the other, although


this was the third-straight
year for Christian Service
Center."
 It was a welcome gift.
 Each organization was
 given more than $31,000.
 For Take Stock in
 Children, which provides
 college scholarships, the
 S&S Tournament "is the
 biggest single contribution
 of the year," according to
 Penny Faris from FGC.
 "We're thankful."
 The Take Stock in
 Children program, found-
 ed in 1995, provides a two-
 year associate's degree
 scholarship at FGC to stu-
 dents who are nominated
 by someone within their
 school after eighth grade.
 To qualify, students must
 maintain a 2.0 grade-point
 average, must meet with a
 mentor on a'regular basis,
 must be drug free and
 crime free, and must abide
 by their school's code of
 conduct during and out-
 side of school hours.
 Take Stock will provide
-35 scholarships this year
to students within its five-
county area, including 13
to Columbia County stu-
dents worth $203,000
overall, with $93,000


 FILE PHOTO
Paul Messine (right) places a court jester's hat on top of Preston Hewlett's head April 15
during the S&S Charities Golf Tournament held at the Country Club at Lake City. 'I love it,'
Hewlett said. 'I'm out here for every one of them. I have the most fun at these tournaments.'


spent on scholarships for
Columbia'County students.
 While everyone par--
ticipating in the S&S
Tournament may be called
a winner, there were those
who took home trophies.
 The best-ball tourna-


ment, played April 15 at
the Country Club of Lake
City, included 36 four-man
teams. The best low gross
score went to the team of
Jeff Chadwick, Rick Perry,
Phil Mac and Brendan
Ehlers, whose 54 edged


the foursome of Steve
Peters, Mike McKee,
Jordan Hale and Dennis
Crawford by a single
stroke.
 Third place went to
 GOLF continued on 2D


 FILE PHOTOS
ABOVE: Simone Luke (right) watches as Mike Summers fol-
lows through on a swing on hole No. 12 April 15 at the S&S
Charities Golf Tournament held at the Country Club at Lake
City.
LEFT: Philip Powell (from left), Don Benton and Brian Bolena
laugh at John Moore because he has to tee off from the
ladies' hole.


Safety tips for holiday

grilling, backyard parties


By LEANNE ITALIE
Associated Press

 NEW YORK For
many, Memorial Day's
unofficial start of summer
means grilling, pool par-
ties and kids wildly happy
to be at the end of another
school year.
 For John Drengenberg,
a safety expert and dad
in suburban Chicago, it's
a dangerous time for the
law of unintended conse-
quences, especially in the
backyard.
 The electrical engineer
by training is the con-
sumer safety director for


Underwriters Laboratories,
the independent, nonprofit
product safety testing and
certification organization.
He's not looking to kill
summer's early buzz, but
he'd like you to know:
 Nearly half of a little
more than 12,000 kids up to
age 19 who died as a result
of unintentional injuries did
so in June, July and August,
according to the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention.
 Each summer, about
2.7 million children visit the
ER as a result of injuries
around the pool or back-
yard. About 200,000 chil-
dren under 14 wind up in


 ASSOCIATED PRESS
This undated photo courtesy of Underwriters Laboratories/
Jonathan Cohon shows mom Andrea Gritis, right, and mom
Maegan Shipp, left, as they watch Lillian Cetera, 1, stand-
ing in the background, Jennifer Gritis, 2, seated in pink suit,
Jackson Cetera, 4, foreground, and Ryan Gritis, 4, seated
right, as they play in a baby pool in Lisle, Illinois.


the ER for playset-related
injuries every year.
 Barbecue grill fires
result in about 8,000 home
fires annually, according to
the National Fire Protection
Association.
 Whether you're planning
a staycation or an outdoor
bash, exercise your safety
muscles and take stock
of play equipment, grills,
pools and other potential
hazards. Some tips from
UL, the mark you should
look for, by the way, if you'd
like to make sure flotation
devices are worthy.
 GRILLING: Charcoal
can heat to a temperature
of 1,000 degrees. Don't
bury embers in sand or
a corner of the backyard
before dousing them with
a hose or buckets of water
first It's likely people are
running around barefoot.
 Yikes, it's raining! It's
not a good idea to drag
your grill into the garage
or plop your hibachi in the
sink. Never grill indoors or
near garages or porches.
In fact, stay at least 10 feet
from any structures.
 Keep a spray bottle or fire
extinguisher within reach.
Flare-ups can't always be
anticipated. "You get a flare-
up and you're not there,
your whole garage can be
engulfed," Drengenberg
said. "Spray at the base of
the flames. It won't ruin
your food."
 Don't use gasoline or


 ASSOCIATED PRESS
This undated photo courtesy of Underwriters Laboratories/
Jonathan Cohon shows a fire extinguisher and a gas grill in
Lisle, III. For many, Memorial Day's unofficial start of summer
means grilling, pool parties and kids wildly happy to be at the
end of another school year.


kerosene to light a charcoal
fire. Andrea Branagan, who
lives in rural Christmas,
Fla., outside Orlando, no
longer thinks lighter fluid
is a good idea, either. One
humid night Branagan and
her family tossed some on
a pile of sticks in their fire
pit with a disastrous out-
come.
 "I lit it with a little piece


of newspaper and it had
a weird mushroom cloud
explosion," she said. '"There
was an immediate flare that
stretched out across the
ground and caught my leg
on fire."
 The mother of three
dropped and rolled in the
grass and was left with a
 SAFETY continued on 2D