FAIRMONT – There are a lot of trees to be found in rustic Morris Park and its 112 acres reaching high in the hills above Pleasant Valley near Fairmont.
Oaks, towering straight and true, appearing as sentinels keeping watch over the confines.
Maples, clumped together, such as kids in the hallway, waiting for homeroom.
And those ever-present evergreens, cutting through the current monochrome of frost and snow.
Yep. Trees.
Just ask the competitors who regularly make their acquaintance with the wooded fixtures during the annual Seth Burton disc golf tournaments that take place there.
The aforementioned Seth was a spirited high-schooler who died in a car crash in 1998 when he was just 17.
He was just as serious about his studies at Fairmont Senior and his star slot on the varsity cross-country team – as he was about being gloriously goofy with his buddies, after homework and track meets.
Seth’s parents, Rebecca and Phil, wanted to make a legacy for their son. They fronted a couple of music festivals to raise money for charitable causes in the immediate months after his death.
A community center was also opened – but it didn’t last.
The venture that did take hold was the championship disc golf course at Morris Park named in their son’s honor.
“Championship,” is the watchword.
Johnny Sias, a West Virginian and past world champion in the sport where Frisbee-styled discs and baskets take the place of golf clubs and greens, designed the Morris Park course, which was bankrolled entirely by donations from the Fairmont community.
The course and foundation that it’s part of has, in turn, championed The Soup Opera, the community kitchen in Fairmont that caters to those in need.
Charity tournaments at the course over the ensuing years have brought in more than $100,000 to the kitchen – and organizers are hoping for another brisk take at the 22nd Annual Ice Bowl, which takes place Feb. 28 at the course.
A spicy chili-eating contest is part of the disc golf round, along with other events. Visit www.sethburtonmemorial.org to learn more and to register.
Every time a competitor lets a disc soar at the park, Rebecca Burton’s heart does too, she told The Dominion Post previously.
“This is Seth’s legacy,” she said.
“He was his own person. There were times when he’d just come down the stairs and yell, ‘I love my life!’ I can still see him doing that.”