Inaugural Heroes at Fallen Oak Invitational Golf Tournament

Today’s weather provided an ideal day and way to show gratitude for South Mississippi’s law enforcement officers.

It was a whole new playing field at the inaugural Heroes at Fallen Oak Invitational Golf Tournament Tuesday morning.

Just ask Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell. “We’ll take a few swings at those Harrison County guys. Troy Peterson, unless he uses a .38 caliber pencil, we’ll beat them all day.”

Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson rolled out his own view of things. “There’s no doubt we’re going to beat Jackson County. There’s no doubt in my mind. I’ll put money on it right now.”

Beyond this friendly battle of the badges is a day of reflection on the green as the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino and Keesler Federal Credit Union team up to provide a relaxing day away from the front lines for our first responders, from the Mississippi Highway Patrol to local fire, police, and county sheriff’s departments. Sheriff Peterson said, “This trip alone means everything to us. We haven’t been together as a family or group like this in over a year, so it really means a lot to us, them putting this together, and we really appreciate them putting this on for us.”

This the two sheriffs agree on. Sheriff Ezell said, “How often would a guy like me, or some of the other guys like me, get to play on a course like this? These guys are out at 2 a.m. in the morning in the pouring down rain as we’ve had, doing work as we have recently. It’s just a real blessing for everybody.”

Regardless of the venue, event organizers say they’ll continue to show appreciation for our local heroes each year. Keesler Federal Credit Union President and CEO Andy Swoger said, “Before we did the First Responders Dinner at the Beau Rivage, and we had around 1,000 people who came – first responders. It was kind of like a black-tie event in appreciation of them, and they could bring their spouse. You know the Beau Rivage puts on a show every time. This is not going away. This is one of our favorite events. It’s a great way to say thank you, and we are going to keep doing this throughout the years.”