Item: 2013 grant recipient Organization: Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Project: Tee Pads at Riverland Community Disc Golf Course

Report: A grant from the Freeborn County Communities Foundation combined with donations from members of the Flying Lea Disc Golf Club and the Minnesota Frisbee Association allowed volunteers to get to work right away last fall. The grant funds went toward the purchase of concrete for tee pads at an 18-hole disc golf course at Riverland Community College in Albert Lea. The course has been the least-played of three disc golf courses in Albert Lea in part because it lacks concrete tee pads.

Some of the work happened in September. The club rented a skidloader to dig out 36 tee pads — long and short for each hole — and then they hammered wood and nails together to make concrete-holding frames for 18 of them. The wood was donated by Alamco Wood Products.

They sanded many of the tee pads, then poured, floated and finished concrete for seven tee pads. A chilly October delayed intentions to finish the first 18 holes in the fall. The volunteers intend to build the remaining 29 tee pads in the spring and summer months.

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Foundation served as the nonprofit to hold the grant funds.

The course is intended as a campus activity for Riverland Community College and Albert Lea High School students, though it is open to the general public. It was designed and installed in October 2010 when Statewide Health Improvement Project funds made basket upgrades possible at Tall Grass Disc Golf Course at Bancroft Bay Park. The old baskets are in use at Riverland.

The sport is one of the fastest-growing in the country and has proven to be a way to get young people exercising.