Hunters Flock To Grady for Fundraising Event

Grady doesn't have a store or a gas station. Road trippers could pass through it in less than a minute and would be out of luck if they had planned to stop for necessities. But the town of about 100 was alive on Saturday with an annual fundraiser for the girls athletic program at Grady public schools, which has brought criticism and also support this year. It is the annual coyote hunting contest, in which teams of hunters have two days to bring in as many coyotes as they can. This year's winning team returned with four coyote carcasses. The second-place team also brought in four, and the tie was broken by the weight of the largest coyote. Chapman's family stepped in to sponsor the contest this year after Grady newcomer Cliff Sagnotty raised concerns about whether public schools should sponsor a hunting event. Mackechnie Chapman said she and her husband stepped in to sponsor the event because they wanted to make sure it didn't go by the wayside. In brief remarks to all the teams before handing out prizes, she thanked them for participating. "We believe this hunt is a necessity for this community, and we believe in girls athletics," she said. Since Sagnotty first raised his concerns about the fundraiser, a swirl of publicity has descended on this tiny village. Coyote conservation groups have been sharply critical of the event, writing in e-mails to the Journal that hunting coyotes is cruel and ineffective at controlling the coyote population. But athletic director Alicia Rush said she has also been inundated with support since the fundraiser became a statewide issue. "We've gotten phone calls and phone calls and phone calls," Rush said. "A lot of people are saying, 'please don't not have the contest, we want to be in it.' " The publicity also led to about double the participation of past years. Eighteen teams signed up this year, compared with about nine last year. And although organizers would not estimate how much the contest made this year, they said it was on course to raise more than ever before. "We were actually worried about it getting too big," Rush said...more

Thank you Mr. Sagnotty, for making this a bigger and better event, with more coyotes killed than otherwise would have been the case.