Argyle community event to honor teenager

The third annual Shoot for the Stars Community Festival will be held this Saturday in Argyle to commemorate a very special young man.

Alex Betzhold, a 13-year-old Argyle Middle School seventh-grader, passed away unexpectedly in January 2012 of an underlying heart condition.

The Argyle community has rallied together to put on the yearly community event, first introduced by Betzhold family friends Julie and Steve Sheridan, which includes free heart screenings, a blood drive, 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, a bike rally, and live musical entertainment.

“We have a guest speaker this year: Ally Breedlove – known for her book “When Will The Heaven Begin” in honor of her brother, Ben Breedlove, who died from an underlying heart issue as well,” said event planning committee member Pam Arrington.

“We will also have the Living for Zachary organization out to offer free heart screenings to youth and will have many community  vendors. George Dunham from the Ticket Radio show will [also] be here with his band  – The Bird Dogs.”

The festival will also include an antique car show that will take place at noon on the day of the event.

“We’ve had a growing response,” Arrington said. “We’ve had more people show up each year, and the way we look at it is that this event is meant to reach out and help other people within our community that have lost loved ones.”

Accordingly, the theme for this year’s event is “Celebration of Life, Family and Faith.”

Arrington said the best way to help at this point is to attend the event and that people from everywhere in Denton County are welcome to come.

The money raised from the event goes to the Alex Betzhold Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships to seniors each year at graduation, and for this year’s event, part of the funds will be used to build an outdoor basketball court at Argyle High School.

“Our hope is that we bring awareness to heart health in youth,” Arrington said. “Baylor Heart Hospital will be at the event to offer free heart screenings, so we hope that we can bring awareness to a cause that might help save a teen’s life.”

The Shoot for the Stars festival at Argyle High School will begin with the bike rally, which starts at 8:30 a.m., heart screenings and 3-on-3 tournaments start 9 a.m. and the Community Event starts at 10 a.m.

For more information about free heart screenings or the event itself, contact Pam Arrington at [email protected] or 940-435-4083 for more information or to make a contribution.