Cornhole Tourneys Help Band Hurt By Tornado

What a great idea for any kind of fundraiser!

By Eric Feber

The Virginia-Pilot

On Wednesdays, you can make a "cow pie" or an "airmail" or toss a "blocker" while helping a middle school get its tune back.

Ken Parsons, owner of Knot Hole Station in Driver, began weekly "Toss for Gloucester" cornhole tournaments May 18 to benefit the band department at the Col. Mitchell Paige Middle School which suffered severe tornado damage April 16.

The back of the Gloucester school collapsed and a storage facility was destroyed. Food service is gone, along with furniture and other items including band instruments, equipment and music.

"We called the city, they said the school needs help, so we called them," Parsons said. "The principal said the band room really took a hit; many of the instruments the kids were renting are gone. So we thought kids and education and extracurricular activities equals a good fit. All the money we raise we'll send directly to the school's band department, for them to use as they see fit."

Players pay $2 per person per tournament. Two to three tournaments, sanctioned by the American Cornhole Association, will take place every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. as long as the weather holds, Parsons said.

"We'll run it all the way through September, until the weather makes us stop," Parsons said.

The tournaments will feature different formats each week including teams formed from blind draws, teen afternoons, contests for various age groups and Boy Scout tournaments. Extending the competitions to Sundays to include children's bouts is also being considered.

"We're looking at ways to make more money for the school," Parsons said. "Last week we made $52. That's a small drop in the pot, but it all goes to the school. And if we can keep this up every week and build on it, who knows? It's one little baby step at a time."

Parsons asks any participants with their own boards to bring them along.

"We have five complete sets, but we'd be more than happy if other players could bring their own. The more we have, the more we grow," he said.

Parsons is holding these tournaments not only because he's a cornhole enthusiast himself - he's about to take the test to be certified as a sanctioned cornhole referee - but to help a nearby community that suffered the same fate he and his neighbors did a few years ago.

"I'm here in the heart of Driver and a tornado wiped us out three years ago," he said. "So we feel that connection with Gloucester. Through God's grace we're getting our lives back together and, with this tournament, we're having fun. It's amazing how much enthusiasm $2 will bring."

And that's music to Paige Middle School's ears.

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/node/602303