Cornhole Fest Welcomes Every Age

By BOBBIE GREEN

The Progress

Seeking to fill a community need, the Mesquite Senior Games opened up its Cornhole Fest to all ages on Saturday April 17 at the Mesquite Recreation Center. After the long-standing COVID health restrictions and a lack of community events, the public responded in a big way.

The Recreation Center was buzzing with people. Some were entering the competition to win the trophies. Others were just there for the fun. Everyone from seniors to children, and even those with special needs, were accommodated.

In the trophy competition there were 24 two-person teams registered.
“All together 118 registered and at least another 30 just showed up to register at the last minute,” said Mesquite Senior Games (MSG) Director Amy Bradshaw.

Bradshaw expressed appreciation to her board and the many volunteers who show up to help. “Without them these events could not happen,” she said.

MSG Board President John Rosen explained that the MSG organization is managed by a Board consisting of 10 individuals, each with his/her own unique set of skills and life experience.

“But the heart and soul of Mesquite Senior Games, and the glue that holds it all together, is its Executive Director, Amy Bradshaw,” Rosen said.

The event began at 9am and ended around 2 pm. Some of the sponsors of the games had information booths set-up including Reliance Connects, Lindi Corp. Senior Helper and Shelter Insurance.

The Mesquite Fire Department Association cooked hotdogs for lunch for the participants. And a cake for dessert came from Smith Market.

The event even kept the kids busy with a 3-house bounce castle and a balloon lady to the delight of the 25 young ones climbing about. An anonymous donor gave a tub full of beanie babies which were a big hit with the kids.

The Recreation Center Gym was the filled from one end to the other with cornhole form structures. Noisy cheers, and jeers, all on happy smiling faces. Everyone seemed to enjoy being in a social setting again.

Mayor Al Litman threw the first bean bag at the event. He only tossed one, but he scored a point.
“I am happy to see everyone out here having a good time,” Litman said.

The winners of the competition were: Bronze winners: MPOA Members Lawrence Stewart and Stetson Ruth; Silver winners: granddaughter and grandfather team Lilly Pfeiffer and Fritz Simons; Gold Winners: MPOA Member Justin Perry and nephew Gavin Hughes. Each winning team received one of the beautiful trophies. The Gold winning team also received a cornhole game donated by Jan Aslin.

“The day turned out better than I could have ever imagined,” commented Bradshaw. “But the best thing that happened was, as competitors were leaving, many asked when we were going to have the next tournament! That made me smile big time. We will be doing this again for sure!”