Chucking for a Cause
Several dozen men gathered at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park for a cornhole fundraiser Saturday.
The Butler Hot Dog Shoppe staged its first cornhole tournament to help raise money for the park.
With most athletic events canceled over the last year due to coronavirus precautions, the park's activity and revenue have declined, according to Erik Hulick, a co-owner of the hot dog shop and organizer of the cornhole event. And with 20 teams signing up to play at $40 per registration, the event raised about $800. Much of that money will be donated to the park, according to Hulick.“We just decided to do an end-of-the-year type of event,” Hulick said. “We wanted to get everyone together and, since we lost all our high school and college games, we wanted to help raise money for the park.”
Hulick said the facility typically hosts about 175 baseball and other athletic events annually, but most were canceled this year after the state enacted virus protocols. The cornhole event was co-organized with the Sons and Daughters of Italy.Hulick hoped the event would also help spark the creation of a cornhole league.Matt Sheppeck, of Butler, saw an advertisement for the event on Facebook and decided to join “just for the fun of it.”In the first round his team, the Yinzers, lost.
“Oh well, it's still a good time,” Sheppeck said.Another team, Dazed and Confused, had better luck on the first round.Ryan Covert, a team member and co-owner of the Butler Hot Dog Shoppe, said he was happy to be part of an event to support Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park.“This place is so special, and it's important to have this community,” Covert said. “We just wanted to support this place and help them out in whatever way we can.”
