Guv hits town to raise campaign funds with… cornhole?
By Jim Phillips
July 24, 2008
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland will be in Athens Sunday for what has to be one of the most creative campaign fundraising drives in recent memory.
Starting at noon, teams will begin registering at the Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center on the Ridges, for the latest installment of the statewide 2008 Ted Strickland Cornhole Tournament Tour. And yes, you read that correctly.
Competitions already have been held this month in Columbus, Zanesville and Portsmouth, and more are scheduled through August and September in Dayton, Toledo, Canton, Youngstown and Cincinnati.
The tour will climax with the state championship in Lucasville on Sept. 20 – at Strickland’s birthday party.
Cornhole – for the five people out there who don’t know this already – is a game in which players try to toss beanbags into the hole of a cornhole “board.”
The board is essentially a box, often homemade out of plywood, with a slightly inclined top deck that includes the aforementioned aperture.
Despite its deeply unfortunate name, the game has caught on in a big way, especially among college students — including, most definitely, those at Ohio University.
As Strickland’s campaign noted in a news release publicizing the tour, cornhole is “a rapidly growing activity enjoyed by people of all ages and backgrounds.”
The tour was first announced on a blog run by the Ohio Democratic Party.
It’s been cleverly designed to utilize some of Strickland’s constituent groups; for example, it’s sponsored by the Ohio Corn Growers Association (because it’s cornhole, get it?), and uses 20 official boards handmade and painted by the carpenters’ union.
Also — and showing that they have a good understanding of the true nature of the sport’s appeal — the Strickland campaign has arranged for the Wholesale Beer and Wine Association to provide beverages during the cornhole competitions.
The official bright yellow cornhole boards feature the tour’s official logo, which truly must be seen to be believed. The emblem portrays Strickland – or at least some oddly grinning blond Bob Dobbs-type cartoon figure meant to be Strickland – flanked by two enormous ears of corn, which appear to be using their silken arms to fondle a red-white-and-blue cornhole board.
The boards will be among the prizes awarded to top finishers in the regional competitions.
A staffer involved with the tournament, who asked not to be named, said so far the events have been great fun for all involved, including the governor, who puts in an appearance at each regional event.
Musical entertainment will be provided by JFK. This is not the late president, of course, but rather an acronym of “Just For Kicks,” a high-school band from Meigs County.
The inventive fundraising idea earned some coverage in The Hill, a Washington, D.C. insider publication that covers Capitol Hill.
After suggesting that the game “sounds obscene,” the story quoted the unnamed Strickland aide who thought up the tour.
“I don’t believe any politician has ever had a cornhole tournament,” the aide told The Hill. “I wanted to do something a little bit different from the same fundraiser where people come, pay money, eat hors d’oeuvres and go home.”
Strickland’s people are stressing the “non-threatening” nature of the tournament, and the fact that just about anybody can pick up the game pretty quickly.
“Unlike a golf tournament, our cornhole tournament will not require any equipment nor require any skill,” a news release promised, perhaps too optimistically. (No skill at all?) “It will be open and accessible to people of all ages and abilities.”
Entry to the competition costs $50 for singles play, $100 for doubles. Some teams have already signed up, but walk-ins are welcome, and spectators can enter for free.
All first- and second-place finishers at the regional competitions will go on to the state tournament.
Each tournament will adhere to American Cornhole Association rules and regulations.
Prizes will be awarded, but because it’s a political fundraiser, there will be no cash prizes.
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