Play bag! Cornhole tourney draws 60 players to Ames True Value on sunny Sunday
Jason Greenleaf of Sidney take a cornhole practice throw at Ames True Value Oct. 14 before tournament play begins. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Kiersten Carlson, left, and mother Lisa Ashley, both of Bowdoinham, watch cornhole at Ames True Value Oct. 14. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Caleb Bryant, left, and Devin Grover, both of Wiscasset practice before the tournament starts. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Ames True Value co-owner Wayne Averill looks out on the parking lot that had a bounce house and rows of cornhole boards. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Jack Dowen, 4, of Wiscasset re-enters a bounce house during Sunday’s cornhole tournament at Ames True Value Oct. 14. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Jason Greenleaf of Sidney take a cornhole practice throw at Ames True Value Oct. 14 before tournament play begins. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Kiersten Carlson, left, and mother Lisa Ashley, both of Bowdoinham, watch cornhole at Ames True Value Oct. 14. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Caleb Bryant, left, and Devin Grover, both of Wiscasset practice before the tournament starts. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Ames True Value co-owner Wayne Averill looks out on the parking lot that had a bounce house and rows of cornhole boards. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Jack Dowen, 4, of Wiscasset re-enters a bounce house during Sunday’s cornhole tournament at Ames True Value Oct. 14. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Teams of two were out for fun and money in Wiscasset Sunday, in the parking lot of Ames True Value on Route 1. They were playing cornhole. Entrants, spectactors and organizers said it's like horseshoes but with a lighter object to toss, a filled bag to get in or near a hole in a board.
Due to the wind, experienced cornhole competitor and retired Navy air traffic controller Gary Ashley of Bowdoinham planned to opt for a pancake or Frisbee-style of throw, over a more up in the air toss. The pancake is more accurate and is less impacted by wind, Ashley explained as teams practiced for the double-elimination event paying $1,000 for first.
Ashley's wife Lisa Ashley, watching with daughter Kiersten Carlson at a picnic table under the bright sky, said as a spectator sport cornhole is fun; following the score can be a challenge, she added.
Among first-time tournament players were Wiscasset's Devin Grover and Caleb Bryant. Between throws, they said it was something different to do and they liked to support a local business.
Sidney's Jason Greenleaf, part of a line of family members practicing, said he had only ever played at family functions. Smiling throughout the interview, he said about why he came: “For fun, and maybe we'll have some Greenleaf magic.”
Tewksbury, Massachusetts-based Wicked Cornhole co-owner Bruce Taylor and Ames's Sumner Averill, who builds cornhole boards Wicked Cornhole designs and sells at Ames and elsewhere around New England, said they worked together to put on the event. Averill hopes to make it annual. Taylor said cornhole became popular nationally over the last 10 years, southern New England in the last four, and is now spreading north.
Sunday’s sun followed a gray, rainy Saturday. “I think we lucked out,” Averill said. Thirty teams of two took part, Averill said Monday. He said a Massachusetts team won. The Wiscasset Newspaper is seeking the members’ names.
Event Date
Address
United States
