The Boothbay Charities Classic raised $15,000 for Special Olympics Maine (SOME) Sept. 18 in a first-ever cornhole tournament. The event was sponsored by The First National Bank, hosted by Boothbay Railway Village and organized and emceed by Wicked Cornhole’s Bruce Taylor.

BCC Chairmen Brenda Blackman and Tony Krason said it was hard to cancel the traditional golf tournament last year as the classic was set to celebrate its 30th anniversary. It was equally hard to learn they would need to hold off once again, but forgoing an event of some sort to draw out donors and participants was not an option.

“We didn't know what to do and we still wanted to raise money in a great community for Special Olympics and somebody said, 'cornhole!'” Krason said.

The desire to continue the 30 years of fundraising came in the form of “30+1,” with the 31st year being the first annual cornhole tournament. The allure of cornhole is that just about anyone can play, he said. “You can bring Special Olympic athletes to play, you can bring kids to play … The committee all said they play, so I'm probably the only one who's never thrown a (bean bag).”

The first place team was “Corn Pops”; second place, “Hole Nine Yards”; and third place, “Ball and Chain.”

Blackman said finding a foothold to continue fundraising was important due to the opportunities the communities have had through the organization. Continuing to support Special Olympians locally and statewide is a priority, she said. “Last year, a lot of our usual sponsors still sent us donations even though we weren't doing a golf tournament … Over the 30 years, we raised well over $1 million just at the golf tournament for Special Olympics of Maine. That's pretty phenomenal.”

Blackman and Krason thanked the event’s sponsors and gave shout outs to Wicked Cornhole and BRV.

Said Krason, “We think we can pull this off every year, now. We're going to try. It was a great turnout.”