Cornhole with a Purpose in Louisville, KY

ACO donates Tournament Series Boards and Bags to Non-Profit, Options Unlimited, Inc.

Brian Stinnett, ACO Louisville, and Frank Geers, president of American Cornhole Organization donated a set of ACO Tournament Series Boards and Bags to Options Unlimited, Inc. Day Training Program on March 23, 2009. In a small ceremony, ACO Louisville presented the staff and participants of the Adult Day Program with their new set of ACO boards and bags. It was a great day for all the participants and everyone involved in the presentation. Options Unlimited's mission is to provide valued social roles for adults with mental retardation and / or developmental disabilities. This is achieved through meaningful, naturally integrated community based activities, as well as a variety of on-site training activities.

Amy Coffer, Program Director of the Adult Day Training Program, states, "Exercise and staying fit is so important for this population and having the opportunity to participate in a sport that is familiar to the participants, that is very fun, and attainable is a wonderful gift. The ACO boards and bags will be used indoor and outdoor and will become integral part of our monthly calendar". Andrea, physical therapist, will be incorporating the American Cornhole equipment into the participants personal goals.

"One of my goals when I got on board with American Cornhole Organization was to be able to donate to a non-profit organization that will allow them to add additional activities or expand existing activities," Brian Stinnett said. "In the future ACO Louisville is planning to donate a percentage of all entry fees of ACO Louisville tournaments to assist Options Unlimited in future activities. So I am definitely excited and proud to begin reaching one of our goals and am thankful to be working with Frank Geers and the entire ACO crew all over the nation".

Brian Stinnett

ACO Louisville

Independent Agent PMIA502

brian.stinnett@americancornhole.com

502.744.8148

Cornhole in Virginia Beach!

Debbie Lowrance pictured here on Virginia Beach with a new set of the ACO Tournament Series boards.

The ACO wants to welcome Debbie Lowrance of Virginia Beach Cornhole to the American Cornhole family. Debbie first contacted the ACO through Facebook back in December 2008. Prior to that Debbie had been developing her own cornhole business called Virginia Beach Cornhole and had developed a nice following since its creation in the Spring of 2008. Debbie was excited about the quick growth of her cornhole business and was interested in ways to make her business bigger and better by offering more to her cornhole followers. She wanted to have the ability to rank her players locally and nationally, provide a broader range of products and offer a more structured system for tournaments and leagues. She wasn’t sure but she thought that the ACO might be the right fit.

It wasn’t but four weeks later that Debbie and her husband Keith found themselves traveling to Las Vegas, NV taking in their first ACO U.S. Nationals and King of Cornhole competition January 23 & 24, 2009. Needless to say Debbie walked away with a huge smile on her face and knew the ACO was the perfect fit for the future of her Virginia Beach Cornhole company. She made the decision that weekend that she wanted to be part of the ACO Family.

For Debbie, Virginia Beach Cornhole is about regular people having fun at the BEACH and in the BACKYARD with FAMILY and FRIENDS----just like YOU! In 2006 Debbie and Keith received their first CORNHOLE SET as a Christmas gift from their daughter’s fiancé. The rest is history. They shared it at neighborhood parties with friends, and the frenzy and sheer joy of CORNHOLE competition began.

They began to get dozens of invitations to parties---sometimes they didn’t even know the hosts that well----they just wanted us to come and bring CORNHOLE. The men LOVED it, the women could actually BEAT some of the men, and the children could win a game over their grandparents. After witnessing an extremely COMPETITIVE game this past July 4th in which the participants played on through a torrential RAIN downpour, we knew we had to bring this mid-western game to the BEACH. Debbie had a quick FAMILY MEETING, and at a Concert Tailgate at the Va. Beach Amphitheater, BEACH CORNHOLE was born!

Their regional area is MADE for CORNHOLE TOURNAMENTS and LEAGUES.
Their general population is very much into Outdoor Recreation.
Their exceptional Parks, Beaches and Military Bases are perfect fits.
Their main industry is TOURISM.
They have tons of Festivals, Jamborees and Jubilees going on year-round.

It is BEACH CORNHOLE's mission to make sure that CORNHOLE will be included in everyone of them! VIRGINIA BEACH CORNHOLE is very excited about their decision to join the American Cornhole Organization.

The ACO couldn't be happier to have added another great member to our family. Welcome aboard Debbie Lowrance and Virginia Beach.

We are cornhole.

ACO Virginia Beach
Debbie Lowrance
Independent Agent, PMIA757, PMIA804
vabeach@americancornhole.com
757.675.7724

American Cornhole is back in Cleveland!

The ACO Team is extremely excited to welcome aboard our newest members, Michelle and Jim Cahill from NEO Cornhole in Cleveland, OH. They have jumped on board full tilt by purchasing the licensing rights to PMIA216 region of the State of Ohio. Michelle not only adds another passionate cornhole enthusiast to the ACO Family but she also brings great experience and a solid cornhole following from the Cleveland market. She is a very hard working, no nonsense individual, who happens to also be one hell of a good cornhole player.

Michelle and Jim are active, sports-loving people and they have a passion for competition. It’s that passion that led to their discovery of the game of cornhole. The neighbors were always out in their yard playing cornhole, and the neighbor threw down the challenge for a game. Of course, there was no way either of them could turn down the challenge. The game wasn’t played on standard equipment, it was a plastic tailgating version of the game with flimsy boards, floppy bags, and the boards weren’t set at any set spacing, just slapped down on the driveway. They didn’t win the game, but it was the spark that led to their addiction to the game today.

They started making their own boards, found a lady who made awesome bags, and started playing against friends in their own yard. About 2 months later, they entered their first tournament at a local city’s “homedays” celebration and came in 2nd place! This was it…they loved the game and they actually made a pretty good team.

They had been playing the game for several months when a local bar asked them to start a league at their establishment. This led to the formation of their first league in May of last year. Since May, there hasn’t been a Monday or Friday night (with various other nights here and there) that you can’t find them both playing this awesome, addicting game.

Together, they formed North East Ohio Cornhole, LLC and started promoting leagues and tournaments even further. Now, with their involvement in the ACO as representatives for Cleveland, they are taking yet another leap inspired by a passion for competition, and love of this great game of cornhole.

Again welcome to the ACO Team.

Game on!

ACO Cleveland
Michelle Cahill
Independent Agent, PMIA216

michelle@americancornhole.com

Corn Dawg joins ACO Team

New ACO Agent Mark Lambert sandwiched between the top two ACO Babes in the game - Dyana Tolliver in red from West Virginia and Sheri Eggleton from Indiana in pink, these ladies rock. You lucky Corn Dawg you.

Mark Lambert has jumped on board to represent the ACO for Southern OH as the PMIA740. Although he resides in West Virginia and will tell you proudly that he is a Hill Billy through and through, he played in his first actual tournament only just last year, and it was in the 740 area code. Mark also spent the majority of last spring, summer, and fall in 740 as well, at Buns Party Barn in Pomeroy OH. This is where he met the crew that he now spends most every Thursday and every weekend with, and that he so often refers to as “The Cult of Cornhole”.

The Cornhole life for Mark began in the late summer of 07’, when Dyana, his usual doubles partner and close friend, stumbled onto the game of Cornhole shortly after deciding horse shoes was becoming a bit too dangerous for the Beer Guzzlers that frequented her house. She and her husband had recently been given two Nascar painted boards, as well as 8 Nascar logoed bags. Dyana called Mark and asked him to come down and try it out to see what he thought. Although their first 1000 throws were knuckle- ball style, and few bags landed on the board, mush less in the hole, the addiction was immediate and their friends, family, and previous hobbies fell into the back drop, as they quickly became two of the worst addicts you will ever meet since that fateful first day. The moments are very few and far between, that you will see one of these two throwing, and not be able to find the other somewhere close by cheering one another on, or more often, giving each hell for a not so good throw, be it the backyard or a high dollar tourney.

The following year in 08’, Mark was introduced to the ACO in the fall by two of his Pomeroy buds, PD Stewart and Chris Meeks. Shortly after meeting the 614 rep Robert Bennett, playing in a few ACO tourneys, and taking his first skills challenge in Columbus, his Cornhole obsession moved to a whole new level. He had missed only one Thursday at Buns that entire previous summer and fall, when only playing for a few dollars and bragging rights for the week, and now he had found that there was an entire national organization that took Cornhole as serious as he and his new friends did. He was amazed and delighted to find they actually had rankings, and that even crowned one of their players as the “King” each year.

Needless to say, Mark signed on a few months later to represent WV as an independent rep, and then in February of 09’, decided to take yet another step to the next level as the PMIA740, and plans to help the ACO introduce Cornhole to every person he meets.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to get your email addy to him, to sign up for his weekly, and sometimes daily emails from the Corn Dawg, and he will keep you up to date on who’s playing where, how it went, who needs to be ribbed and jabbed about their performance or other happenings of the week. He also includes what’s coming down the pipe in the weeks or months ahead with the ACO, and many other Cornhole related activities. But I must warn you, be prepared for your inbox to almost certainly have an email each day from the Corn Dawg, with a tournament time and date, a simple update on current rankings, or an entertaining recap of an event some of the Cult members attended over the weekend. And get ready to expand your vocabulary with phrases such as “Go with!”, “Capitalize on that!”, “Go left!, Go right!“, “Get up!”, and the infamous “Peter!”.

ACO South Eastern Ohio
Mark Lambert
Independent Agent, PMIA740
malmalmal@americancornhole.com
304-654-7939

Cornhole is alive in West Virginia!

Inside Castaways Bar & Grill, the new ACO Capital of West Virginia!

Castaways Bar & Grill

710 Main Avenue

Nitro WV 25143

(304) 204-1313

Eddie Beckner and Melody McCormick have joined the ACO team from West Virginia. They have come on board as PMIA304 and are hoping to take over the entire state of West Virginia for the ACO. We are extremely excited about this energetic team and are looking forward to visiting their bar & grill very soon.

Castaways Bar & Grill is nestled in the City of Nitro, West Virginia. The atmosphere will make you feel as if you’re at the beach, and just like the name says, you can definitely castaway all your cares and worries of the day. Along with a wide variety of reasonably priced food, they are famous for their burgers and wings, and are quickly adding Cornhole to that famous list, as they are definitely the newest hot spot in the area for playing Cornhole. On a daily basis, you will find all different types of people playing the game we love ... Cornhole. In their bare feet, high heels, male and female, young and old alike, simply all makes and models come to join in the fun and friendly competition.

Eddie Beckner is the owner of this hot little cornhole establishment and is now the West Virginia ACO representative. Mark Lambert is one of the regular patrons and throwers at Castaways that has seen its bar & grill sales more than double since the addition of cornhole. (Note: Mark Lambert has recently joined the ACO team and is promoting the South Eastern Ohio region for American Cornhole as the PMIA740 in that area. We will feature more about Mark in a future release.)

Eddie and Melody built Castaways last summer, and an outside deck attached to the old barnwood building was their original throwing area. As the cooler weather quickly approached, the loyal customers would drag in torpedo heaters to put on the deck, pitch in for kerosene, extra lighting, or any other necessary extreme so that they could continue to feed their newest addiction. Cornhole!!! Needless to say, Eddie and the fellow cornholios got together one Saturday, and by the end of that weekend, the deck was extended and covered! Sorry Mother Nature, but regardless of what you throw their way now… Game On !!!

ACO West Virginia
Eddie Beckner
Independent Agent, PMIA304
eddie@americancornhole.com
304.415.4522

ACO TopGun Results from IceHole Classic 2009

ACO IceHole Classic – TopGun 2/28/09

Cincinnati Results from Sluggers Café at Sports Plus
1st Matt Guy KY - 24 CFP POINTS
2nd Randy Atha, OH - 21 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Eric Hinerman, OH - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - David Weiser, OH - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Mike Schaffer, Jr. - 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Mike Schaffer, OH - 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Nick Taylor, OH - 9 POINTS
Top 8 - Bret Guy, OH - NO POINTS - NON CFP Participant

Columbus Results from Stoned Pizza Cafe
1st Aaron Robinson, IN - 24 CFP POINTS
Chris Hobbs, OH - 21 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Paul Stewart, OH - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Tom Bobo, OH - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Mark Lambert, WV- 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Jason Robinson, IN 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Dyana Tolliver, WV - 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Nate Cozart, OH - 9 CFP POINTS

Indianapolis Results from Sport Zone
1st Steve Vanderver, OH - 16 CFP POINTS
2nd David Shoemaker, OH - 14 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Geno Randazzo, IL - 10 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Mark Steinke, IL - 10 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Zack Wellsand, IN -6 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Eric Beckley, IN - 6 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Tommy Rangle, IN - 6 CFP POINTS ?
Top 8 - Kevin Pinkerton, OH - 6 CFP POINTS

Louisville Results from The Paroquet Springs Conference Centre
1st Noel True, KY - 24 CFP POINTS
2nd Charles True, OH - 21 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Jack Stagge, OH - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Mike Alvey, KY - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Stuart Baird, IN - 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Danny Seals, KY- 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Dale Smith, KY - 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Suttle, KY - 9 CFP POINTS

Spartanburg Results from The Spartanburg County Fairgrounds
1st Jason Schwab, SC - 24 CFP POINTS
2nd Justin Cooke, NC - 21 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Damon Tucker, NC - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 4 - Charlie Lilly, NC - 15 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Mike Hill, NC - 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Kyle Marx, NC- 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Steve Bost, NC - 9 CFP POINTS
Top 8 - Kipper Melmige - 9 CFP POINTS