Love Center Homeless Shelter, Maraella Winery hosting cornhole tourney Oct. 16

The Love Center Homeless Shelter in Gadsden, along with Maraella Vineyards and Winery in Hokes Bluff, will host the Corks and Cornhole Tournament on Oct. 16, according to a press release.

The event is intended to help raise money for the shelter, which has remained open during the coronavirus pandemic in order to provide food, shelter and support to people in need, the release said.

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The tournament will be held at the Maraella Winery at 5926 Old U.S. Highway 278 East, the release stated.

"This is our first fundraiser in two years and we hope to raise much-needed funds to help with the operation of the shelter," Love Center Homeless Shelter board president Kristi Kent said in the release, pointing out that the shelter also helps residents there in obtaining benefits, getting transportation to and from doctor visits and getting needed medicine, recovery from surgery, helping with job searching and other assistance. "We just want to help them get back on their feet and be able to live independently."

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Kent also said in the release that, before the coronavirus led to a drop in numbers, the Love Center provided 9,348 nights of shelter and 28,044 meals in 2019. She said the shelter currently is accepting homeless families and women and a limited number of single men after screenings and that the shelter always is in need of cleaning supplies and gently used furniture that residents can use when they're able to move out on their own — a major goal of the shelter. 

Tickets for the event are $50 per person and include entry into the double-elimination tournament, which is "bring your own partner." It also includes a low country shrimp boil catered by Rainbow City's Capeside Fish Company, which also will be selling other seafood-related items during the afternoon for those who just want to come and watch the tournament.

Registration for the tournament will begin at 10:30 a.m. and is limited to 100 entrants. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and, according to Kent, "Bags fly at noon."

Single plates without tourney participation will be $12. For children ages 12 and younger, tickets are $15. In addition, hot dogs will be available for children who prefer those to shrimp. 

"We’re trying to incorporate some of the favorite things in the South with this event,” Kent said, “(including) cornhole, seafood and football," noting that TV screens in the pavilion at the winery would be tuned to football games during the tournament.

There will be a "competitive" division for more serious players, as well as a "social" division for more recreational players in the tourney. The "social" division will feature gift baskets for the winners, while the "competitive" division offers $800 in prize money – $500 for first place, $200 for second and $100 for third.

Sponsorships are available for $250, which will include a banner at the event and four tickets. For sponsorships or more information, call Andy Powell at 256-478-7611. Pre-registration is available by emailing rcole@gadsdenlibrary.org.