Melissa West has a big vision for her first coordinated event as a board member with the Friends of White Park.
She joined the board just six months ago and has orchestrated the preliminary steps to arranging the first cornhole and food truck event to take place in Concord, coined Bags and Bites. The method behind the idea was simple – novelty.
“I’ve heard positive feedback from people who have participated in similar type events,” West said. “And Concord doesn’t have one currently, and it might be a good way to start a new tradition.”
The purpose of the May 15 event is to raise money for the Monkey Around Playground remodeling.
The playground was first built in 1994 and has only gone through minor maintenance since then. It’s long overdue for a structural overhaul, and Friends of White Park President Jonathan Smith hopes that this event, as well as others they plan to coordinate, will help supplement the cost of its renovation.
Smith says that the project in its totality will cost nearly $750,000, and the Friends of White Park are aiming to pay a hefty lump sum.
“Our goal is to try and raise half of that,” he said. “I don’t want to make any promises, but that’s what we said we were trying to do.”
During Concord’s fiscal year 2018 budget process, the city council approved a project to update the Monkey Around Playground that included a base of $200,000, and another $100,000 coming via private donations. This has carried over for the three years since, as it hasn’t been spent yet.
The cornhole tournament, starting at 11 a.m., will be divided into two age groups, 11-15 years old and 16-plus. Every two-person team that enters will be automatically guaranteed four games, as there will be a round robin to determine seeding before the playoff portion. Each team will be required to pay $50 to enter.
To help with the nuances of the day, the Friends of White Park is partnering with Wicked Cornhole, a Massachusetts based company that both constructs custom cornhole boards and coordinates tournaments. They will help with set-up and same-day logistics of the event.
The food truck aspect has been harder to coordinate for West, as she continues to work with the Concord Parks and Recreation department to get the number of trucks and permitting details sorted out.
“We haven’t actually committed to any of the food trucks yet, because we’ve got to get things situated with the city as far as the permitting for that,” West said. “We’ve got a lot of wheels moving that we’ve got to take care of before we can actually sign on the food trucks. We also don’t necessarily want to have so many food trucks that it’s not beneficial. We want to make sure that they’re going to get enough business that they’re going to come as well.”
West said there hasn’t been much traction yet in terms of sponsorships, but that she and the rest of the board are going to start ramping up their advertising for the event. They are accepting team registration and sponsorships through their website, friendsofwhitepark.org/bagsandbites.