Carson City friends celebrate Martin Luther King with annual bar game triathlon for charity
Five years ago on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, six Carson City friends were looking to do something meaningful to celebrate the man and his ideas of equality, peace and goodwill.
They began discussing their options at Ed’s Dog House, a Carson City bar. One friend brought up the idea of doing something to benefit a local charity. Another friend suggested making a contest of it, traveling to a couple of other local bars and competing in games of pool, shuffleboard and darts.
The friends, Clarissa Fultz, Tawyna Cook, Teri Creon, Valerie Byrne, Felicia Marks, and Cheryl Mathwig settled on the idea, a triathlon of sorts, where the ladies would put up a few dollars and compete in bar games. The overall winner of those games would collect the money and instead of keeping it, they would donate the purse to their favorite charity.
The following year they invited a few more to participate and then a few more after that. This year they had a total of 16 competitors split into different teams.
“We had so much fun, we decided we had to do this every year,” said Mathwig of the annual invite-only event.
This Monday began with breakfast at Villa Basque Deli, then it was off to MJ’s Sports Bar for pool. The second stop was Crossroads Lounge for shuffleboard, and last stop, Ed’s Dog House, where it all started, for darts. Along the way each bar owner donated money and patrons were encouraged to help the cause too.
This year’s winning team, Maggie Jensen and Patty Waller, chose the Nevada Humane Society because of their love of animals and in memory of Maggie’s dog Mocha, who she lost last year.
The Nevada Humane Society will receive this year’s donation of $435.
“When we get an unexpected call from a group of people who have gone above and beyond to fund raise for Nevada Humane Society, it warms our hearts. We are honored that this compassionate group of women chose us, chose homeless pets, as the beneficiary of their holiday tradition,” said Kimberly Wade, Senior Manager of Communications and Events for Nevada Humane Society. “It is people like this, found in both Washoe County and Carson City, that keep our shelter positive. They allow us to better our lifesaving efforts and impact even more people and pets in northern Nevada. We’re so grateful for their support.”
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