TNT Bowling Tournament

Last Thursday I hosted my first fundraising event and got a taste of the challenges of event planning.  I coordinated a bowling tournament at Lucky Strike in Jillian's which is located right behind Fenway Park's center field bleachers.

The initial set-up of the event was a breeze.  I called Jillian's up and they quickly agreed to let me use 4 lanes for 2 hours and threw in a plate of chips and salsa for the group.  The only catch was that they only times they donated lanes were Monday-Thursday from 6-8pm.  Since many of my friends work outside of the city and/or work long hours some nights, it can be difficult to get down to Fenway by 6pm and therefore it was difficult to get people to commit to coming in advance.

My second challenge was figuring out and obtaining a prize.  I contacted a few restaurants and cafes around Boston to ask if they would donate a gift certificate.  Most seemed vaguely interested but needed a letter from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society officially endorsing me as their fundraiser...which I didn't have.  Because of the holidays I was getting crunched for time so I quickly emailed Jillian at the Massachusetts TNT HQ and voila!  I had the letter in about 24 hours.  The Improv Asylum in the North End came through and donated six tickets.

Finally I decided I wanted to make an inexpensive but fun trophy.  I really impressed myself with my craftiness on this one.  Take a look at the pictures of the trophies below and the pics from the event itself.  We ended up having 13 people including myself participate in the event instead of the 20 I was hoping for.  Even so, we had a great group come out and everyone had a good time.  My co-worker Jess, her boyfriend Chris, and her roommate Sary ended up winning by 5 pins but I bowled the highest score in a game.  I think my 150 is a PR!  Hopefully, I can achieve a few more running PRs in the coming months!

The Trophies!

The Champions:  Sary,  Chris, & Jess

See the photo page for all the pics!