Cornhole craze? Local not-for-profit plans fundraiser using a game growing in popularity

Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri plans to host a first-ever fundraising tournament featuring the 700-year-old game of cornhole that's become popular enough to be featured on ESPN.

CPSEMO had planned to host a cornhole tourney Friday but has decided to reschedule for an as-yet unspecified date this fall.

Dwana Leible, CPSEMO director of resource development, suggested having the event so close to the Fourth of July holiday may have hurt registration.

"Coming off the Fourth has its pros and cons," she said, noting the short time frame after the Independence Day holiday may have hindered people finding partners.

Game history

The earliest known cornhole game dates to Germany in A.D. 1325 when a cabinetmaker, Matthias Kuepermann, is said to have created the sport after watching children toss rocks into a groundhog hole. Kuepermann, as legend has it, put his carpentry skills to use and designed a game he thought would be safer by having kids throw bags of corn rather than stones into an opening in a wood door. Corn -- abundant in western Europe and lighter than rocks — seemed a good alternative to the 14th century Bavarian.

Similar to horseshoes

Cornhole is a lawn game in which people take turns throwing 16-ounce bags of corn kernels at a raised platform of plywood with a hole in the far end. A bag tossed directly into the desired target (cornhole) results in three points while one landing on the board earns the player one point.

The first team or player to 21 points wins.

Regional appeal

The American Cornhole Association suggests the Midwest is a hotbed for cornhole given its abundance of farmland. The sport took hold in Cincinnati 15 years ago and has spread to "backyard barbecues, beaches and campgrounds across the U.S.," according to the organization's website. Cornhole tutorials may be found on Facebook and YouTube.

Of note

CPSEMO reported Wednesday more than 500 tickets have been presold for its fourth annual Dancing With Show Me Stars fundraiser July 31 at the Drury Plaza Conference Center in Cape Girardeau. More information may be found at www.dancingwithshowmestars.com.