Toilet seat company donates to 'Redneck Games'

When you're the marketing director for a toilet seat manufacturer, you get asked some interesting questions.

But until Cape Girardeau came calling, Bob Davis of Bemis Manufacturing Co. of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., had never been asked to donate seats for a toilet seat toss.

The toilet seat toss, which is played like horseshoes, is one of the "Redneck Games" that will be part of the three-day Independence Day festival sponsored by USA Veterans July 2 through 4 at Arena Park.

"This is tied to veterans, so it's a worthwhile cause," said Davis, who is sending a dozen lidless, open-front toilet seats to be used in the game and some high-end showroom seats to be used as prizes.

Davis said this is the first time the company has been asked to help with a toilet seat toss.

"Several of us got a kick out of that one," Davis said.

The donation also will help raise awareness of the Bemis brand in the community, Davis said. The Bemis brand is sold at Home Depot stores, and other brands the company manufactures are sold at Lowes and Ace Hardware.

The toilet seat toss and other Redneck Games will be played in the livestock barn area of Arena Park. The other games are cap toss, doggie poop toss, Sure Shot pool game and dunking booth.

In the cap toss, participants will throw their baseball caps onto mounted deer antlers 10 to 15 feet away.

"You always see the guy who hangs his hat on a coat tree, but we rednecks don't have coat trees, so we use our deer antlers," said Rodger Brown, USA Veterans commander. For people who don't want to use their own caps, extras will be available.

In the doggie poop toss, children will throw plastic poop into a piece of wood with a hole cut in it, similar to an outhouse seat.

The Sure Shot pool game will challenge people to shoot a pool ball down a 7-foot-long strip only 1 1/2 inches wide and into a hole at the end.

Game participants will earn tickets at each contest and be able to trade in their tickets for prizes donated from local businesses. The Redneck Games will take place all three days of the festival.

"We decided Redneck Games would fit into the atmosphere that we wanted to create. With the country music and the demolition derby, it just seemed to fit," Brown said.

The festival will kick off July 2 with a concert by country star Darryl Worley. Concert tickets are on sale now at the Arena Building and online at www.usa-veterans.org.

A demolition derby will be held July 4, and the festival will close out with a professional fireworks display. USA Veterans members are working to raise about $30,000 to fund the festival, Brown said. People interested in contributing or volunteering may call 587-3932.

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