Canby, you did it again. Hundreds of people packed into the Antonia Ballroom above the Backstop Bar & Grill Saturday night to support Cornhole for Cancer.
The event was a fundraiser for the Canby High junior Ellie Shorter, the varsity soccer captain and cheerleader who was recently diagnosed with Hodkin’s lymphoma.
Almost fifty two-person teams registered for the tournament, which also featured a silent auction, with the big ticket items being a dozen or so sets of cornhole boards that were designed and donated by local businesses.
A University of Oregon set alone went for over three grand (Go, Ducks!) One of the organizers, Ryan Oliver, reported that, all told, the event raised an estimated $30,000 for the Shorter family. (Go, Canby!)
“I’m surprised, but then again, I’m not surprised,” Oliver said when asked about the amazing turnout and generosity. “This is just kind of how Canby rolls.”
Donations were tax deductible through the support of the local nonprofit. Ryan Oliver said he has been friends with Ellie’s dad, Shane, since childhood, and when he heard about her diagnosis, he wanted to do whatever he could to help.
Obviously, the same was true of, well, pretty much everyone else in Canby.
Support for the Shorters has also come from the sale of hundreds of #EllieStrong T-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers; a GoFundMe campaign that raised over $15,000; a hugely successful soccer clinic for local girls that was held last month at Canby High; the upcoming Taste of the Season Food & Beverage Show at Cutsforth’s on Nov. 7; and…I’m sure I’m forgetting a few others.
“This is what we’re used to here in Canby,” Oliver says. “It’s how we grew up. It’s what our parents used to do. We just want to pay it forward.”
Other organizers included Kerrie Oliver, Loren and Jen Bell, Tim and Becca Austen, R.J. Larios, Gina Hosford, and Ken and Lori Arrigotti, who hosted the event at the venue above their Backstop Bar & Grill and also donated all proceeds from food and drink sales to the cause.
