Rotarians to sponsor Yahtzee tournament
Rotary club fundraiser will support foster children
On Jan. 9, Humboldt County’s third “Rotary Yahtzee Tournament” will kick off the new year.
This year’s annual competition will be a bit different from its predecessors — in recognition of COVID-19 protocols, it’s also the North Coast’s first “Zoom Rotary Yahtzee Tournament.” Games will be played in the comfort of homes making the evening a uniquely fun evening for a good cause, according to event organizers Scott Pesch and Jeff Pauli.
Long- time Rotarians, Pesch is vice president of the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka and Pauli is a past president of Old Town Rotary. Both are enthusiastic and experienced Yahtzee players and, in 2019, they brought a new concept to their clubs and to legions of Humboldt County Yahtzee fans — tournament Yahtzee.
“This is a game that kids play, that adults learned to play as kids,” said Pesch. “Yahtzee has been a staple of family game nights since the 1940s. More than 50 million games are sold every year. People love to play Yahtzee — and with that kind of a fan base, we knew there would be an avid population on the North Coast ready and willing to try their luck. Add in the opportunity to support a great local project — as we do every year— and the event came together pretty quickly in 2019 and 2020 and this year. This year with a few modifications.”
Proceeds will provide funding for the Forgotten Initiative and for other community projects supported by Rotary.
“The Forgotten Initiative is a local project that is doing good work for children on the North Coast,” said Pauli. “When children in foster care move to a foster family or from foster home to foster home, they may have little to bring to this new chapter of their lives. The Forgotten Initiative will provide journey bags
for these children — bags that will have small games, items of clothing, toiletries — items that will be familiar, that will be their own.”
Fifteen bags will be needed each month with each bag costing around $150 each, said Pauli. Event organizers hope to raise $20,000 to support the Forgotten Initiative’s foster children journey bag program.
Players wanting to participate in the Tournament are asked to go the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka website (www.swrotary.org) to sign up and pay for their virtual ticket using the Pay Now button at the top left corner of the website home page. Instructions for play and for game night Zoom log-in will be emailed to players.
Scorecards will be emailed to players for printing, or arrangements can be made to pick up scorecards from Pesch. Players will provide their own dice. Pesch and Pauli are hoping that 200 Yahtzee fans will participate.
“The process will be easy — quick and easy,” Pesch
said.
Games will begin at 6 p.m. and will be played until 8 p.m. Players will be shown on a single screen. Results will be sent to tournament organizers who will award prizes within one day.
“We know that most players will be getting their Yahtzee game on for love of the game and to support the foster child journey bag effort but… prizes, there will be prizes,” said Pauli.
First prize will be $500, second prize will be $300 and third prize will be $100. Also, according to Pauli, there will be a trophy.
“Five feet tall,” he said. “It makes a statement.”
In other years, the tournament has also featured food and cocktails. This year, the two Eureka Rotary clubs encourage Yahtzee Zoom Tournament players to spice up their evening by ordering drive-by, pick-up dinners from tournament restaurant partners.
“We hope that players will make this a special evening,” said Pesch. “How do you make a Saturday game night even better? Dinner
from one of our local restaurants.”
Participating restaurants include Six Rivers Brewery (McKinleyville), Luis’ Mexican Restaurant (Eureka), The Jam (Arcata), AA Bar & Grill (Eureka), Plaza Grill (Arcata) and Paul’s Live From New York ( Eureka, Arcata).
“Whatever your choice of Yahtzee nourishment … there will be fan favorites for every appetite,” Pesch said. “We want our players to be fully fueled and ready to play, and we appreciate the opportunity to support our local restaurants.”
The cost for individual play is $25. There are two levels of corporate sponsorship available — $500 and $1,000. For more information and to purchase tickets, players are asked to go to swrotary.org. For more information, to become an event sponsor or to arrange to pick up scorecards, they can call 707-845-3459.
“We’ll have a great time,” said Pesch, “and it’ll be a terrific way to start the new year — friends, family and fun, Yahtzee and good food for a very good cause.”