Henry’s Club hosting the event along the boardwalk
By Barb Pert Templeton
The weather is supposed to be beautiful and the cause is certainly worthy for what could become an annual summer Cornhole Tournament on the boardwalk along the St. Clair River in Algonac this weekend.
Henry’s Club (Helping Everyone Needing Resources Yearlong) will host the event on Saturday, June 24 with the first team check-in at 11:30 a.m. with play beginning at 12:30 p.m. Participants are asked to bring their own partner, pay the $40 registration fee and pick either a social or competitive bracket. A second tournament, dubbed a blind draw, will check-in at 3:30 p.m. and begin play at 4:30 p.m. The latter round is $20 per person with both social and competitive brackets.
Participants and spectators are invited to bring their own beer and event sponsor, Jet’s Pizza, will have pizza, pop and water for sale. Amiels said 50 percent of the proceeds from the event will go to Henry’s Club and the remainder will be utilized for tournament prize money.
Advertisements - Click the Speaker Icon for Audio
The local non-profit Henry’s Club was founded in Algonac in 2020 and includes 20 adult members plus a Henry’s Club Juniors.
Club Treasurer Amy Amiels said a friend, Chris Schwartz, came up with the idea to bring the cornhole tournament to the city. He suggested having the company, Klutch Cornhole and Entertainment LLC, bring their equipment to the boardwalk for the day and they are doing so at no cost to Henry’s Club, Amiels said.
Cornhole play has become popular of late in the area and in fact Henry’s Club recently held a bottle and can drive and then bought a cement cornhole set that they had placed in the Algonac Riverfront Park.
Club formed in 2020
The owners of Klutch Cornhole and Entertainment LLC will bring their equipment to the boardwalk in Algonac for the Henry’s Club tournament this Saturday.
Henry’s Club was founded in August 2020 by a group of friends from Algonac who wanted to do things to help out those in need in the community. A founding club member, Amiels said the group decided to establish themselves as a non-profit and hosts several major fundraisers annually along with smaller events as the need arises.
“One of our members, Rocky Gillis, likes to say we’re the caulk to helping people in our community, we do the smaller stuff,” Amiels said.
For example, the club recently hosted a Taco Dinner Night to raise funds for a family in the community whose daughter is undergoing cancer treatments. The Henry Club Juniors, a spinoff group comprised of the children and grandchildren of the membership, also held a glow party with music and glow sticks as another fundraiser for the club.
Amiels said the club’s focus has fallen to the local schools including establishing a “Birthday Boxes” program for children to provide treats to their classmates on their birthdays. They also support a hygiene closet for the school nurse that includes toiletry items for students in need.
As a small group, Henry’s Club is making a positive impact and looks forward to continuing it’s work to support those in need in the local community.
“It’s going really well, it’s a very small group but that’s the way we like it,” Amiels said.
Henry’s Club welcomes new members and they meet on the last Wednesday of each month at Amiels Enterprises 5256 Pointe Tremble Road in Clay Township. Dinner is at 6 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7 p.m.
