No, it’s not always about who wins.
But the stakes are pretty high for the Lake Erie Ink Giant Bananagrams Tournament. The champion team will not only bask in the glory of winning, raise money for a local organization and claim a few prizes, but they will have the honor of naming their very own ice cream flavor from a Cleveland Heights favorite – Sweetie Fry.
Lake Erie Ink, a writing space for youth, is hosting its inaugural fundraiser where organizations and businesses will have an opportunity to showcase their creative wordplay skills during a Giant Bananagrams Tournament from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. March 23.
Inspired by the fast-paced, Scrabble-like word game, Bananagrams, teams of two to four will compete on a 30 by 30 foot board in front of a live audience with plays and words announced by a guest MC.
The Cleveland Heights organization will also provide food and entertainment, door prizes, poetry and an “all things banana” bake sale.
Families and community members are invited to join in the fun. They can pay to play in the Word Game Room -- $20 per family, $10 per adult and $5 per child.
Lake Erie Ink is asking local businesses and organizations to participate in one of two ways. One, register and play as a team representing your organization. Two, sponsor a team in your name and pay their registration fee. The contribution per team is $400.
All participating teams and sponsors will be recognized on t-shirts, publicity materials and our website. Prizes will be awarded and, as mentioned above, the winning team will name a signature ice cream flavor at Sweetie Fry.
Proceeds will benefit Lake Erie Ink, a non-profit that provides creative expression opportunities and academic support to youth in the greater Cleveland community. LEI serves youth from a broad socio-economic, cultural and academic range, using creative writing to increase literacy and social engagement. The organization offers creative expression workshops for writers and literary support through in-school and out-of-school programs.
For more information about how to participate, visit www.lakeerieink.org. To fill out a registration form and create your own fundraiser page, visit www.crowdrise.com/LEIGIANTBANANAGRAMS.
