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The 1st Annual Riverside Renegades Toys for Tots Benefit Game - 2004 Article and photos by B. Spiegel
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| So Christmas is just around the corner, and what do millions
of little boys and girls do the morning of December 25th? Well, we all know what we did as
kids (and some of us still do), wake up mom and dad, run down to the tree and see what ol'
Saint Nick has left under the tree that night. But sometimes Santa cant make it all the
houses, to all the children. That's where the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve steps in with the
Toys For Tots Program. Started in 1947, Toys For Tots has collected and distributed over 313 million toys to needy children across the USA. Donations are dropped off at locations in shopping malls and many stores, large corporations donate extra stock in warehouses, and many small groups have their own toy drives. So that's what we at Riverside Renegade paintball decided to do. After just a few mentions of it to "Buddy" Wright (owner and player), calls and emails were made. Seeing as how it was late in the season already, we needed to get the toys collected before the December 17th drop-off deadline. December 12th seemed as good as any, and I went to work making flyers and posting the event on many internet paintball forums. Word spread around quite well, with much help from Gander Mountain and Wal-Mart in West Mifflin, as well as other local businesses. The event even got some air time on the radio [note- this is info from another source, I did not hear it first hand] after some of the guys called up local stations. |
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Fast forward to the day of the game.
Wake up, look out the window, and I can see that it wasn't going to be a pretty day. After
a quick stop to pick up fellow Renegade and referee Joe Luzell, we arrived at the
field at about 8:30 AM, and could see that we were the fist there. Everything was in its
place from the big cleanup the night before. Buddy had informed us that he would need to
run and get HPA filled for the day, and would be a bit late. Time to get the heaters
running and the fire going.... At about 9:30 AM, the majority of the players had started to show up, 30 in all if you include myself. After all was sorted out with paint sales, a normal Riverside Renegades safety explanation was given to everyone. Only after that happens do we hand out masks and paintball guns to renters. All rentals and fills sorted out, with players coming and the toy table growing, we started the games. Traditional fare of capture the flag with alternating forts was on the menu, with a healthy side of mud and a sprinkle of snow. Both teams (made up evenly of newer players renting equipment and Renegades team members) evened out pretty well, some adjustments made as more people arrived. CO2 and paint was wafting through the sparse vegetation that the field offers this time of year, and players made good use of the heated pavilions in-between games. |
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| Not only did we all have a lot of fun (I
joined in for 2 games myself, sporting an AirPower Vector, it was a blast) we gathered a
nice amount of toys for children less fortunate than ourselves. Not often do people walk
away from a charitable event covered in mud, and smiling from ear to ear. But the spirit
of giving was in the air this day, and with luck, it will stay around this great bunch of
people. I would like to that everyone for helping out, all the Renegades who showed up and helped advertise the event, Chris Smith at Gander Mountain for distributing so many flyers and telling everyone with an open mind for paintball, Arty Quinn at UPMC for distributing many flyers and bulletins across the Oakland Campus, all the guys on the RiversideRenegade.com forums, the players who drove down from Northern Ohio(!) to play, the players who dropped off donations even though they couldn't play (Thanks Paula!) and most of all, Buddy, who without his help and time, the game wouldn't have gone on at all. And lets not forget all of the players who faced the freezing rain and snow, trudged through the mud and cold, to help out some kids in need. See you all in 2005, have a Merry Christmas, a great holiday season, and a Happy & Safe New Year! See the pictures from this game here, and talk about it on the forums. |
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