R Bar Toys For Tots
By Terrance Carter
On December 19, 2008, the R Bar hosted its first annual Toys For Tots Shoot. This was the first time I personally had run a community or charity-based event for darts and I must say, I was blown away!
First, I want to thank everyone who came out showed support, shooting or not. Also to those who called or sent text messages wishing they could be there or asking where they could drop off their donations at a later date.
I honestly thought that due to the current weather conditions in the valley, we would have a small amount of teams that were going to show up and support the event. As I pulled into the parking lot around ten minutes to eight o’clock, I was shocked, but happy to see so many cars in the bar’s parking lot. As I slid across the parking lot trying not to drop my darts and toys, I got to the door and had to stop. I was in awe of how many people were in the bar to support the cause.
We had players from the north, the south, and everywhere in between representing their locations, skills, and support for the local communities. It was one of the happiest moments I think that I have had since starting this sport. I could not believe that all of these people took the time out of their schedules and braved the weather conditions to come together for a single cause. We had twenty-three teams come to shoot the tournament, and a lot of spectators came with them to watch.
We had a ton of new and old faces. One face in the crowd that caught me by surprise the most was Ike Jouhal, owner of Cloud 9 in Kent. Ike came to support the event with one of the area’s top players, John Husman, his wife, Yelena, and some old friends of mine Chad, Slim (Justin), Paul G. and their beautiful significant others, all representing Cloud 9. Maria, Rod, and Maria’s daughters (Jenny and Sarah) from Goldie’s Airport Way in Seattle also brought a following of players and family with them to support. Larry, Cindy, and friends from Draft Choice in Auburn even made the drive. Wah Longs in Burien had their usual strong showing (Nico, Kevin, David, Chad, Christy, Mance, Trish, Eric, David, Mina), and then all of my regulars (Krys, Dani, Jay, Fred, Scott, Brian, Eric, Justin, Roland, Jolene, Randy, Paul, David, Codi, Travis). I hope that’s everyone, sorry if I missed you.
The tournament was a big success. Even Ike said that this had been one of the few tournaments that he had shot in outside of Cloud 9 in the last five or six years, and he had a good time.
The atmosphere was calm all night. One bright spot of the evening was the entire bar singing happy birthday to Dani Fafnis, celebrating her 24th birthday at the event. We had some pretty intense matches that came down to the wire, but in the end, First Place went to Eric “Japanese” while carrying his partner, me! Second Place went to Maria and Rod, and in Third Place was Jay B. and Fred.
The event raised 117 toys and $110 dollars in donations, not only from the players and spectators, but even some of local bar patrons that decided to get involved, trying to make a difference in our community.
Special thanks to Stone, Lesli, Norris, Dave and all of his pool-shark players for your contributions. Thanks again for coming out and showing support, hope to see you again. Come visit us if you’re in the neighborhood.
