Revamped Bags 4 Buczek fundraiser debuts Saturday

Bags 4 Buczek, the largest cornhole tournament in Ozaukee County, will be back this year bigger and better than before, organizers said.

That’s because this year, for the first time, the tournament will be held in conjunction with Mel’s Charities.

“It’s grown into something pretty spectacular,” Bags 4 Buczek founder Gary Knaub said.  

The tourney will move from Veterans Memorial Park to Harbor Hills Recreation Center on Port Washington’s west side on Saturday, Sept. 18, which will give the teams more room to spread out, Knaub said.

“It was time for a change,” he said. “It works perfectly. We’re not choked for space.”

Knaub said so far there are about 65 teams signed up for the tourney. His goal is to have 100 teams participate.

“I think we can get there,” he said, noting the last time the event was held, 80 teams took part.

“That’s what is keeping me up at night. I really want to hit 100.”

Bags 4 Buczek starts with check in at 10 a.m. Play begins at 11 a.m. A number of raffles will be held throughout the day. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

Knaub said one of the raffles will feature a Taste of Port Washington, with gift cards from an expected 10 local eateries.

Proceeds from the tourney go to Mel’s, but Bags 4 Buczek still has a say in where those funds are directed, Knaub added.

Bags 4 Buczek has been wildly successful since it started in 2013 as a way to raise money for scholarships in memory of Tyler Buczek, a 15-year-old who drowned in Lake Michigan just before he was to start his freshman year at Port Washington High School.

With the exception of 2020, when the event was canceled due to the pandemic, it has been held annually.

The partnership with Mel’s has given the event guidance in ways to grow while keeping its mission of raising money for the community, with an emphasis on special needs, memorial scholarships and human services, Knaub said.

  “It’s given us a whole lot more avenues for resources,” Knaub said. “Everything we thought we had a good grasp on, they had fifty times the ideas for.”

One idea was to find an event sponsor, he said. Port Washington State Bank is the sponsor for this year’s Bags 4 Buczek.

This year, Bags 4 Buczek will be bolstered by a number of other events. Mel’s Charities is working with Inventor’s Brewpub and Vines to Cellar on their Run Now Wine Later 5k, which takes place that morning, and there will be a volleyball tournament at Harbor Hills that day as well. Proceeds from the volleyball tournament will go to Bags 4 Buczek.

“We’re just looking to have fun and impact lives,” Tom Stanton, executive director of Mel’s Charities, said.

Teams wishing to sign up for Bags 4 Buczek may do so at the website bags4buczek.com.