On the Cover:
Bring on the Community with Peach State Cornhole
By Kristen Eleveld
There are lots of ways to spend your weeknights, but only one that will help you polish your hand-eye coordination skills, allow you to meet new friends, and even become a champion. Yes, of course, we are talking about the game of cornhole. And no one does it better than Peach State Cornhole, founded by Gwinnett’s own Nick Boyers. Back in 2013, Nick had just moved to Gwinnett County from Ohio, where cornhole is a popular pastime. Nick is all about community, so he decided to see if anyone was interested in forming some teams to play for fun. He wound up with eight teams in the Suwanee area, formed by a love of creating new relationships and trying something new. Now, this small, local cornhole league has grown into hundreds of teams covering the entire state – and people can’t get enough of it. “We never knew it would get this big!” said Nick. “This was founded out of a desire to form new relationships, and now we are in thirty locations across the state.” Nick and his team encourage anyone to play, whether you are an expert at tossing a bean bag or whether you just heard of cornhole this week. Divided into three divisions – the expert Ringers, the intermediate Slingers, and the beginner Dingers – the league is intentionally designed to help you have fun whether you win the game or not. Players can sign up on a team or as a free agent. “We’re here more for the personal connection rather than just cornhole,” said Nick. “We want people to come out and play because they have formed great relationships with other players.” Of course, just because the league is all about fun doesn’t mean it doesn’t take its cornhole playing seriously. Each season, four times
per year, Peach State Cornhole hosts a state tournament that consists of the top three teams from each skill division – and gives out over $3,000 worth of prizes. Last year’s championship was held at Slow Pour Brewery in Lawrenceville. This summer they will be heading down to Macon to play at Fall Line Brewing. If you’re interested in signing up, it’s not too late. The registration for the fall league is open now and teams will begin playing the week of August 21st. Be warned, though. Once you start playing, you may never want to stop. Peach State Cornhole also enjoys participating in community events throughout the year. They partner with many non-profit organizations and charities around Georgia to help them bring awareness to their cause and needs. Whether an organization is hoping to raise Continued on page 16
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H e a lt H y • B e a u t i f u l • i n s p i r e d July 2022 Our Town Gwinnett
John W. Simmons IV, DMD Robert J. French, DDS
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