Bean Bags Fly for Good Cause in Sea Isle City

Kim Pfeiffer and Amy Pflaumer were the picture of concentration as they stared at the target, carefully lined up their tosses and then let the bean bags fly in Sea Isle City.

Some of their tosses missed, but others hit the mark perfectly in the hole on the baggo board a few yards away from them in Excursion Park on Monday afternoon.

“I’m super-excited,” Pflaumer exclaimed of the fun she was having with her baggo partner, Frank DellaVecchio.

Pflaumer and DellaVecchio, co-workers in the Delaware County, Pa., 911 emergency dispatch system, were involved in a friendly game of baggo against Pfeiffer and her husband, Chris.

They were among the players on 120 baggo teams participating in the 20th annual fundraising tournament in Sea Isle hosted by the Ocean Drive bar and sister property O’Donnell’s Pour House pub and restaurant.

Each year, the baggo tournament raises money for the Mike’s Seafood Polar Bear Run-Walk for Autism in Sea Isle. Proceeds also benefit the Police Unity Tour, the Sea Isle Ambulance Corps, the Sea Isle Volunteer Fire Department and the Sea Isle Beach Patrol.

Pflaumer and DellaVecchio were first-timers in the tournament, while Kim and Chris Pfeiffer were playing in their fifth year. All four were happy to be part of a fundraiser benefiting autism awareness and the other organizations.

“It’s a great cause,” Pflaumer said.

DellaVecchio, of Aston, Pa., explained that he has a 13-year-old niece who is autistic, so the tournament had a family tie-in for him.

The tournament also has a special meaning to DellaVecchio because his son, Joseph, is a bouncer at the Ocean Drive and his daughters, Nicole and Kayleigh, are servers at the legendary bar’s outdoor Sandbar and Grill.

    Kim Pfeiffer takes aim while Amy Pflaumer watches.
  

Kim Pfeiffer, who lives in Deptford, N.J., with her husband, noted that she, too, has a personal connection to the tournament’s major charity, autism awareness.

Now retired, she said she had autistic students in her classes when she formerly taught health and physical education in Deptford.

“I do know the challenges that they face,” she said of people with autism.

Last year, the baggo event raised about $25,000. Organizers were hoping to raise even more on Monday.

This was the second year that the fundraiser was held in Excursion Park. In prior years, the city would allow the Ocean Drive and O’Donnell’s Pour House to close the block of 40th Street between Landis and Pleasure avenues to set up the baggo game boards.

Excursion Park is a much bigger venue and allows more room for the games, said Kathy Larkin, general manager of the Ocean Drive and O’Donnell’s Pour House.

    Tournament organizers Colby Phillips, left, and Brigid Ryan say the fundraiser is embraced by the entire community.
  

Ryan Albany, his wife, Brigid, and Colby Phillips, employees at the Ocean Drive, are the principal organizers of the tournament.

Phillips said the event is embraced by the entire town and is a great way to give back to the community. She also noted that the tournament receives major support from employees at Sea Isle’s bars and restaurants.

“Overall, it’s a great day for Sea Isle City,” Phillips said.

Brigid Albany said it is not uncommon for the same people to play in the tournament year after year.

“I like seeing the same faces every year and adding new people, too. A lot of people who play in the tournament tell us that it’s the best day of summer,” she said.

In addition to the baggo tournament, the Ocean Drive and O’Donnell’s Pour House organize a series of fundraising events throughout the year to benefit local charities.

“Broads at the Beach,” held at O’Donnell’s Pour House on Paddy’s Green, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 12, is the next fundraiser coming up. Donations are $30. For more information, call (609) 263-5600.