EGHS First Annual Bonfire and Cornhole Tournament

Night to Celebrate Football Team’s Homecoming

by Morgan Walsh

East Greenwich High School held its first-ever cornhole tournament last Thursday. Due to the canceling of the fall football season, the season was moved to the spring this year.  In an attempt to bring some of the school spirits that typically surround the week of homecoming back, the school organized a bonfire, cornhole tournament, and food trucks to host a fully outdoor event before the homecoming game on Friday. 

“All of our guidance comes from the Rhode Island department of health in terms of what we can actually do”, explained Kenneth Hopkins, principal of EGHS, “there were a variety of events we presented in a school committee presentation and we were looking to do some sort of homecoming bonfire night before the Football homecoming game”. 

The event began at 6:30 by the high school’s track. The bonfire was lit in a freshly dug fire pit in the adjacent field, with EG fire department, Principal Hopkins, and Vice-Principal Mendolson keeping a watch on it nearby. Students were instructed to maintain a safe distance from the bonfire to ensure safety. 

With about 20 teams of 2 participating in the game, the corn hole tournament took place on the football field. Each team brought their own cornhole board and thanks to the nature of the game, partners were able to maintain a distance of 6ft from their opponents during the match. The winners were juniors, Emma Bernett Testa and Christian Stange. 

Additionally, food trucks, Baby BoneTown BBQ, and Poppy’s Waffles were parked nearby so students could purchase food from there. The event also included speeches from the football team and their coach, John George, as well as honoring the girl’s volleyball team whose season was also moved due to Covid.  

With the possible prospect of students being able to attend fully in person, this is just one of the events the school has been planning more events for students this spring. Having already started on April 9th, the school will be hosting a Musical Retrospective as part of their theater program until April 17th, giving plenty of viewings to try to minimize the number of people present. In addition, the talent show, Airband, and Senior week activities are other things in the works for the end of this school year.