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By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Staff Writer

 CALERA – With toasts to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, residents of Calera flocked to the Calera Courtyard on Friday, May 3 for Main Street Calera’s annual charity cornhole tournament. This May installment of First Friday provided an evening of fun while supporting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Sponsored by Sav Mor Food Outlet, the cornhole tournament itself was managed by Killin’ Time Cornhole. In addition to a small kids game, the main event of the night was the cornhole tournament. Each of the top three teams took home prize baskets to mark their victories.

In addition to the cornhole tournament, guests could also enter a raffle to win a special prize. Donated by Calera City Councilmember Debbie Byers, the raffle prize was a custom, handmade cornhole board constructed by Pappy Shack Engraving. The winner of this raffle was Isaac Hall.

Between the cornhole tournament and the raffle at Calera Main Street’s First Friday, as well as some donations collected at the Calera Strawberry festival, $1,274 was raised for the National MS Society according to fundraiser Ann Davis.

Calera Main Street is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the revitalization of Calera’s downtown business district. According to Calera Main Street Director Jackie Batson, First Friday is a free, community festival series celebrated on the first Friday of every month with the goal of promoting Calera’s historic district and its downtown merchants.

The Cinco de Mayo cornhole tournament was the second installment of the First Friday series this summer. Batson shared that the month of May only grew upon the success of the previous month.

“I would venture to say that the attendance was even larger (than last month),” Batson said. “Every month it seems to grow. I know we had twice as many vendors as we had last month. It just seemed to be extremely well received.”

Batson’s favorite part of the night which set this year’s cornhole tournament apart from the others was the addition of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a nonprofit supporting children with cancer. The inclusion of ALSF was presented to Calera Main Street by the company handling the new playground as the company which partnered with Sunshine Lemonade.

Sunshine Lemonade took donations to ALSF throughout the night and the playground company promised to match all money raised.

“I thought that was unique. That’s something we haven’t done before,” Batson said. “I liked that it tied in with another major vendor for downtown development.”

The next First Friday will be the Backyard Bash on Friday June 7, sponsored by Shelby County Newspapers, Inc.

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