Cornhole Tournament to Benefit Wilmington Resident With MS a Success

The first annual Bags and Beers Cornhole Tournament to benefit multiple sclerosis was a huge success.

This year, 32 teams came out and raised nearly $3,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Greater New England Chapter. This brings overall fundraising for Team Sweaty Already to over $6,000.

Tara Tonello and Shelley Kresser (Hardimon) hosted the cornhole tournament at the Wilmington Knights of Columbus  to help raise funds to sponsor their team in the 3-day, 50-mile Cape Cope MS Challenge Walk on Sept. 6.

Tonello and Kresser have been participating in the challenge walk since 2010 alongside their husbands Brian Tonello and Erik Kresser as Team Sweaty Already in honor of their mother, Susan Hardimon, a lifelong Wilmington resident, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003.

"We can’t even begin to imagine what it is like for her to live with this disease each day," Tonello said in an interview with Wilmington Patch. "She is the strongest person we know and this is just a small way we honor and support her."

The winners of this year's Bags and Beers were Roman Walsh and Evan Walsh, and runners up were Adam Meixler and Matthew MacEachern.

Tonello said she and Kresser wanted to thank Justin Strem and the Knights of Columbus, Rocco's Restaurant, AJ's Pizza, Brothers Pizza, InterlinkONE/Grow Socially, Vanity Hair Salon in Wakefield and Look What I Made in North Reading for their help in making the event happen.

There will be a second annual Bags and Beers Tournament thanks to the success of this year's tournament, according to Tonello.

You can still donate to Team Sweaty Already for the Cape Cope MS Challenge Walk at their team page or by sending an email to tara.tonello@yahoo.com.