Fun, Community Are In The Bags At Cornhole Lounge In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It's a sunny Sunday afternoon in August, a day where many people are walking the boardwalk, sitting on the beach or enjoying the day poolside.

At Fun Bags Cornhole Lounge, the sound of beanbags hitting the floor and cheers as a tosser hits the target fill the air, along with laughter as some go awry, landing at the feet of competitors 20 feet away.

Near the front of the room, a tosser lets fly with a beanbag ... straight into the ceiling tiles.

"Oops," the woman said, giggling. "It happens to all of us," someone responded.

Nearby, owner Eric Gershey is watching the games, part of a fundraiser for a local nonprofit organization, and smiling. He's proud of how far the business has come since the doors opened in September 2022.

Gershey's idea to start an indoor cornhole lounge where people could play year-round instead of only at their family cookouts in the summer got its spark when he was watching TV one day in the summer of 2022.

"I was watching the pros on ESPN" playing cornhole, Gershey said, and wondered whether there were any places to play cornhole in Ocean County. "I couldn't find any," he said.

Ten weeks later, Fun Bags opened on Route 37, in the small building next to Wendy's and near Retro Fitness. At first he started with the idea of it being a place where people could drop in and play cornhole for a few hours, similar to a bowling alley.

"I quickly learned this could be so much more," Gershey said.

These days, Fun Bags hosts weekly tournaments that cater to every skill level from beginners on up. It also hosts fundraisers, team-building events, birthday celebrations and even weddings.

"We had the Toms River North track and field team's awards banquet here in June," he said.

The lounge is BYOB, so those who enjoy having a beer while playing are welcome to do that. You can even play beer pong in addition to cornhole, he said.

"I have people who are here three or four nights a week with their families," he said, and some of the leagues have multiple teams from the same family competing.

On some Sundays they have line dancing and cornhole.

"The line dancers drink iced tea," Gershey said with a chuckle. "We move some of the boards out of the way to make room for a dance floor and have cornhole at the back of the room."

And he will mix-and-match just about any kind of activity with cornhole.

"We have a comedy show coming up on Sept. 5," he said, and the lounge has hosted networking events and even team-building events for companies including Walmart, Walgreens and Frito-Lay.

His favorite event? The weekly league for special needs children and adults.

"That makes me the most happy," he said.

Gershey grew up in Parsippany and moved to Toms River a few years ago. He graduated from Montclair State in 2012 with a degree in general humanities and worked in banking and for a couple of companies building their websites and social media. But he says he has always been an entrepreneur.

He sees Fun Bags as more than just a recreation activity space.

"It's about building community," Gershey said, "about family, friends, and fun. About an escape from daily life."

To learn more about scheduling events or pricing to drop in and play, check out the Fun Bags website.