The Perry Chamber of Commerce received 75 nominations from the community for the Big Boom Bracket Battle, a bracket-style contest matching up community members for the sake of fundraising for Perry’s Fourth of July fireworks display. Of those nominated, 53 nominees said “yes” to the challenge, willing to get a pie in the face for the Fireworks Drive.
“We are so pleased with the enthusiasm from the community,” says Lynsi Pasutti, executive director of the Perry Chamber of Commerce, “with the number of nominations that have been submitted, but especially with the total number of willing participants! We will stick with the 16-person bracket this year, but just might need to expand to 32 next year!”
Nominations for the Big Boom Bracket Battle were due to the Chamber on March 1 and the Elimination Round began March 3. During the Elimination Round, community members were invited to “vote” on the Chamber’s Facebook page by liking photos of their favorite nominees.
A photo album will display all 54 participants and votes will be counted as 1 point for a “Like” and 2 points for a “Love” reaction on each photo in the album. The final count will take place Tuesday, March 8 at 10 a.m. The top 16 with the most votes will advance as the Sweet-as-Pie 16 of the Big Boom Bracket Battle, with their rankings determining the bracket matchups (1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, and so on).
The fundraising portion of the initiative will then take place with four weeks of head-to-head contests. Advancement in the Big Boom Bracket Battle will be based on monetary donations from the community, accepted online, by mail and at various locations in town, starting Tuesday, March 8 at noon.
“We have a really nice variety of participants this year,” adds Pasutti. “Returning contenders as well as new faces will make up this year’s Elimination Round – from educators and city employees, to business owners and managers, and from all industries! It will be interesting to see who makes it to the next round, because it is anyone’s game at this point!”
The goal of the Big Boom Bracket Battle is to kick off the annual fundraising efforts for the Fourth of July fireworks display, all while getting the community involved for a fun activity during the month of March. The concept of “every little bit counts” will help chip away at the total fundraising goal of $12,500 for the fireworks display. Last year’s initiative raised more than $6,400 for the community’s Fourth of July fireworks display.
Key dates of the Big Boom Bracket Battle:
· Thursday, March 3 – Elimination Round begins on Facebook (vote with your likes)
· Tuesday, March 8 – Sweet-as-Pie 16 announced; fundraising begins (vote with dollars)
· Tuesday, March 15 – Explosive 8 announced; fundraising continues
· Tuesday, March 22 – Firecracker 4 announced; fundraising continues
· Tuesday, March 29 – Grand Finale Duo announced; final round of fundraising
· Tuesday, April 5 – Winner Announced; Pie in the Face at Chamber’s Annual Dinner
Each round will end at 10 a.m. and the next will begin at noon.
For more information on the Big Boom Bracket Battle, contact the Perry Chamber of Commerce at PerryChamber@PerryIA.org or 515-465-4601. To vote in the Elimination Round, visit the Perry Chamber’s Facebook page: facebook.com/perryareachamber. Once the Bracket is set, online donations will be accepted at https://perry-chamber.square.site for each round.
Lynsi Pasutti is the executive director of the Perry Chamber of Commerce.
