0 comments / Posted by Ann Wilt

Team Knollwood has started its annual food drive for the Food Pantry of Waukesha County, and we’re looking for members who want to become Olympians.

Let’s back up a little bit …

Our youth group, the Knollwood Knockouts, has a tradition of giving back to neighbors in need. We support the Honor Flight, breast cancer research, the American Heart Association, Saddlebred Rescue, and others.

 

Our biggest annual charitable event, the Knollwood Olympics, is coming up on May 19, and we are looking for Olympians to join our teams. To be a Knollwood Olympian, ask your friends, family, or neighbors to donate food kits in your name. Each food kit consists of one:

Can of vegetables

Can of fruit

Boxed potato

Package of gravy

Box of cereal

Can of soup

Boxed dessert

Box of Jello

Put these items in a bag with your name and day that you ride in the Food Pantry bins in the show barn lounge. When you have a minimum of five bags donated, you’re a Knollwood Olympian! (Of course, you can collect as many food kits as you’d like, as the pantry runs short of food after school ends. The team that collects the most food kits is the winner and will receive a special prize.)

If you have donors who are too busy to shop, they can write checks out to ‘The Food Pantry of Waukesha County.’ A food kit is equivalent to $15, and the checks are tax deductible. We’ll send all the checks in after the event.

Qualifying food kits must be in by May 12th, so we can set rosters and the team captains can get to work on the competition plan!

We’ll have a team for each day of the week, and you’ll join the team of your riding day. Helpers will serve as Olympians and team captains who will assign events to team members. Rosters will hold a maximum of 10 team members, so get your food kits in soon to join the fun.

 

The Olympic Events

Team captains will assign members to some of the following events based on their interest, age, and schedules. Olympians will be competing in these events:

 

 

The Helmet Toss

Weather permitting, as this is an outdoor event only, one member of each team will try to toss a size large riding helmet as far as possible. Why outside only? We’ve seen some pretty wild tosses, and fear for the ceiling fans and the light fixtures in the arena!

 

 

The Dance Off

Each team will pick a song and choreograph a dance using the barn prop of their choice. Previous props have included muck buckets, brooms, coolers, crops, and ribbons. The event is judged by an esteemed guest, and bribery is often attempted. Trust us, this one is well worth watching!

 

 

The Blanket Race

Picture this: Seven horse sheets with three Olympians in each one, Unfortunately, only the one in front can see where they’re going as the back two are crouching down inside the sheet. Yup, line seven of these creatures up at the gate of the little outside ring, and send them out for a lap around the arena. Usually, the team that stays upright, or gets up the quickest wins. It’s another great event for the spectators.

 

Hop, Skip, and Wrap

This event features two Knollwood Olympians, one leg wrap, and a lot of hopping - fast hopping.

 

 

The Blind Buggy Race

Weather permitting, this event is held in the big outdoor ring as it has a warning track.

Two Olympians are blindfolded, and each are given a shaft of a jog cart. The sighted Olympian is seated in the cart and must direct their blindfolded teammates through an obstacle course using only their voice. The sand track comes in really handy as the blindfolded runners know they’re lost if they don’t feel the grass under their feet. In previous years, we’ve lost blindfolded contestants, had drivers try to direct their blindfolded helpers with hand signals, and, well, hit the fence. It’s a classic.

 

 

Be The Horse

Take four Knollwood Olympians and make each of them act as one of a horse’s legs. These fearless foursomes will act as a horse and complete all five gaits around the arena. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen four horse crazy kids try to be a racking horse. It’s good.

 

Depending on team sizes, we may swap out an event to bring back the garbage relay which goes all the way from the arena to the garage to the big outdoor ring and back to the arena.

We’re always open to new events, so please bring your ideas to Ann or Nancy.

 

We’ll finish the evening with a celebration cook out, so everyone can hang out with barn friends and rehash the memories of the events. We’ll also load up the trailer with all the food kits!

Food feast coordinators Nicole and Kristen will assign each Knollwood Olympian a food item to bring to the picnic.

We hope you can join us for our biggest charitable event of the year. Admission to watch is one food kit (or a $15 per person donation) supporting the team of your choice. Remember, prizes are awarded for the team with the most food kits, so please write the day of the week you’d like to support on the bag.

 

Thank you for helping us help our neighbors in need.

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