Community Events and Charities

Former Seahawk Jordan Babineaux was the longest drive winner!

A shout out to the Renton Chamber of Commerce and the good work they do for businesses and our community!  Yesterday I attended the Renton Chamber of Commerce Annual Classic Golf Tournament.  I was invited by Ben Andrews, Director of Events, to present the golf trophies to the tournament winners.  This is the second year that we have donated the golf trophies for this charity event for the greater Renton community.

This year's tournament benefited the The Family First Community Center Foundation.

What is the Family First Community Center?

The goal of the Family First Community Center is to provide programs including sports and recreation, health and wellness, after school programs for youth and children, tutoring and mentoring, classes in technology, music and English as a second language, and a health clinic to underserved communities in Renton.  Championed by Seattle Seahawk player Doug Baldwin, this facility will help families in the Benson Hill neighborhood.

The first place winners of the 2019 Renton Chamber Golf Tournament!

"Community centers not only provide athletic and educational activities, they are the building blocks for character building opportunities. These opportunities are being denied to many of the youth of today especially in the Cascade/Benson area." - Doug Baldwin

Find out more about the Family First Community Center here!

With our roots in Issaquah, WA, its great to grow our branches in the Renton, WA community!  Here's to a great event for a wonderful cause, glad we could be apart of it!

Cheers,
Jessica

With flowers blooming, days getting longer, and birds singing, spring is here, finally!  It has been a long, wet, dark winter here in the Pacific Northwest.  Spring really can't come soon enough!

The quintessential spring holiday is Easter and it's just around the corner!  Many communities have a tradition of an Easter Egg hunt either the Saturday before Easter or on Easter Sunday.  Here's how to make your egg hunt a success!

Easter Egg Hunt Ideas

Easter medals make great prizes for fun runs and egg hunts!

Want to have an Easter Egg hunt but don't know where to start?  Let me help!

Step 1:  Figure out who's coming to your hunt.  An easter egg hunt for toddlers is much different than a hunt for teens.  Decide who the hunt is for.

Step 2:  Determine the location.  Outside or inside?  For little kids, they may need help finding eggs, so a wide open space where the eggs are easy to see may be a good choice.  For older kids and teens, make it hard by hiding eggs in tricky spots.  This may require a location with lots of nooks and crannies where eggs can be hidden out of sight.

Step 3:  The Eggs.  First you need to have enough eggs so that everyone feels successful.  The age of the kids will determine what treasures you put inside your plastic easter eggs.  For little kids, it may be a small piece of candy, a little toy or a coin.  For older kids, you may want dollar bills and more candy.  Get creative!

Step 4:  Hiding the eggs.  Adults hide the eggs before the event.  Again, depending on the age of the kids, you can make them easier or harder to find.  And NO PEEKING!

Step 5:  Once it's time to hunt, let the kids loose with their baskets!  My teens still LOVE Easter egg hunts!

Additional tips:

- if you have a number of different age groups, you can separate by egg location (for example, only the little kids are allowed to get eggs on the grass).

-Assign each child a color and they are only allowed to find eggs of that particular color.

-Pair little kids and big kids together on "teams" where they split the loot at the end of the hunt.

-Create an egg scavenger hunt with clues leading from one egg to the next.

-Award the top egg collector a Bunny Trophy!

-Give personalized medals to all the kids at your hunt.

I hope these tips help you plan an epic hunt.  Check out our Easter Awards for the perfect prize for your hunt.  Wishing you a wonderful Easter and a great time making memories with your favorite kiddos!

Cheers!
Jessica

Editor's note:  This post was originally posted in April 2017.  It has been updated for content.

For a fun entertaining idea this summer, host a cook-off! Friendly competition, especially involving food, is always a good time! With a little planning ahead of time, you can relax at a stress-free event. Here are some tips to get the party started.

1. Invite a good mix of people – those who love to make BBQ and those who love to eat it!

These Stars & Stripes serving dishes from Sur la Table make your Fourth of July BBQ theme complete!

2. Theme – A great theme sets the stage for an awesome party. Choose something summer related, such as 4th of July, Luau, or Beach theme, or you can choose your favorite BBQ to feature. Ribs? Chicken? Brisket? Your theme is the star of the party that you can use as a jumping off point for your music, decorations, and side dishes, so put some thought into making it a good one.

3. Music - Create an iTunes or Spotify playlist of your favorite summer jams to keep the party vibes going all day long. Don’t just stick to one genre of music – mix it up with some country, pop, oldies, rap and dance. As long as it’s upbeat, your tunes will keep the energy up and the party pumping!

4. Decorations – Let your theme be your guide! Table cloths, streamers, plates, centerpieces are all fun, inexpensive ways to deck out your space. Check out Pinterest for inspiration! For even more fun, consider creating a photo booth with props related to your theme. Then your guests can share on social and remember the fun after the fact!

Keep thirst under control with delicious drinks at your event!

5. Bevys - Offer lots of beverages to rinse the palate and stay hydrated! Consider making a signature cocktail to match your theme. Or buckets of beer on ice is always popular and easy! For non-alcoholic drinks, a big container of lemonade hits the spot. And don’t forget the water!!! Stumped for ideas? Check out this list of 25 Essential Cocktails.

6. Awards! To add hype to the completion, don’t forget the awards! Engrave some BBQ cookoff awards such as the Barbecue Magic Trophy Award or BBQ Cookoff Chef Trophy with your event name, theme and winning category. Or get creative with your own joke trophies, such as the Victorious Hulk, Gut bomb trophy, or a dead last toilet trophy for the last place finisher!

7. Make sure you have a plan for people who have a little too much fun at the party. Assign a designated driver to taxi your guests home. Uber is also a great option for getting your guests home safely.

Make it a summer to remember by hosting an epic BBQ cook off, full of good food, drinks, music, competition, and memories!

Cheers,
Jessica

Congratulations to the winners of the Excellence in Youth Sports Award!

Trophies2Go is proud to sponsor the nonprofit organization National Alliance for Youth Sports (or NAYS).  Since 1981, NAYS has been improving youth sports programs by providing education and resources to volunteer coaches, youth sports administrators, officials and parents.  NAYS provides these programs at the local level to over 3000 community-based organizations across the country and on U.S. military bases worldwide.

During November 18-21, NAYS hosted their Youth Sports Congress in New Orleans, LA and presented the Excellence in Youth Sports Awards to outstanding youth sports programs.  These winners were chosen from more than 100 youth sports programs that applied from recreation departments, independent sports leagues and military bases around the world.  Not only are these communities providing safe sporting experiences to their players, their focus on providing quality training to their volunteer coaches helped them stand out among the other submissions.

The Winning Communities:

Beale AFB Youth Programs
Beale AFB, California

Camp Pendleton Youth Sports
Camp Pendleton, California

Cherokee Recreation & Parks Agency
Woodstock, Georgia

Fort Leonard Wood Youth Sports & Fitness
Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Mountain Home AFB Youth Sports Program
Mountain Home AFB, Idaho

NSA Bahrain Child and Youth Programs
Juffair, Bahrain

Oconee County Parks and Recreation Department
Watkinsville, Georgia

US Army Garrison Hawaii, Youth Sports & Fitness Program
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

Additional awards were given to the Coach of the Year, Kenneth Banks II from Suffolk Parks & Recreation, Virginia and Parent of the Year, Jenny Howell from Child & Youth Programs, Naval Support Activity Panama City, Florida.  These individuals have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to youth sports in their communities.

Congratulations to all of the winners!  To find out more about the National Alliance for Youth Sports, visit their website at nays.org.

Cheers!
Jessica

Issaquah's natural beauty - mountains, water, trees.

Trophies2Go is based in Issaquah, WA, which is a small town 15 miles east of Seattle.  Our company has deep roots in this community, as we began as Issaquah Trophy in 1987.

One of the many great things about living and working in Issaquah is the natural beauty that surrounds this suburban town. We have the Issaquah Alps that surround our city, beautiful Lake Sammamish on our northern end, and Issaquah Creek.  Issaquah Creek is home to many native critters, including three species of Pacific Salmon – Sockeye, Coho and Chinook.  Over a number of years, these salmon make the journey from Issaquah Creek out to the Pacific Ocean and then back again to spawn and die.

Visit this cute sockeye-guy at Salmon Days this weekend!

Each year during the first weekend of October, our town celebrates the return of the salmon to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery located on Issaquah Creek with Salmon Days. This huge festival includes a parade on Saturday, a 5-K run, arts and craft stalls, food vendors, and entertainment.  Over 200,000 visitors flock to our little city to participate in the celebration.

We love Salmon Days and are so fortunate to live in this awesome community! To find out more about Salmon Days and the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, click on the links.  See you at the fair this weekend!

Cheers!
Jessica