August 22, 2016 | Sarah Rudeen

Cottonwood Institute Brought the Heat for The Throwdown 2016

As the temperature climbed to 90 degrees, nearly 150 participants and volunteers sweated it out to compete to win The Throwdown 2016, the 7th annual charity cornhole tournament at Denver Union Station to benefit Cottonwood Institute (CI).

With the help of numerous volunteers, staff, board members, instructors, generous donors, and sponsors, CI raised close to $15,000 for our programs that connect local youth to the outdoors and empower them to ignite change in their own lives and communities!

The day started out lively with mid-morning VIP cocktails from The Real Dill and Deep Eddy Vodka, cold brew coffee from Fluid Coffee Bar, and bagels from Moe’s Broadway Bagel in Denver.

Cameron Trainor from 5280 Mobile DJ saved the day by stepping in to DJ at the last minute and spun some great tunes.

As the competition heated up, participants cooled down with a selection of beers from Great Divide Brewing Company and fueled up with a burrito bar from Chipotle Mexican Grill and afternoon pizza from SliceWorks pizza.

Thanks to our rockstar bracket master and CI Instructor, Jessi Burg, and a crew of volunteers, the tournament ran smoothly as teams first competed in round-robin play and then jostled for top spots in the winner’s bracket.

Who won? None other than The Dawg and The Money, fierce competitors who played a long winners’ match against The ATM Machines. Joining the top two teams, Shucking Awesome took third place and also had its pick of awesome prizes. Winning teams walked away with gift cards and swag from Snooze, Stoney’s Bar & Grill, Chipotle, and Hopdoddy Burger Bar, a year’s worth of coffee from Marley Coffee, a Denver date night from 5280 Magazine, a PBR party at The Squire Lounge; and tickets for Beers Made by Walking.

Want to relive the day or see how much fun you could have next year? Check out photos of the action on our Shutterfly share site by clicking here!

Finally, this year’s Throwdown would not have been possible without the generous support of all of our sponsors, so please support local businesses that support local nonprofits!