I would first and foremost like to express my deepest gratitude for Jay Borsom, her company Liquid Kourage Entertainment, and her friends, Jeremy Goodson, Carmela Smith, and the guys at Triviality. For those unaware, Jay hosted a 12-hour Stream-A-Thon on Twitch on Saturday to raise money to help us with some of our debt. She had guests come on the stream, and she hosted game after game after game. Literal hundreds of trivia questions throughout the day. She helped us raise $1,343.64. We also had our highest sale day to date. We are grateful and humbled by the love and support we've been receiving. And if you haven't already, go check out Jay and Liquid Kourage Entertainment on Twitch.
In other exciting news, Critical Grind received a "Recommended" status on Restaurant Guru. Now, I'll be honest, I'd never heard of Restaurant Guru before I got the email and I legitimately did some searching to be sure they weren't a scam, but it seems legit so I'm gonna take it! From what I can tell it's based on our Google Reviews and y'all made that happen. So thank you!
Sunday we had the privilege of hosting a 70th birthday party. It was the guest of honor who's idea it was to have "speed gaming." We set up 6 games and 1 puzzle at tables of four and everyone rotated every 15 minutes to pick up where the last person left off at the game. It was a great success and it seemed everyone had a good time. For those wondering, the games played were Sorry, Monopoly, Uno, Roll For It, Echidna Shuffle, and Upwords.
Couple little updates before the events
Do you have games you haven't been able to play? They've been sitting on your shelf and you just can't find the people to play with you? Let us help you get it TO THE TABLE. Email me, Dana at Dana@criticalgrind.com and let me know what game you want to play. Currently scheduling games for Saturday, March 25th
If you're not already aware, we have a game rental subscription service available. Don't have the space for a large game collection? Rent the games. Not sure you're gonna like the game? Try it before you buy it. We have a small retail section but we're always happy to order for you.
UPCOMING EVENTS THIS WEEK
-> Also, the images are links to the Facebook events<-
Dan Coffey is running for the JTHS District 204 Board of Education. He's hosting a Meet & Greet at the cafe tonight at 6pm. Stop in and have "Coffee with Coffey".
On the 2nd Wednesday of each month we host Game Nights at Flight Tasting Room & Bottle Shoppe in Yorkville. Join our Game Master, Josh, with a variety of games for a nice evening of gaming and libations. This is a family-friendly event. They have drink specials AND root beer on tap!
This Friday is our second ever Magic the Gathering Tournament. This one is specifically a Jumpstart Tournament for the Phyrexia: All Will Be One set. $15 to participate. Prizes for top 2 places. Advanced Registration is suggested.
This Saturday from 1pm to 4pm is our Local Pride Gaymer Meetup. A few local pride groups will be in attendance with information regarding their organizations. Stop in, make some new friends, play some games, and enjoy some coffee.
Saturday Night we'll be welcoming back Jay from Liquid Kourage Entertainment for some NERDY KNOWLEDGE TRIVIA! This knowledge can be anything from Sci-Fi television shows to Tolkein Lore, to Science. It's gonna be a fun time.
This Sunday from 11am - 5pm, Courtney, the lovely owner of Sweet Traditions will be at Critical Grind doing a pop-up bake sale! The cafe will not have any pastries available that day (toasts & bagels will still be available). I am SO excited for every one of those cookies, I can't wait. Come support 2 local women in business.
During the pop-up bake sale, we'll also have a Terrain Workshop going on. From 12pm-4pm Marty will be here instructing participants how to make scatter terrain, specifically rocks and trees. This will be the second event in our Terrain Workshop series. It costs $5 to participate and that includes all materials and instruction.
Events for the rest of March
Our friend Russell is running a Pandemic Survival event at the cafe on March 18th. Sign up in teams of 2. Stop by the cafe to register.
I'm going to send out a special email for this event next week, but you're going to want to mark your calendars. We are hosting a Women's Showcase to raise up women. This event will have women musicians performing and women artists and business owners selling their wares. The first 30 women-identifying people through the door will receive gift bags with items from some of the vendors in attendance and some not in attendance. Keep your eyes peeled for the detailed email with a list of those companies and highlights on the artisans.