Hunched over, eyes squinted and fist closed tight, Leah Cobb-Lee stared at her husband on the other side of the ring.
Watched intently by a referee, the two prepared for battle.
Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.
The fierce competition was for charity Saturday night when about 75 people participated in a rock, paper, scissors tournament from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. to benefit the Keira Grace Foundation. At First Magnitude Brewing Company, located at 1220 SE Veitch St., some participants dressed up in Halloween costumes, others just came to play. The groups raised about $2,000 for children diagnosed with cancer in developing countries, said Eileen Lauzardo, co-founder of the Keira Grace Foundation.
Lauzardo named the Keira Grace Foundation after her daughter, whom she lost to leukemia. The foundation, created 12 years ago, uses its funds to help children in the Dominican Republic who have been diagnosed with cancer, Lauzardo said.
“There are children every day who are being diagnosed with cancer that need our help, and if we don’t do these fundraising events for them, these children will die,” she said.
It was $20 to preregister or $25 at the door to participate in the tournament and receive a First Magnitude pint glass, said Patrick Bizub, board member of the Keira Grace Foundation. In high-stakes, single-elimination rounds, participants matched up in different rings around the beer garden. With The Jazz Bandits playing in the background, people competed for the $100 first-place cash prize and trophy, a $50 second-place prize and a $25 third-and-fourth-place prize.
Bribery was valued just as much as skill in this tournament, where losing players could pay their way into the next round, Bizub said. For $10, participants who didn’t win the first round could proceed to the second.
When they weren’t going head-to-head in the ring, attendees grabbed food from food trucks parked outside including Relish Burgers, Mayflower Cellars and Endless Summer Ice Cream Co.
Scissors cut paper, and Cobb-Lee came out victorious over her husband, Benjamin Lee. The two also dressed up for a costume contest. Cobb-Lee came as Belle from “Beauty and the Beast,” and her husband dressed as Ash Williams from “The Evil Dead,” a 1981 horror movie.
Win or lose, the couple said they were happy to dress up and spend time bonding with the community.
“It’s just nice to come out and support a good cause and have fun at the same time,” Cobb-Lee said.
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Leah Cobb-Lee, 28, beats her husband Benjamin Lee, 35, in the second round of the rock, paper, scissors tournament Saturday. The event raised money for the Keira Grace Foundation.
