SUNBURY— Every dog has its day, but on Tuesday so will a group of donkeys.
For the second year in a row, donkeys will be heeing and hawing their way around the basketball court as 24 Shikellamy seniors play 24 employees of The Daily Item and radio station 94 KX in donkey basketball. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Shikellamy High School.
The game is a fundraiser for Newspapers in Education, a national program bringing local newspapers into classrooms. The Daily Item pays 75 percent of the cost to distribute 21,000 newspaper copies per month to schools in four counties and raises money to pay the remaining 25 percent.
Slade Shreck, The Daily Item customer service supervisor, has coordinated the donkey basketball game both years after he suggested holding it as a fundraiser for the program.
“I played donkey basketball at Shikellamy as a fundraiser for the National Honor Society and thought it would be a good one for Newspapers in Education,” Shreck said.
Five players at a time from each basketball team will ride and maneuver donkeys in the court and try to shoot into the basketball hoops. And no, the hoops won’t be lowered — they’ll remain at regulation height.
The game will last about two hours, though the real amusement might be watching players clean up after their donkeys. Scoopers will be provided. However, participating donkeys are experienced in the game and come from a company in Pennsylvania specializing in donkey basketball and softball.
“These donkeys are so trained,” Shreck said. “They even wear little boots so the floor and their hooves are protected.”
Last year’s donkey basketball game raised $5,000 and sold about l,100 tickets, Shreck said.
“The day of the event last year, we had maybe 400 tickets sold so far, and I thought that was good. But then we sold more and had to hold the game until we got all 1,100 people in the building,” Shreck said.
Shreck said two Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders are planning to attend the event, which he hopes will bring even more people to the game. There also will be a concession stand run by the Resilite Wrestling Club and a 50/50 raffle.
Upon hearing about the game, Bucknell University men’s basketball coach Pat Flannery admitted donkey basketball has “got to be pretty hard.” He offered a piece of advice for the players:
“One thing would be to make sure you don’t fall off your donkey. Players will probably have to shoot with one hand so they can hold on with the other,” he said.
The donkey basketball fundraiser is sponsored by The Daily Item, Sunbury Broadcasting, W&L; Subaru, Surplus Outlet and Window World.
Tickets are $5 in advance and available at the front desk of The Daily Item or by calling Slade Shreck, (800) 792-2303, ext. 461. They will be available for $6 at the door.
News
Donkey basketball is coming your way
It’s a fundraiser for Newspapers in Education
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