2012 Pinnegar Games

Welcome to the 3rd Bi-Annual Pinnegar Games! It is hard to get so many people together at one time (especially when two are in the military) but it has worked out that about every other year most everyone has been home to participate in these Games. This year we had our lowest turnout because, though people were home they were still busy. But we still had some fun games and enjoyed time together. And now with more and more grandchildren joining the games we have had to modify and fine-tune the rule book—notional rule book anyway. Most of the rules are decided right there on the spot as sort of a majority consensus; in that way it might be compared to Calvin Ball, my brothers would appreciate that.

So what are the Pinnegar Games?

As families grow older some traditions must change. Some traditions do not change with time, such as a tradition of family service; however, a grown family cannot all go to the beach together every Memorial holiday like they can when they are all young. Nor can a grown family can go doorbell ditching friends and relatives to secretly distribute Christmas goodies like they can when they are adolescent. Traditions are a big deal for me and for many of my family. With the fading of many family traditions the question was posed to my industrious mind a number of years ago as to what traditions an aging family can hold.

During a Christmas trip home those number of years ago I attempted to organize a competition amongst my brothers, code named The Pinnegar Complex (a dual meaning play on words). That attempt failed as it turned out to just add more busy-ness to and already busy season. From that however was born the Pinnegar Games; a series of short, simple, non-gender, age neutral competitions that tally together to determine an overall Pinnegar champion. I even made a little plaque for the winner.

The competitions are just for fun but most (if not all) are reminiscent of childhood or of family life. Some of the competitions this year were:

• Coin Drop- hold a coin to your nose and, while standing, try to drop it into a jar.
• Laundry fold- how many towels you can fold in a given amount of time
• Paper Plane throw- build and throw a paper airplane
• Ro Sham Bo- or as they call it in Korea; Ki, Bi, Bo
• Marksmanship- shooting Nerf darts at a target drawn on the window with whiteboard marker

We have had a slight variance in the competitions from game to game but those are the ones that seem constant.

Each game has also had a unique competition just for it. The first year was Pin the mustache on the Pops because my dad, who had always had a beard (at least a mustache) had shaved it all off at that time. So, similar to pin the tail on the donkey, there was a drawing of a face on the wall and we all had paper mustaches which we had to pin between the lips and the nose. The second year we had a family Pinewood Derby, each of us making and racing our own car. And this year we had a game where you had to land a remote control helicopter on a make-shift oil platform. Unfortunately that game kind of flopped, seeing that only one person was successful at landing on the deck. It probably would have gone better had I invested in a little more than the cheapest helicopter on the market.

This year’s winner was the David Pinnegar family which is somewhat ironic because David was unable to attend this year. His family made up for it though is scoring remarkable in several events. Congratulations! ...but prepare to be crushed in 2014!

Last Games champion, D4 (right), passing award to this year's victors.

 It has been fun putting these games together and spending time with my family laughing and reminiscing while competing against each other. Sibling rivalry is not a foreign concept amongst my brothers and sister; I am glad, though, that we can do it in a more constructive manner than most.