This weekend more than 50 gamers gathered at Ravenwood Castle for the third annual Hoop & Stick Convention. We enjoyed four days and nights of gaming – all while raising money for children’s hospitals around the country!

Between ticket sales, room rentals and a last minute silent auction, we raised $7,715 for the benefit of Child’s Play. This greatly exceeds our last two year’s efforts, and wouldn’t have been possible without the support of all of our guests, donors and sponsors.

In particular, I would like to once again thank Plaid Hat Games for joining us as our Guests of Honor. Colby, Isaac and Brian spent the entire weekend sharing their great games with us, particularly their two upcoming hits Specter Ops and Ashes.

Thanks also to Mike, Jim and Luke from the Ohio Pathfinder Society, who spent their weekend leading adventurous guests in numerous Pathfinder sessions; and to three time Hoop & Sticker “Blue” who ran us through several sessions of Cortex. The role playing track was rounded out by The Malted Meeple’s Karington Hess, who ushered guests through adventures in both Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Overall we ran more role playing sessions than ever before, and early feedback suggests we should run even more next year!

After a short break to restock the dice trays and put the final touches on the upcoming Con in the Castle 2015 (stay tuned for exciting announcements on that later this month!), we will be turning our attention to planning an even bigger and better Hoop & Stick 2016. If you have ideas or suggestions for next year’s event, or would like to take part in the planning process, send us an email at hoopandstick@ravenwoodcastle.com.

Thanks again for your continued support, and we look forward to next year!

Jim Reed

Jim Reed is a lifelong gamer who started with the original red box Dungeons & Dragons. After spending 20 years in the corporate world, he decided it was high time that work be fun and struck out on his own. Jim now owns and operates Ravenwood Castle, and spends his days ensuring his guests have as much fun as he does.