Wren Wiffleball Tournament raises thousands for town's ball park association

WREN, Ohio (WANE) - Hundreds of people packed the small town of Wren, Ohio on Friday and Saturday for the annual 21st annual Wren Wiffleball Tournament.  The tournament is part of the town's homecoming festival, and is a fundraiser for Wren Ball Park Association.

While wiffleball games are free for spectators, the weekend was filled with several events that raised money for the association.  Officials with the tournament said each year the tournament brings in several thousand dollars.

Those events included a pancake and sausage breakfast, a cornhole tournament, and an auction before the tournament's semi-final games.

When the tournament began in 1991, it was designed to get more young adults involved with Wren's Homecoming Festival.

"It's a festival to celebrate activities of the ball park association," Dave Bowen, one of the tournament's emcees said.  "It's a fundraiser for the ballpark association and the wiffleball tournament has evolved into one of the major players of the weekend."

When the tournament first began, festival leaders thought it would take away from the other weekend activities, but over the years, the two compliment each other.

"They go hand-in-hand in helping the young people who participate in our summer sports," Bowen said.

The wiffleball tournament is now what people from the area, who have moved away, come back for each year.