Typically, outdoor summer lawn games include bocce, volleyball, cornhole, etc. All of these games have been synonymous with beer, barbecues and fun rivalries. While these games are all well and good, there are some more obscure outdoor games that have fallen by the wayside, for numerous reasons. One of those games is Jarts.
Jarts was super popular back in the 70s, when people had a sense of adventure and kids were a heck of a lot tougher. If you’re not familiar with Jarts, it’s essentially giant lawn darts that players toss through the air in an attempt to land in little plastic rings. Think horseshoes with oversized colorful darts. Eventually society felt that the game was not tame enough, so the game was vanquished from store shelves just about overnight.
Fortunately, some of these original Jarts games can still be found. How do we know this? Because Ethan Cox, co-founder of Community Beer Works (CBW), has a set. And now CBW is teaming up with Black Sheep restaurant to host a Sunday Jarts League. All together there will be twelve teams – each team has two players.
“Each Sunday your membership in the league gets your 1st beer (CBW) and snack (BS) during the two hours of play,” said Cox. “We will have cornhole and a few other outdoor entertainments for the teams not-currently in a Jarts game, but watching and heckling is encouraged. Cost is $70/team – we’re limiting the league to 12 teams this year but if it is popular (and we can get more Jarts!), we’ll go bigger next year. We’ll meet for eight Sundays 5pm-7pm, in July and Aug, with a Final in September if everyone wants to. We’ll also set up the ladder or brackets. Commitment to all eight Sundays is the idea, but a teammate may have an understudy for one or two Sundays if necessary. We’ll also be providing Jarts League logo shirts or hats. The ‘Jorts’, however, are up to you.”
Black Sheep has a large grassy backyard that is perfect for this type of play. So don’t be shy… find an adventurous partner and have a blast playing one of the greatest lawn games of all time.
Tickets are available here: squareup.com/store/the-black-sheep-restaurant-and-bar
The Black Sheep | 367 Connecticut Street | Buffalo, New York, NY 14213