Mistletoe and Mahjong returns to Searcy with a raffle for the Child Safety Center

A holiday tournament in north central Arkansas is coming back for its second year. The 2nd Annual Mistletoe and Mahjong Tournament will be played on Sunday, December 13, from 2 to 5 in the afternoon at The Venue, 2225 W. Beebe-Capps Expressway in Searcy, according to ArkansasRadio.com, which announced the event on November 12.

The organizers call it a festive social tournament, and the details bear that out. There will be heavy appetizers, Christmas punch, door prizes, and a special raffle whose proceeds go to the Child Safety Center of North Central Arkansas. Registration is $55 a person or $200 for a table of four, per the announcement, and the deadline to RSVP is Sunday, December 6, one week before play.

Untimed rounds and two sets of rules

This is a tournament for players who want the company more than the clock. The rounds are relaxed and untimed, the announcement says, so nobody at the table will be hurried through a hand.

The organizers have also made room for two kinds of table. Players who use blank tiles will follow the event's established house rules, and players who do not use blanks will follow the rules of the National Mah Jongg League, according to the announcement. Blanks are a house variant and not part of the League's game, so separating the two groups lets each table play the way it knows. A player who is not sure which group they belong in should ask before the day.

Registration runs through SignUpGenius, at the link and QR code on the event flyer. The announcement lists two organizers for questions, Renee at 501-593-6772 and Shane at 501-593-0678. It does not name the card to be played or say how many rounds fit in the three hours, so those are good questions for the call.

Where the raffle money goes

The raffle is the charitable heart of the afternoon. Tickets are $10 for one or $25 for three, and the prizes include two sets of tiles, mahjong playing mats, and other merchandise, per the announcement. OOTT is not affiliated with the organizers, The Venue, or any maker whose sets appear in the raffle, and does not sell mahjong sets.

The beneficiary is a serious one. The Child Safety Center in Searcy opened in April 2008 as the tenth child advocacy center in Arkansas. It brings law enforcement, the state's child welfare workers, the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division, prosecutors, and medical and mental health professionals together under one roof, so that a child who has been hurt does not have to tell the story again and again to different people.

The center's own site says it serves more than 800 children a year, and the announcement says it works with children under 18 from White, Cleburne, Jackson and Woodruff counties. Its services include forensic interviews, medical examinations, family advocacy and mental health support, and the announcement notes that families pay nothing for them. Community fundraisers and donations, the announcement adds, are part of how that work is paid for.

“If we stay quiet about child abuse, our children will too.”Child Safety Center, Searcy, Arkansas

Prim's view

This is Prim's opinion. A second annual event is a quiet compliment. It means the first one went well enough that people asked for another, and the organizers were willing to do the work twice. That deserves a full room.

Prim is also fond of the decision to seat blank players and League players separately. Nothing spoils a friendly afternoon faster than discovering, three hands in, that the table never agreed on its rules. Settling it at the door is simple good manners.

If you play anywhere near Searcy, register before December 6, buy a few raffle tickets whether or not you need another set of tiles, and spend a December afternoon doing some good with a game you already love.