World Series Conflict: When Schedules and Cards Games Collide

The treasurer for St. Charles Volunteers in Medicine called last week, anxious to save a fundraiser for the group last Saturday.

“Can you come please? Everyone is bailing out,” said Susan Stigall, treasurer for Volunteers in Medicine.

The event was scheduled months before. It included the Smash Band and thousands of dollars in great bid items, drinks and snacks—a fun event.

But it happened to coincide with Game 3 of the World Series.

The group mitigated damage by renting a big-screen TV and placing it in full view of the dance floor at Machinists Hall in Bridgeton.

"The auctioneer had to stop when Albert (Pujols) hit his third home run, but we ended up doing fine," Stigall said. "

She said although the tally isn't final, it appears the group raised $4,500 to $5,000 in clear profit. Stigall said 100 percent of the funds go to pay for medication for patients treated by volunteer doctors, nurses, clincians and administrators.

The Cardinals World Series run is exciting, and great for the St. Louis area economically and socially. But it’s a minor disaster for those who have events that overlap the World Series schedule as Cardinal Nation flocks to the stadium or finds a favorite perch in front of a TV.

Steve Grote, president of the Board of the Foundation for the School District of the City of St. Charles, realized sometime Tuesday that his coincides exactly with games six and seven of the World Series.

"You know, it might hurt us," he said.

The event is one way community members can contribute to the Foundation which awards grants for innovative proposals from teachers in the school district. On Wednesday and Thursday, people can dine in between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. at in St. Charles and 20 percent of their bill will be donated to the Foundation.

The upside to this scheduling situation is that JJ's has TVs in the dining and bar area. Grote said he's hoping people will head to the restaurant to watch the game.

"I thought, yeah, I'll just send out the flier to people on our contact list and remind them that someone might want to go there and watch the game. It includes drinks too."

Not a bad solution. On the bright side, they wish they had these problems in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, New York and Detroit.