Kids fire back at the opposition during the Mother-Son Nerf Night at the Fortville Community Center. Dozens of mothers squared off against their sons in an epic Nerf battle. Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE – It was moms versus boys in a battle of bullets Saturday.
But instead of wounds, the warriors walked away with only wit, smiles and banter from the Nerf gun event designed to bring families together.
The Fortville Elementary Parent Teacher Organization hosted a Mother-Son Nerf Night Feb. 26 at the Fortville Community Center. The PTO provided the snacks, foam darts and protective eyewear while the participants brought their own guns and plenty of fun.
“There were different events, like Capture the Flag, Freeze Tag, times where one team didn’t have any guns and tried to get to the other side,” said Krista Weber. “There was one point where the boys were zombies and if they touched us, we turned into zombies! They kept it fun, kept it going.”
Weber attended with her sons Caden, 10, and Mason, 7. A school counselor at FES, Weber said it was a great opportunity for her to not only bond with her own boys but also see other students have fun with their families.
The event was for FES students in grades kindergarten through fifth; more than 230 people attended the event through four sessions. MVHS Football Coach Vince Lidy volunteered to run the nerf battles and was a crowd favorite, said PTO Leader Mende Galbraith, and many parents volunteered their time to make the event a success.
This is the third year for the event; proceeds support elementary school teachers, students and staff.
“Nerf Night is such a fun event; it is my favorite event that PTO puts on,” Galbraith said in an email. “It’s great to see all the laughter and smiles from the kids and moms alike. My goal is that Nerf Night provides an opportunity for making memories and building community.”
Rachel Hendricks said the Nerf event was a whole new experience for her, as she usually just watches her son Ayden, 11, play with his friends.
“It was great. It’s kind of nice to have something that’s a mom-and-son thing,” Hendricks said. “There’s a lot of things for the whole family and some things for dads and daughters, but I’ve never seen anything for mothers and sons, so it was really nice.”
She added that when the moms won a game, some of the boys were a little upset, but all in good-natured fun.
And even though moms stepped out of their comfort zones to play, they got pampered on their “date” just a bit when the boys had to pick up the hundreds of bullets at the end of each session, Weber said.
“At the end the rule was, the moms don’t have to clean up because they clean up all the time,” she said.
