Preliminary total of $9,484 raised at LUEWWD IX: Nailin’ It! So close to Habitat’s goal of raising $10,000 toward the 2013 Women Build from this event. Let’s get them to the goal!

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BUY TICKETS!          VOLUNTEER!          DONATE!          RSVP!

LUEWWD IX: Nailin’ It! is taking place on Saturday, September 7, 2013, at Casbah (1007 W Main St, Durham).

The doors officially open at 7:30pm but we’ll be ready for you at 6:30pm in the Casbah parking lot with pre-game activities, featuring Liv’s food truck and Locopops, cornhole, and Sam Adams products. General admission costs $5 (buy online or at the door) and VIP tickets cost $25  (seats right by the stage that come with personal bar service; UPDATE: VIP tickets are SOLD OUT). The main event begins at 9:00pm. Contestants will be vying for titles of LUEWWD Champion, Durham Diva, Madame Moneymaker and Queen of the Losers (which comes with a cool prize, too).  The after party will be hosted at James Joyce and will make a contribution to the beneficiary.

What should you do to prepare for this event? (P.S. We love overachievers!)

• CONGRATULATE YOURSELF. Sounds like you’ve already made the commitment to be a part of LUEWWD IX and that means you’re awesome
• TELL YOUR FRIENDS about LUEWWD IX: Nailin’ It!: 18+ is the rule but younger folks can join us if they are accompanied by an adult
• BUY TICKET(S): in advance or at the door (general admission $5)
• BRING CASH! Save up your dollars for raffle tickets, contestant “voting,” open table match-ups, and bribes for the judges
• HAVE DINNER WITH US before the event starts: Liv’s food truck and Locopops will be there, ready to serve at 6:30!
• BE BOLD: Strengthen your arm muscles to challenge new and old friends during Open Table wrestling
• STICK AROUND for the after-party shindig at James Joyce
• DONATE, of course!
• (CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE! We’ll have a great time!)

The contestant bracket is full! We’ve got Guillo Tina, Monster Cookie, Old MacDominatrix, Pigeon “daddy issues” McGina, Reba the Wrench, Rocky Scissher, Subrina Zero, Work It Out Barbie. Some of these fierce competitors have online fundraising pages set up for the event. If you want to build up your favorite contestant’s fundraising momentum before the event, go for it!

The contestant who raises the most funds between now and the end of LUEWWD IX’s main event will win the Madame Moneymaker title!

We are so grateful to our returning sponsors for LUEWWD IX: Boston Beer Company, Casbah, MAYDNEW DJ and Event Planning, and Phunco. Rock Paper Scissors Salon and Gallery is sponsoring Rocky Scissher. We are also receiving support from Active Edge Fitness and Performance.

Who is the beneficiary? Funds raised will go toward Habitat for Humanity of Durham’s 2013 Women Build. The Women Build program empowers women to better their community and be leaders on the construction site by building a home in partnership with a hardworking family. The groundbreaking date for the 2013 Women Build will be set soon (likely September), and the home will be built on Lutz Lane in a small Habitat community in east Durham.

Looking for (more than) a few good volunteers! We extend a warm welcome to anyone interested in helping us host these events; they simply couldn’t happen without our fantastic volunteers. Volunteer jobs include: admission, human/walking ATM, contestant round-up, bar service, merchandise and raffle ticket sales, and more. What would you like to do at LUEWWD IX?

Have any questions? Want to know more about LUEWWD or the 2013 Women Build? Contact us and we’ll get you the answers you need.

Thank you to Habitat for Humanity of Durham for sharing the following story with us about Lal and her family. They’ve now been in their Habitat home for over a year. Over the next few weeks, you’ll be able to read more inspiring Habitat stories. We hope that you will support LUEWWD IX: Nailin’ It! which is raising funds for the 2013 Women Build.

Lal Mawi/Thuam has experienced different types of homes throughout her life. The now 45-year old mother of two (son Gideon, 28 and daughter Naomi, 25) was born and raised in Burma. Officially called the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Burma is located in South Asia, bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos, and Thailand.

For many years, Lal and her children lived in Burma with her parents. They all shared a room. Food was scarce. There was no electricity. The family would have to line up every day for a small rice portion, given by the government. Because of long-standing racial issues in the country, Lal and her family were identified as illegal aliens, unable to leave the area.

To help her family’s financial situation, Lal moved to Egypt to work and sent the money back to Burma. She stayed for six years, only returning once. Shortly after returning from Egypt, Lal and her children escaped the country and immigrated to Thailand.

The family stayed in a refugee camp for three years. Ten people to a room, they slept on a cot on the floor with mosquito nets. Every so often, the Thai police would enter the camp and line up the refugees, asking for identification. While the conditions may sound abhorrent to Americans, Lal and her family were grateful to be in Thailand because, for the first time, they had enough food to satisfy their hunger.

The family applied for refugee status in the United States in 2008 and was able to leave the refugee camp. The non-profit World Relief sponsored the immigration process and offered legal support, job training and English classes to the family.

“It felt a little bit like heaven,” Lal explains of her family’s first day in the U.S. “For the first time, we got to sleep on a bed. In Burma and Thailand, only the rich have beds. Here, even refugees have these things: a bed, a car, a job.”

Since arriving, Lal and her children have had various types of employment. Lal currently works at UNC-Chapel Hill in Housekeeping, Gideon is a translator for other refugees, and Naomi is a full time student at Durham Tech. They were selected for a Habitat home in 2011 and worked with the organization to rehab their home in Northeast Central Durham.

Lal and her son Gideon

Lal and her family moved into their home in May of last year. It was the first time that each member of the family could have his or her own room.  When they first moved in, they were excited to decorate the home and plant trees in the yard.

“There is no more fear,” Lal says. “We won’t have to move again, because the home belongs to us.”

LUEWWD IX: Nailin’ It! is set for Saturday, September 7, 2013, at Casbah. We look forward to seeing you there for a stupendously fun ladies’ arm-wrestling experience and fundraiser!

Funds raised at LUEWWD IX: Nailin’ It! will go toward Habitat for Humanity of Durham’s 2013 Women Build. LUEWWD is hoping to bring fundraising and physical brawn to the project.

Contestants should get on board! Those who sign up soon will have extra time to come up with a great costume, build up both their arm muscles and entourage, help LUEWWD spread the word, and get moving with fundraising.  Let us know reallllllly soon if you’d like to participate! If you need help getting the creative juices flowing for your character or costume, check out previous events’ photos on this site or on Facebook. Or check out your competitors who have already signed up!

Want to donate your time and talents as a volunteer? We extend a warm welcome to anyone interested in helping us host these events; they simply couldn’t happen without our fantastic volunteers. Volunteer jobs include: admission, human/walking ATM, contestant round-up, bar service, merchandise and raffle ticket sales, and more. Tell us what you’d like to do at LUEWWD IX!

Want to be an event or contestant sponsor? THANK YOU for thinking of us! We can’t wait to talk to you. Please send an email to luewwd@gmail.com. We have a few donation levels designated with various benefits, and, whenever possible, we incorporate sponsors into the event in creative ways.

You’ve probably caught the drift of this post by now… we want to hear from you! So email luewwd@gmail.com if you want to be involved as a contestant, volunteer or sponsor with LUEWWD IX: Nailin’ It!, and/or if you just want to know more about the League of Upper Extremity Wrestling Women of Durham.

Thank you to everyone who attended LUEWWD VIII: Industrial Strength, a record-breaking fundraising event that benefited Liberty Arts and The Scrap Exchange. We’d like to share the results… and here’s a link to the photos and a VIDEO (a first!) of the event.

Total Money Raised: $10,082.

That breaks the previous record by more than $2,000! (not sure we say it enough how much we love our town and all of the people who support LUEWWD, the wrestlers and the beneficiaries — you are stupendous!)

Champion: Betty Rumble

Madame Moneymaker: Lotta Doe

Durham Diva: Trashley the Treasure Troll

Queen of the Losers: Kit “The Killer” Kellar

King of the Bucks: Lupa

Individual Contestant Fundraising Totals:

Lotta Doe: $1,343

Steel Magnolia: $1,064.10

Scrappy Sally: $602.85

Betty Rumble: $405.01

Lisa “Left Arm” Lopes: $198.50

Pippi Strongstockings: $162.15

Trashley the Treasure Troll: $104

Kit “The Killer” Kellar: $70

THANK YOU and A BEAR HUG to…

The Stage Crew: Hostess Marilyn Manho, Bouncer Rebecca/Sassy McKlassy, Round Boy Fur Pelton John and Round Girl Madame Muscle

The Judges: Mike Waller (representing Liberty Arts), Kaferine De Nerve and Robert Bland

The Volunteers, with a special thanks to Lupa (& co) from Liberty Arts and Jess (& co) from the Scrap Exchange for helping with both volunteer coordination and creation of an amazing outdoor venue. The event volunteers did everything from letting you into the main event and testing your luck with raffle ticket sales to counting your incredible donations and serving you drinks.

Sponsors and Donors

Twisted Tea/Boston Beer Company

Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub

The Casbah

MAYDNEW DJ and Event Planning

Phunco

Jewelsmith (in support of Steel Magnolia)

Adorn Boutique

CrossFit Durham

Morgan Imports (in support of Lotta Doe)

Bull City Co-Working (in support of Lotta Doe)

Boy Scouts Troop 332 OLL (Raleigh)

Liv’s

Blend Cafe

The event space was provided courtesy of Cordoba Center for the Arts and Re-Use Warehouse.

Additional in-kind support came from The Rock Shop, Studio Xavier and Mr. Trim, Inc. (919.697.5076). Photographers BJ Council, Megan Morr, and Christine Nguyen also shared their talents in-kind.

MORE PICTURES, PLEASE!

Or would you like to just WATCH THE VIDEO?

[The sculpture shown in the featured image for this post was created by Tim Werrell. The artists at Liberty Arts each debuted a new piece in time for LUEWWD VIII and to commemorate the first anniversary of being in the new studio space.]