Hasbro sponsors first ever National Family Game NightDate: 9/21/2009 By Courtney Llewellyn
Reminder Assistant Editor
When was the last time you turned your cell phone off? When was the last time your kids weren't eating, texting and watching TV all at the same time?
When was the last time everyone in your house was together, actually doing something as a family?
Hasbro Games wants to bring back family togetherness, and to help do so, they are sponsoring the first ever National Family Game Night on Sept. 23. The company wants families to step back from the hectic pace of life to reconnect with the people they care most about.
"This is a first time initiative," Rebecca Laurien, with Hunter Public Relations, representing Hasbro Games, said. "We want to generate a tradition and have people start playing games again in houses throughout America."
Laurien explained this a large grass roots effort to allow families to reconnect. National Family Game Night takes place in the middle of TV Turn Off Week, Sept. 20 through 26, which is sponsored by Screen Time, an organization that "provides information so people can live healthier lives in functional families in vibrant communities by taking control of the electronic media in their lives, not allowing it to control them," according to their Web site, www.screentime.org.
"We're hoping everyone can take a look at their calendar and make time to participate," Laurien said.
Donna Holden, a mother of two children, ages 15 and 11 in East Longmeadow, said football practice will be getting in the way of taking part in National Family Game Night, but that won't stop her family from playing together in the future.
"We're all together at least two times a month, playing games," Holden said. She continued that her family's favorite games are Scrabble, Monopoly and Clue.
"Playing games keeps us together as a unit," she said.
State Rep. Brian Ashe of the 2nd Hampden District agreed. The father of an 11-year-old and a nine-year-old, the Longmeadow resident makes sure he takes time out of his hectic schedule to play games with his family.
"The backbone of society is family values," he stated. "This [National Family Game Night] is fantastic. We all work hard, and my kids play a lot of sports, so it's nice to be reminded to do things like this."
Ashe said his family plays games together more during the summer months, and that his favorite game growing up was Monopoly.
"Most board games are affordable, and anybody can play," Ashe noted. "They're just fun."
Hasbro Games are releasing a number of new, affordable games this fall for families to share. Classics like Monopoly, Scrabble, Operation, Yahtzee, Guess Who?, Battleship and Cranium are all available for $20 or less. New versions of these family favorites, like Monopoly City, Connect 4 x 4 and Jenga Max, are also available.
"We certainly encourage family game nights," Laurien said. She added that Hasbro Games is looking to turn National Family Game Night into an annual event.
For more information on National Family Game Night, visit www.familygamenight.com and for daily game fun facts, suggestions and more, follow @familygamenight on Twitter.
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