Unlike Old Maid, mom invents card game that sends positive message
Twenty-five years ago when Mary Grace Crowley-Koch was playing the "Old Maid" card game with her young daughter, it dawned on her what a terrible message the popular game sent to young girls everywhere.
"If you don't get married, you become an Old Maid and are negated by society. That's the message that game sends," Crowley-Koch asserted.
And it had bothered the Mount Prospect mother of two ever since.
So she decided to come up with an alternative game that has recently been produced by a Michigan company that specializes in card and board games. And Crowley-Koch and her husband, Ron, have started their own company called Blessing Energizers to market it.
"Me For President," as the new game is called, is played by the same rules as Old Maid with players pairing up identical cards until they have no cards left and can safely exit the game. But instead of worrying about getting stuck with the Old Maid card, players are desperately trying to hold on to the "Me For President" card. Whoever has that card in their hand at the end of the game is the winner.
"I came up with the concept of the game years ago," Crowley-Koch said. "My idea was to make my game the total opposite of Old Maid, where you want to end up with the "Me For President" card. And all of the other cards would portray various career choices for girls."
"I wanted to inspire girls to think outside the box in terms of career choices," she added.
But the project sat on the back burner for years while Crowley-Koch searched for the right artist to draw the characters for the cards.
"You have to find the right people for the right things at the right time," she explained.
Over the past year everything came together. Her husband was teaching at Immaculate Heart of Mary High School in Westmont and through the art teacher there he met a talented young artist named Elise Dawid. She was both talented enough and energetic enough to draw the 25 illustrations which were necessary, so Crowley-Koch hired her.
"I asked Elise to make sure that we included women of all colors and cultures in our illustrations of women in various careers. I didn't want to focus on only the white community," the former educator explained.
Once she had the illustrations, she had to seek a copyright and then she hired a graphic designer to make the cards and box a reality. Then it was all sent to Michigan for production and the finished product was shipped to Mount Prospect in early October.
Crowley-Koch is now getting the word out to possible sales outlets.
"I would like to see schools, Scout groups and other non-profits use it as a fund-raiser," she explained. "That way, in my mind, it would be a double blessing. It would empower young girls while also raising funds for worthy causes."
Crowley-Koch's employer, CNS Home Health and Hospice, has already agreed to be the first to sell the game as a fundraiser. Crowley-Koch is a palliative care chaplain.
And one recent afternoon Crowley-Koch sat with three middle school girls at her former school, St. Raymond School in Mount Prospect, to test the game with its primary audience.
It was a hit.
Kaylee Bartz, 10; Christina Payne, 10; and Marissa Pacini, 12, all of Mount Prospect, agreed that they enjoyed "Me For President" game much more than its older counterpart, "Old Maid."
"I like this game a lot better because you play it the same, but you win by getting the "Me For President" card instead of losing when you get stuck with the Old Maid," said Payne.
Pacini and Bartz agreed, saying they would definitely play it at home and recommend it to others.
"I also like the girls in the different careers on the cards," Pacini said. "It shows that girls can do anything if they set their minds to it. For instance, until today, I never thought about being an ambassador!"
For more information about the "Me For President" card game, e-mail Cowley-Koch at be-a-blessing@sbcglobal.net.