The Friends of Music enjoyed a packed house Sunday afternoon as supporters came out to compete in a unique fundraiser.

Teams of four or less each received the same 500-piece jigsaw puzzle and were given a time frame of three hours to see which group could get their puzzle together the fastest.

Of course, any competition must have handicaps, and teams could purchase some creative ones to slow down their opposition.

The idea for the event came from Heather Marshall and Alice Barkus. Their creativity led to the addition of nearly $2,400 to the FoM coffers.

For only $10, a team could rent a set of mittens, ski gloves, oven mitts and sunglasses to be worn by a team of their choosing for a five minute period. Several teams were seen wearing these items which hampered their ability to put the small pieces of the puzzle together.

For a $25 donation, one player from an opposing team could be put “in jail” for 10 minutes. That person’s team could bail him or her out for only $50.

To assist folks in putting their puzzles together, the organizers also rented LED?flashlights for 10 minutes at a time because the light in the Community Club’s ballroom may not be the most condusive to puzzles.

Each team gave themselves a name and the ‘Pesky Puzzle Performers’ were quick to show their abilities in puzzle construction. The team of four friends finished their puzzle first, in less than two hours time.

Made up of Diane Fulton, Sue Collins, Beth Rehberger and Cindi Hicks, the team members were quick to share their love of puzzles.

“I absolutely love them,” said Fulton. “I have one going at home all the time.”

Second and third place winners were not far behind in completing the crayon puzzle and when those places were announced, the other teams gave up with a sigh of relief.