Get your boots and hats ready, belt buckles shined up and grab your best gal. It’s time for the Sixth Annual Cowboy Ball put on by the Rockin’ RC Rodeo Committee and the Ravalli County Fairgrounds. The event will be Saturday, February 11th, from 5:30 to midnight. Cost is $10 per person at the door, $5 for students and little kids are free. This is a family friendly event.
There are still tables available for $150 and the tables seat eight people. Proceeds from the night’s events go towards rodeo improvements such as sound system, pens, and general upkeep.
Miss Rodeo Montana, Sarai McCollaum of Darby, will be on hand to run a kiddie rodeo about 6 p.m. Joining her will be the Rockin’ RC Rodeo queen, Liz Roberts, Junior Miss Paige Palin, and Little Miss Ashlynn McKern.
This event is much more than just a dance. Early on there will be games including Lucky Card Draw, Calf Pie Bingo, and a Wine and Whiskey Pull. The Calf Pie Bingo features a live calf, ready to do his or her ‘duty’. A deck of cards is laid out in a grid to serve as the ‘target’. Cards are $20 each and if your card is the one that’s hit, you win half the pot or $520.
Tickets will be sold for the Feed Bucket Raffle. This raffle features about 12 to 15 baskets that have combinations of gift certificates, photos, tack, and many other items. There will be a ‘Best Boots, and Best Hat’ contest done by popular vote, a dance contest and the ever-popular ‘Heads & Tails’ that gets the entire crowd involved.
The live auction will feature many unusual items. Pat Richie, who was a sheriff’s deputy here in Ravalli County for over 20 years, retired and went to quilting. Now, she has quilts all over the nation and has put on workshops all over. She donated a wall hanging depicting a little girl petting a horse next to a barn. The workmanship is very detailed and will certainly enhance any wall. Another auction item is a kid’s birthday party hosted by the rodeo queens. Canvas photos, jewelry and tack are also more of the items that will be auctioned off. A unique set of spurs featuring the logo of the Rockin’ RC Rodeo will also be auctioned off. Where better to wear the spurs than at a branding this spring! This will be a great way to see what happens on a working ranch right here in the Bitterroot.
Perhaps the most unique item of all involves a bucking horse, or in this case, colt. The bid winner will win the rights to name an up and coming bucking horse colt from the Red Eye Rodeo breeding program out of Deer Lodge. Kaehl Berg, owner of Red Eye Rodeo, has donated the naming rights.
“Who wouldn’t want to have their business name on a bucking bronc,” said Cryss Anderson, Ravalli County Fair Manager. “Think of the advertising that will happen across the state.”
Russ Nasset & the Revelators will be the band for the night. Moose Creek Barbecue will have food available for $16 a plate. The Rainbow Bar will have a full bar available as well.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 363-3411. It’s a rip-roarin’ time for the entire family.