BELLE FOURCHE—Belle Fourche High School Rodeo Team’s long-standing fundraising tradition took place on the evening of March 7. The annual Dinner and Auction is fully embraced by the community, and turnout was impressive.
The event was held at the Belle Fourche Community Hall, with a steak dinner catered by the Branding Iron Steakhouse. “We go back and forth between the Branding Iron and here,” explained Rodeo Advisor Kerbi Bowden. “The kids just wanted to have it here this year.”
While the community’s support is essential, the event couldn’t happen without the students’ hard work. The rodeo team members handle every detail. “They do all the work—they sell all the tickets and they go out and get all of the donations,” shared Bowden.
Tickets were $30 each, and everyone who purchased one was treated to a delicious steak dinner served by one of the rodeo team members. Attendees also had the chance to participate in a silent auction, live auction, and labor auction.
Everybody on the team was responsible for bringing in items to be auctioned off. In addition, each team member was asked to participate in the labor auction, an event where the public can pre-purchase labor and collect on that labor at a later date. Whether someone needed a babysitter or fencing work in the summer, this was the perfect place to hire a hardworking teen.
It is a lot of work and planning for the Rodeo Team members, but the harder they work, the more rewards they have the potential to receive. “It goes back to the kids—it all goes back to help them with their costs to go to their rodeos—which is the regionals, the state finals, and then the national finals,” said Bowden.
Everyone who helps with the fundraiser gets to receive the financial benefits. “Everybody, as long as they enter a rodeo, they get the base amount. And then there is incentive pay for making it to State or Nationals,” explained Rodeo Advisor Kenita Jensen. “We also sponsor a saddle stand at state finals for one of the state champions—we sponsor that every year, and that money comes out of the money raised tonight.”
Curt Westland donated his time to be the auctioneer for the night, and once again Zeann and Sue Golliher volunteered to secretary the auction and keep track of all the money raised.
The kids and the advisors really appreciate the community for showing up and supporting the rodeo team. Bowden said, “They’ve always been very good support, we just thank everybody for coming out!”
The Belle Fourche Rodeo Club has 29 members and is a young team, with only three returning seniors. “We have a lot of good competitors that have returned, and we have a pretty big freshman class that came in too,” said Jensen. “We are now a three-time State Champion Team—so as a team, they’re very competitive—Regional and State Champions!”
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