The Blaine County Community Fund (BCCF) is bringing the community together this fall with two fundraisers aimed at supporting vital services in Halsey, Purdum, Brewster, and Dunning.
First up is the Fall Festival and Chili Cookoff on Saturday, October 18 at 5 PM at the Brewster Community Center. The evening will feature hayrack rides, food, and a friendly competition to find the area’s best chili.
“We are working on bringing together the opportunity to do (hay) rack rides.. hopefully by that time, all the fall colors will be in full bloom,” said BCCF President Max Fay. “And then at 5 o’clock inside the community center, we’ll do a chili cook-off. And we were going to let the public vote on who they deem to have the best chili.”
The event is a free will donation, and Fay noted there may even be some rivalries in the kitchen.
“I do know on a side note, there’s a husband and wife that were talking. We may have some friendly competition amongst husbands and wives, even on the chili cookoff,” he said.
Looking ahead, BCCF is also hosting a meat raffle that will award two winners a half of beef and two winners a half of pork. Tickets are $20 each or six for $100, available from board members or by contacting Mallory Sikes at 719-252-9098. The drawing will be held January 2 during halftime of the home basketball game.
Fay emphasized that community businesses made the raffle possible, including Thomas Livestock, Cattlemen’s Cut, the Cox Ranch, Dal Porto Livestock, Keyes Angus, Minert/Simonson Angus, and Rancho Casino Angus.
“They’ve all come together to pay for the processing and the donation of the beef and the pork. So when you win it, the winner won’t have to do anything but pick up the finished product from the butcher shop,” said Fay.
Both of these fundraisers serve a big purpose for BCCF, which exists to strengthen local services and facilities in rural towns where resources are limited.
“We support the nonprofit businesses. So a lot of, you know, rescue, EMS, fire, some community buildings… because they’re so sparsely populated, funds to keep these buildings up can be hard to come by,” Fay explained. “Our hope is to eventually get enough money through the years and get the community to understand that we’re there and what we’re for, that the funds will come in and we can significantly impact Purdum, Halsey, Dunning and Brewster through the years through our fundraising and help these non-profits stay viable in our community so that we don’t lose these services.”
Those seeking more information can follow the Blaine County Community Fund on Facebook or connect with a board member.
Listen to our full interview with Max Fay on KCNI Public Affairs here:
BCCF Board Members include:
Max and Cristin Fay
JW Simonson
Russ Denayer
Pam Moody
Ty Bass
Adi Jo Martin
Jim and Kathy Williams
Tery Johnston
Andrew Rooney
Chance and Amber Giles
Mallory Sikes
Andrea Smith
Jo Ann Ferguson-Cavanaugh
