Money raising, people grazing

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There was not an empty table in the room during the rodeo team’s annual Black Tie Calf Fry fundraiser Saturday night in the Student Center Ballroom, and the team was able to raise $14,000 gross profit.

“This money we raise is what gets us through a large number of expenses throughout the rodeo season,” Rolly Fortune, senior of Interior, South Dakota, said. “There is the money spent on cattle and rough stock for practice here in Chadron. There is the cost of hotels traveling to the other nine rodeos, as well as the large variety of other costs associated with operating a practice facility along with the feed and health care needed for the practice stock.”

The evening started out with live music by Jessie Miller, graduate student of Woodland Park, Colorado. She sang covers while accompanying herself on guitar and entertained the audience while people continued to filter into the Ballroom.

Once everybody was seated, the murmur of conversation could be heard at each table as people ranging from children to grandparents conversed with each other. Before long, Dakota Rice, freshman of Kellogg, Idaho, stood up and took the microphone. He said a prayer blessing the food, the contributions to the rodeo team, and the conversations.

People in lines for food followed the blessing. The dinner was catered by Creative Dining Services, and people walked away from the food tables with plates piled high with roast beef, corn, mashed potatoes, and of course, Rocky Mountain oysters.

While the crowd ate, Jeff Cover, senior of Ashby, sang as he played his guitar, breaking up the silence of a crowd too busy enjoying the food to talk. As the plates began to empty, members of the rodeo team and Creative Dining Services walked around to pick them up and Head Coach Dustin Luper took the stage.

He talked about the crazy week he had endured. He started the week off in Texas with a group of students taking a class trip. While he was on his way to Fort Worth with the students, he received a call from his wife saying that her water had broke. He flew home as soon as he could to find that he had missed the birth. He assured the audience that the baby was in good health, and had grandma, who was sitting in the audience, stand up and show the crowd.

After telling the story of his exciting week, Luper introduced Dustin Elliot, world champion bull rider, CSC alum, and head rodeo coach at North Platte Community College, to the stage.

Elliot gave a message that related not only to the rodeo team, but also the entire crowd. He talked about the importance of goals and how they got him from being third in the region to making it to the College National Finals Rodeo and ultimately the National Finals Rodeo.

Elliot said that setting goals is something that he has done since college, and it was one of the things that helped keep him on track as he went through his career. One of Elliot’s biggest accomplishments was making both the NFR and Professional Bull Riders Finals in 2010.

After listening to the good advice from Elliot, the live auction was commenced. There were more than 40 items ranging from leather patchwork pillows to artwork to decorations that were auctioned off. Chadron business owners, CSC alumni, CSC college students and the general public were among the bidders.

Throughout the action a game dubbed ‘Heads and Tails’ was played. Audience members had the option to buy beads before the start of the auction, and those with beads were asked to stand up at various times. A coin was flipped and the bead-wearers had to guess if the quarter was going to land on the heads or tails side, indicating it by putting two hands on their head or hips. If they guessed correctly, they got to keep their beads, but if they guessed incorrectly, they had to put one set of beads on the table. The winner, Leah Weber, 11, of Chadron, walked away with half of the money from bead sales, which was $220.

The game and funny quips from the announcer kept the attention of the audience throughout the action. The auctioneering was done by the CSC rodeo team’s Kevin Pineda, junior of Oshkosh. A good part of the perimeter of the Ballroom was lined with items that were put up for silent auction including smaller decorations, boots, and ropes, among other things.

“I thought the calf fry was overall a success,” Fortune said. “We had a great turnout and everyone seemed to have a good time.”