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Saturday, July 26, 2008
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Boosters invite the community to a fun night
Sports Editor For years the Brainerd Sports Boosters Club has kicked off the school year with a social event where members and fans met and mingled with coaches.
Next month the club will again offer the coaches social but has expanded it into a premier community event at the Timbermist. Anyone who purchases a raffle ticket (need not be present to win) will be eligible to win more than $6,000 in prizes.
A ticket for $10 will entitle an individual to membership in the club as well as dinner. In addition, raffle drawings, door prizes and a silent auction will be conducted throughout the night.
"We just wanted to make it an event," Boosters board member Jeff Hilborn said. "There will be silent auction items, door prizes, we're going to do sell annual memberships that will also entitle you to a meal, and the coaches social is tied into this."
Brainerd Sports Boosters Club
What: 'Let's Have Fun Night'
When: Aug. 15
Where: Timbermist, County Road 3, Brainerd
Who: For adults
Cost: $10 (at the door) for annual membership and dinner
Advance raffle tickets: Cost $20, available at SuperAmerica on Highway 371 North in Baxter next to KFC, Cash Wise Liquor in Brainerd and Baxter, Shep's on 6th
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Board member Brian Skogen said the club wanted to do something special to commemorate its approximate 25 years as a booster of not only Brainerd High School and Central Lakes College athletics but of all athletics in the community.
"We just kind of wanted to reorganize ourselves and have an opportunity to meet people, with a lot of new parents coming in, parents of kids who have not been involved in athletics before, whether that's junior high or high school, and have no idea what sports boosters is about," he said. "This is an opportunity for them to come out and get acquainted from face-to-face personal contact with sports boosters members, board members, coaches, administrators, and feel comfortable to be involved."
Marquee prizes include a trip to spring training in Florida ($1,210 value), a trip to Chicago ($1,620), Canada fishing trip ($880), four Timberwolves tickets ($500), four Gophers football tickets ($140), guided fishing trips with Perry Good and Jon Stolski ($300 apiece), two Twins tickets ($125), gift certificates to Cascade Medspa and Laser Center and one night in the whirlpool suite at Hawthorn Inn in Baxter and eight rounds of golf at Grand View Lodge.
"A raffle and an auction isn't unique," Skogen said, "but we wanted to tailor the prizes to be significantly different, for the most part, from other items that are out there. That's where some trips got involved and tickets. It's thematic around sports, what would interest people that will be there?"
Jim Hunt, who will begin his first year as boosters president this fall, said the economy is one reason the coaches social has been expanded into a community event.
"The change I've observed in the last six months is that fundraising has become more of a challenge because most of the fundraising we do revolves around pulltabs," he said. "The pulltab scenario has changed because of the smoking ban in bars. That has affected our receipts, the money we have available to give out. That's also a concern.
"The sports boosters golf tournament hasn't changed, it's 25 years strong, but it has been affected a little bit by the economy. We've had 40 some teams the last couple years, we were down to 35 this year. Jeff Hilborn chairs that event. We made a few changes so we actually showed an increase in money but the potential is if we continue to lose teams then we're going to have some effect there that is negative."
The club continues to emphasize that its primary function is to support all athletic programs in the community, not just BHS and CLC. Its bread and butter is Thursday meetings at the Moose Lodge (beginning Aug. 28) where there is a meal for $7.50, coaches speak about their programs and introduce their athletes.
"Our motto the last few years is, 'Join the sports boosters, there's no committee to join, no work to be done, just show up and have some fun," Skogen said. "We're still about that.
"Our main emphasis is recognizing the kids, in terms of supporting them with equipment and emotional support for their participation, but also to be introduced to them on Thursdays where we learn a little bit about the programs and the coaches. We want to go a little deeper than what we might see about them in the newspaper or hear about them on the radio."
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.
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