Last Saturday (April 13), the Community Hall in Kennedy was full of ladies eager to enjoy the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo Ladies Night Fundraising Event.
Organizer Greysin Asplund notes that there were some first-time attendees among the 115 to 120 ladies who came out for the event, adding some of them travelled a significant distance to enjoy the evening.
“There was definitely a good number of girls that had been to a Ladies Night before. But there was also a ton of new ladies attending and majority of the crowd was between the ages of 19-28. And there was a lot of older gals that have been attending for quite some time as well. So, it was nice to have a mix of people in the crowd.
“I had people come from my hometown of Melville as well as from Rocanville, parts of Manitoba, people from Chamberlain area, and other places within that radius. I know a lot of the ladies that came to support me doing this event for the first time and to support the rodeo association that I’ve grown so fond of.”
Although unforeseen circumstances meant that special guest Cody Coverchuk was unable to attend, Asplund has nothing but praise for the local cowboys who did their part to make the evening a success.
“Cody Coverchuk ended up unable to attend as his truck had been stolen from a rodeo the week prior and he was unable to get a rental vehicle to make it out. It was unfortunate and I was really embarrassed and upset about it considering he was on our posters. But our local boys saved the day by putting on a heck of a show and working their wrangler wearing butts off!”
She goes on to say that the western-themed meal was prepared by an assortment of volunteers.
“For the meal, we decided on smoked pork loins, baked beans, mashed potatoes, and macaroni salad with a couple choices for dessert. My parents brought their smokers down and did the meat for us. Moose Mountain Rodeo Association President Jill Lowe did all of the potatoes for us. I did the macaroni salad and the beans, and a couple gals from the committee did the desserts for us.”
Asplund says that the highlight of the evening was the ‘Cowboy Auction’ that allowed the ladies to bid on the cowboy they wanted to have as their waiter for the evening.
“We did have a pretty big raffle table and that was a hit. I’d spoken with over 200 businesses in the area and had about 50 of them graciously donate items to our raffle.
“But what got the girls the most amped up was when our auctioneer (Sask-Man Rookie of the Year, Ty Cutler) began auctioning off the cowboys. Our highest selling cowboy waiter was Brody Warner. He went for $450, which makes him the highest selling waiter in Kennedy Ladies Night history. Our auctioneer, Ty, also sold himself as a waiter which was awesome.”
Although she can not provide an exact total, Asplund estimates that a “minimum of $8,000” was raised by the event, which will go towards this year’s Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo.
Asplund goes on to say that plans for next year’s event as well as other fundraisers are already being made.
“I got so much positive feedback from the people there, it was overwhelming. Everyone had a blast. And our cowboys had so much fun that the majority of them have already said they’d love to do it again.
“So, there will definitely be another Ladies Night. Next year’s theme and multiple ideas for the event have already been discussed. We also will be planning an extra event or two inbetween now and then so keep an eye out for that!”
