Cattlemen's Ball: Kimball residents volunteer time for the cause

The Cattlemen's Ball was a highly anticipated event for the community. The event drew roughly 4,000 attendees, all interested in benefiting cancer research. However, this event owes a lot to the volunteers from the local community that were involved.

According to both Trish Lukassen and Monty Stoddard, there were roughly 600 people that volunteered their time and effort to make the Cattlemen's Ball a success. The ball was held at Hoot Owl Ranch on June 6 and 7 in Banner County. The event sold out, which meant that volunteers were very important to getting some tasks accomplished.

It took a week to set up the 22 tents on the Stauffers' Ranch. It was in fact volunteer efforts that made this possible.

"We had so many volunteers to come help set up, then we had volunteers to help feed our volunteers that were out there working," Lukassen said.

During the event there were many volunteers that spent their time helping in whatever capacity they could. There were volunteer servers, volunteer medical presence, volunteer trash and recycling pick up, and many others.

Many in the community expressed excitement for the event's presence this year and have viewed it as not only an opportunity to support the cause of the event, but also to show a hospitable and cooperative community.

Among those working the event were members of the Kimball ambulance crew, Vanessa Nelson, Dawn Maier, and Heather Gawith. The three women worked the event from 10 a.m. Saturday morning until 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Thankfully, there were not a lot of emergencies at the event.

"There were only four people that came to us for help. I mean we can't speak for the other EMS crews but we only had four, one of which was a transfer," Nelson said.

The ambulance crew in attendance did enjoy themselves although they were not there to partake of certain aspects of the event. They did not partake of any alcohol at the event, because they were there in a work capacity and made sure they were always in control of their mental faculties, in case there might have been an accident. However, despite not being in attendance recreationally they still feel their attendance was of benefit.

"I personally enjoyed being there for two reasons. Number one, we obviously wanted to support the cause, of which was cancer research. Also, we wanted to show the community that we were willing to help out with different things," Maier said.

While the crew helping out with the ball was of benefit to the event, it also was of benefit to the ambulance service itself.

"We built some bridges that day. We went out there and helped and those that we helped were grateful. They were saying, if you need help ever, call us," Gawith said.

Of course, with an event of the size of the Cattlemen's Ball, there are a lot of things to consider. One of those things is the amount of waste an event will create, and of that waste how much is recyclable.

Keep Kimball Beautiful(KKB), volunteered to work the Cattlemen's Ball in order to monitor and process the recyclables generated by the event. With every endeavor, however, there are some challenges.

"We had quite a bit of help lined up. we were supposed to have about eight or nine volunteers from an organization helping and they cancelled shortly before the event. So we had to scramble to get some things together in time. Bins and such because the group we were supposed to be working with was supposed to provide those items," Larissa Binod, director of KKB, said.

Despite the bumps experienced, KKB got it together and with roughly seven volunteers they managed to handle the recycling for the event.

"It was hard and we were all pushed to our limits, but it was worth it to be able to see the impact we had on the trash. We didn't get to see the concert because while that was happening we were sorting and emptying bins," Binod said.

Binod went on to explain how she was happy that her and her team of volunteers were able to work the event. She explained how at the end of the night on Saturday looking out over the tables and that area that had at some point hosted roughly 4,000 people, and knowing that KKB was doing its part to help was a wonderful feeling.

While the exact amount of all the recycled materials from the Cattlemen's Ball was not available at the time of press, the numbers of what had been sorted up to the time of press was available. So far, 1,123 pounds of cardboard, 157 pounds of number one plastics, and 118 pounds of aluminum cans have been sorted through from the waste at the ball.

"I learned so much from this event. How we might handle things differently in the future. I would like to get with the event coordinator in the future to make the recycling effort more present, so people in attendance are aware that the effort is happening," Binod said.

Binod hopes that KKB and the rest of the volunteers that worked the event represented the community as progressive and inviting.

The volunteers were appreciated on an immense level from those who attended and worked the event to those that showed up before and after for building and demolition. The volunteers are a big part of what made the event a possibility. The panhandle showed it's appreciation for the Cattlemen's Ball choosing it as its location by proving supportive through the volunteer efforts.

"We appreciate everything that the volunteers have done in helping make this event a real success," Stoddard said.

No number concerning the amount of money raised at the Cattlemen's Ball was available at the time of press.