Cascade TA dinner outstanding, as always
Benjamin Franklin once uttered that in this world nothing can be certain, except death and taxes. He obviously had never attended a Cascade County Tavern Association dinner because its success is a certainty.
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Julie Pachek gets some special treatment from her husband, Ryan, as he serves her salad at the annual Cascade County Tavern Association dinner Dec. 1 in Great Falls.
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The event usually draws the largest crowd of any tavern dinner in the state, despite occurring in the middle of freezing Montana winters.
The 40th annual edition held Dec. 1 sported a Roman/Italian theme and was held again in the Mansfield Center (Civic Center). John Hayes, executive secretary of the CCTA,led the organizers of the dinner, while Gary Ehnes and Jon Tovson emceed the affair.
As usual Hayes and the other CCTA male directors looked great in their formal tuxedos, while the women were beautiful in evening dresses or suits. (The cold weather that night explains the lack of toga-wearing guests!)
Three bars were stocked and staffed as the cocktail hour opened the proceedings at 5:30 p.m.
Dinner featured Italian fare – including chicken cacciatore, shrimp scampi and pasta rigatoni– as well as the traditional prime rib. Delicious desserts included Tiramisu cake and Italian lemon citrus cheese cake.
These events always involve plenty of food, fun and drink, but mostly fun. Games are played all night that provide attendees chances to win prizes and cash, as well as the option to bid on a splendid array of fine merchandise in a silent auction.
Numerous raffle drawings for cash were held, along with games of heads and tails, the first round played for free with a $100 prize to warm the crowd up. The second round had a $20 buy-in but paid out $1,000!
Young women athletes from University of Great Falls assisted in selling tickets and were helpful in many other ways.
The big drawing of the evening is, of course, the "calcutta" raffle. Those who have purchased dinner tickets were automatically entered into the drawing for seats. Fifteen tickets are then drawn for each of 10 seats at the head table, with one of the 15 picked to take possession of the seat and remain in the running to win.
Another seat winner is drawn from "last chance" tickets, which were sold for $10. The final 12th seat is auctioned.
Always willing to try something new, the CCTA this year launched a second calcutta game that was played alongside the main one on stage.
In this new game, another 12 guests were able to buy a calcutta chance through a live auction called by Hayes. All the money from that auction went to a separate pot. Ten percent of that pot went to the University of Great Falls athletic department, while the remaining 90 percent was split between those who bought numbers corresponding to the three winners remaining at the head table during the main calcutta.
“It was a wonderful event,” Hayes would say later.
At the end of the night, the biggest winners, as always, were the dozens of worthy charities in the Great Falls area that the CCTA benefits.
Past beneficiaries include the Benefis Foundation, Mayfaire, University of Great Falls, McLaughlin Center, Great Falls Development, Girl Scouts, St. Thomas, Boys and Girls Clubs, Youth Hockey, Great Falls Electrics, Great Falls Stallions, Central Catholic High School, Four Seasons Sports Foundation and many more.