Yellowstone YCTA raises funds with fun
By Paul Tash
Montana Tavern Times
About 300 party-goers attended the 37th annual Yellowstone County Tavern Association dinner, and every one of them seemed to have a blast.
Even the busy volunteers wore big smiles as they worked the third-floor banquet room at the Crown Plaza in downtown Billings May 10.
A giant silent auction attracted tremendous interest, and over $8,000 in cash prizes was given away in raffles and the calcutta.
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Shirley Belisle, left, of the Montana Nugget Casino, gets a hug from Katie Cranston, of Montana Chads, just before Belisle won $2,500 in the calcutta at the Yellowstone Co. Tavern dinner May 10.
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YCTA President John Blair emceed the event for the umpteenth time, and Executive Secretary Sheila Brown kept the affair rolling smoothly along.
Before the calcutta was played, Blair spoke briefly about the local tavern association’s growth as a community benefactor.
For years, Blair said, local taverns have been “the good guys.” Whether playing “softball or tiddlywinks,” where did teams go when they needed money?, Blair asked.
“The local saloon,” he said.
The YCTA expanded its scope about 10 years ago, he added,to include more than just sports teams to help out.
For example, YCTA has served food for Muscular Dystrophy marathon, provided coats to the Special Olympics, donated helmets and thermal imagers to local firefighters, and funded the local Fourth of July fireworks show to the tune of $20,000.
YCTA's charitable giving has also has benefitted Easter Seals, Tavern Taxi, Save-A-Life, MSU-B Meth Conference, the Women's Shelter, Multiple Sclerosis Walk and many more.
“We have a lot of fun,” Blair said, “but we raise a lot of money that goes back into the community.”
Maybe having the most fun later on was Shirley Belisle of the Montana Nugget Casino in Billings, who won the top calcutta prize of $2,500.
The buffet dinner, always excellent, featured lemon chicken, pork and chef-carved roast beef as entrees. For dessert dinner-goers enjoyed a lemon-layered cake with raspberry dripping.
Representatives from liquor companies, beer distributorships, gaming machine manufacturing and route operations and insurance industry attended the event.