"March Madness . . . "

"Tax Season . . . "

"Calving Season . . . "

"State Basketball . . . "

"Fundraiser Time . . . "

Every time of the year has a designation . . . and it changes depending where you live.

However, in the Lawrence, Nebraska area, this time of the year could accurately be called: "Fundraiser Season."

Last weekend saw the third fundraising event in the community in as many weeks. It started slowly with the American Legion Baseball Committee sponsoring a pancake breakfast to help pay for the summer baseball program in the village.

The Lawrence Volunteer Fire Department "Soup Dinner" was the following week and appeared to be a successful event that will assist the volunteers serve and protect area residents.

The third event came last weekend with the Lawrence Community Center Building Committee renewing its fundraising annual event after three years of being shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (The 2020 event was within a week of happening when the COVID shutdown cancelled it. 2021 and 2022 were also missed because of the pandemic.)

To call the 2023 event a success might just be an understatement, according to several of the organizers and workers. An army of committee members and community volunteers came together to put together an evening of fundraising activities. The evening included a delicious prime rib dinner, several hours of entertainment by "Dueling Pianos" (The Colorado Keys), the opportunity to bid on 60 big round bales of first cutting alfalfa along with various opportunities on raffles and games of chance.

By the time Saturday evening came, the committee had already spent several days priming the American Legion Hall for the event. Approximately 250 pounds of prime rib began cooking at 10 that morning. Final food and events for the night were finalized. By 6 p.m. "carry-out" supper started the scrumptious food service. The piano entertainment lasted three hours. All the time attendees were given the opportunity to bid on live auction items and take part in raffles.

The evening's entertainment ended at 10:30 p.m. with the final auctions and raffles finished up by 11 p.m. A few 'sturdy' supporters remained until well after the midnight hour when the evening was announced "A Success."

Final figures of money raised for the community building by the event cannot be finalized at this time as many of the expenses have not been considered. However, something more than $20,000 would not be surprising. It will take a while to pay all the bills to determine the final amount of money raised.

Winners of the raffle were: $2,000: Arnie Svoboda; $1,000: Becky Miller; $500: F & S Ultrasound: Keith Faimon and Garret Svoboda; $250: Lisa Brown; $250: Jim Theer. Winning bids included: cooler and lawn games: Dee Kohmetscher; refreshment basket: Kevin Ostdiek; wooden party cooler: Todd Balfour.

The buyers of the six lots of big round bales of alfalfa were: Cliff Mazour (2); Joe Theer; Chris Kohmetscher; Melvin Haba; Todd Himmelberg.

The one universal feeling among the Community Center Building Committee was one of thankfulness to all who not only worked on the benefit event, but also to all who came to support the event.

One interesting comment for the weekend concerned the number of people at the event. The number was limited because of the size of the American Legion building. The tickets for the meal sold out in less than 36 hours which left quite a number of people "hoping" for tickets which they could not obtain.

Terry Cox, dressed as a fully grown Leprechaun, stands before one of auction displays as people entered the American Legion Hall for a Building Fundraiser last Saturday evening in Lawrence.

Someone mentioned that was reason enough to want a new community building. "A place large enough to hold all who might want to come to such events."