Saturday, March 24th the Niobrara County High School Rodeo Team held their annual fundraiser supper and silent auction. This year’s spring team is Kylie Strauch, Sadie Sturman and Peyton Kottwitz. The meal was roast beef, corn and a baked potato as well as a chocolate-mint brownie with ice cream.  Various silent auction baskets were put together from donations provided by community members. A slide show was shown of the rodeo team members competing. 

This year’s winner of the “Bucking Horse Game” (50/50) raffle was Bob Johnson and he donated his winnings back to the team. Cody Thompson was highest bid on the Gary Johnson bit. For the “Hat Trick” game, which is the gun raffle, Dan Pannett won the 22 Caliber pistol that was donated by Gary and Debby Bayne.

The team sponsor, Skye Martin, was presented with a gift by the team for her support and encouragement as their sponsor and coach. She is stepping down after this season and Larree Ann Kraft will be the sponsor in the 2018-2019 season. 

The fundraiser was a success and $7500 went on the books for assisting the team with entry fees, training and camp costs, and travel. While Rodeo Club is a sponsored activity with NCHS, it is not a fully funded program like some of the other sports. The Rodeo Team would like to thank everyone in the community and the volunteers that help every year with food preparation and serving the meal, the donations for the silent auction, and those who attend the supper. Without the support of the community these young people wouldn’t be able to continue representing NCHS at events throughout the year.