'Skate 4 A Cure' brings in cold cash for Relay for Life

The Valley Event Center was the scene of a lot of excitement on Sunday, Jan. 3. There were raffles, puck tosses, an old guys-young bucks hockey game (the young team won), and the drawing for a new Dodge Challenger. It was all to raise money for the Northeast Montana Relay For Life. The Valley County Community Food Bank also benefited from the can of food admission price.

It all began last year when the Relay committee set a goal to reach $100,000. Louise Franzen, head of the Auction Committee, decided to visit Jack Nelson of Prairie Auto in Wolf Point and see if they would donate a car.  Nelson said yes, and donated a 2010 Dodge Challenger, blue, loaded. Louise started handing out tickets for everyone to sell near and far and - wow - everyone sold like crazy.

The Relay people weren't sure when they would get the tickets sold and everyone was asking, "When will the car be drawn?" Then Brad Tribby from the Hi-Line Youth Hockey Association approached committee member Rod Karst, who directed him to contact Relay Chairman Brenda Leckie. Tribby said the Hi-Line Youth Hockey wanted to do Skate 4 a Cure and make this an annual event. The committee knew this would be the perfect time and place to have the car raffle drawing, so the excitement grew.

On game day, the players all had on awesome bold pink-and-black hockey apparel. Leckie and Tim Volk of the hockey association threw out the honorary pink 2010 Skate 4 a Cure hockey puck. Flicks joined the fun and had Skate 4 a Cure shirts available for purchase with proceeds going to the Relay. The concessions were all run by the hockey association and donated to the Relay. The Relay committee people sold pink hockey pucks that people could inscribe with either the name of a survivor or in memory of someone who lost the battle with cancer. Committee members Connie Boreson and Darla Larson sold chances for people to do a 50-50 puck throw. There also was a beautiful hockey jersey raffled off by the hockey team Dawgs girls. The Glasgow dance group also performed for the fans.

When it was time to give away the car, $1 was collected from anyone who wished to be in the heads and tails draw. Two young ladies won to make the draw for the second-place winner of $2,500 cash -  Jack Schye.

Jeri Lynn Smoker Frisley of Wolf Point was the lucky winner of the car. She works in Nashua at the U.S. Postal Service. Her father, who is a cancer survivor going through radiation treatments, bought the ticket as a Christmas gift. He knew Jeri was desperate for a car. She was planning a trip to Las Vegas to see her son and wanted to take her parents with them. Now they can do it in this beautiful car. To top off the evening, it was Jack Nelson's birthday!