Recently, Jaycee President David Fritz came to the Sidney City Council to have March 1-7th proclaimed "Sidney Jaycee Week." Many of the community and youth activities the group promotes are done because of the money generated through fund raising activities. This weekend marks the third annual appearance of one such event, dubbed the "3rd annual Put-Put and Bar Crawl."
Community activities such as Punt, Pass & Kick require time and money. The Jaycees raises more than $10,000 annually to fund these efforts and the Put-Put event provides a substantial amount of that money. Event organizer Ken Steffens said that the Put-Put and Bar Crawl historically generates, "between three and five thousand," making it one of the most financially important events for the group annually.
The Jaycees have lengthened the course this year by starting and ending it at the Cheyenne County Fair Grounds.
When asked why they did it, Steffens said, "We do it to raise money for all of our youth events during the year. "This helps go into our general fund so we can provide more stuff for the area teens to do."
Safety is a key component. When the first event happened three years ago, the Jaycees instituted a policy of requiring each team of four players to also have a designated driver. Additionally, this year a lunch will be provided before the game begins."We want to make sure they have eaten before they go out," he said.
After lunch and a rules overview, teams are assigned their shotgun start locations with various groups starting at different bars in town.
The routine for the event is pretty simple. Each stop (currently nine locations) has a hole. Jaycee members are there to record the score for each team and after a suitable amount of refreshment (no participant is required to consume alcohol), the cars load back up and make their way to the next hole's location. The scores are tabulated at the end and everyone gathers back at the fairgrounds for prizes and entertainment.
Although the event is a fund raiser, the Jaycees also want people to feel like they are getting a good entertainment value as well. "This is a great event, it so much fun," said Steffens. "For a day long event you are basically paying 30 per person to play in this event and you get two meals, a tee shirt, and entertainment afterward."
Jaycee State President Brian Finch of Bennett, Neb. will be bringing his "Finch on the Run" DJ service to the fairgrounds and will provide the evening's dance music to close the evening.
The fund raiser isn't just about making money for teen activities. Steffens said also that the Jaycees makes ever effort to reuse the funds here locally. "All the money that we do earn stays in this community." The group makes every effort to utilize local suppliers whenever possible and only goes outside if they can't find the resources they need in the area.
Shirt Tales, a local sports and custom clothing shop, was contracted to produce the event tee shirts. Also, by joining with the local pubs in town, additional dollars are spent and the additional revenue means more profit for the participating bars and more sales tax revenue for the city.
In closing the interview, Steffens said of the Jaycees efforts that it is all in a day's work, noting, "We strive to make the community a better place every day."
This year there are 41 teams. The number is down about nine teams over the previous year. The deadline for team submissions has passed, but Steffens noted that if interested teams contacted him before noon on Wednesday, he might be able to add a few additional groups. Interested parties should call Ken Steffens at 250-0204 and leave a message if there is no answer.
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