Cowboy Ball raises funds for fairgrounds
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POLSON — The 31st annual Cowboy Ball rang in areas’ events season at the Polson Fairgrounds on Friday.
Started in around 1990, Una Rose Graham of the fairgrounds said the event has gotten bigger every year. Involved since nearly the beginning, Graham explained that the earliest events started out with under 100 attendees and was held in the Ponderae, a restaurant that used to be on Main Street. The event has grown every year since, expanding out of the Elks Lodge and KwaTuqNuk on the way. This year the fairgrounds sold out of the 500 tickets available, making it the biggest Cowboy Ball yet.
With a prime rib dinner, silent and live auctions, a bar hosted by Polson’s Perfect Shot Tavern, and the popular band Shodown as the musical entertainment, the Ball made for a lively evening.
Though some years of the event were skipped due to COVID-19, the Polson Fairgrounds relies on the annual Cowboy Ball as their biggest fundraiser, providing resources for maintenance and improvements.
An over 40-acre facility, the fairgrounds have acted as a staple of the community providing space for rodeos, races, and more. “Class reunions, family reunions, auctions, all kinds of events have been held there over the years,” Graham explained. “(The facility) is always available to rent at a very reasonable fee.”
The Polson Fairgrounds board is currently working with Lake County to expand development, with a goal to start the first phase of building an event center. “We’ve got engineers and planning going on right now,” Graham said. “We (had) displays set up at the Cowboy Ball that engineers and architects have presented to us so people can kind of see future possibilities when we can get funding to do it.”
Another goal of the board’s is to add a roof onto the fairgrounds’ stage. Built a few years back thanks to the Anderson Broadcasting charitable foundation, they hope the addition of a roof will make it more user friendly. With its standard performance size, it should be able to draw in professional bands for concerts and help increase tourism.
Anyone interested in donating toward the projects can do so by submitting donations to the Polson Fairgrounds at PO Box 1243, Polson, MT 59860. Those with questions about the development or who want more information, can call the Fairgrounds at 406-883-1100 or the Lake County Commissioners at 406-883-7204.
“It’s got a lot of possibilities, it’s a beautiful site, and we just want to preserve, protect, and develop the area so it’ll be in perpetuity so to speak for Lake County and the citizens of Lake County and everyone to enjoy,” Graham explained.
