Steamboat Springs — The ninth annual Barn Dance and Community Barbecue benefitting the Steamboat Springs Boys and Girls Club takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 at John and Carol Bender’s Wandering Creek Ranch on Routt County Road 14.  

The event is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs, and co-chaired this year by Rotary’s Melissa Gibson and Ashley Kane.

The barbecue will feature a 4-H pig, raised by Tommy Weber and purchased at the Routt County Fair. It will be prepared and served with full barbecue fixings by the staff of Rex’s Catering. Live music by the local band, Loose Change, with line-dancing and two-stepping will round out the evening.  

Last year, Rotary raised over $20,000 for the Boys and Girls Club, according to Gibson. She said she expects this year to exceed that mark.

“We are thrilled to be able to support a great community asset such as the Boys and Girls Club,” Kane said. She said 100 percent of the proceeds from the dinner and raffle go to the Boys and Girls Club.  

A raffle will be held for over $28,000 in prizes, which have been organized into 11 different “packages,” including a seven-night stay at Hilton Head, South Carolina, valued at $5,200, plus golfing, activities, bike rentals, kayaking, three dinners and a $1,000 voucher toward airfare.

Raffle tickets are $10 for one, $25 for three and $100 for 15.  

“The thing I love about the event is the opportunity for the donors to interact with the families they support,” said Celina Taylor, director of development for the Steamboat Boys and Girls Club. “It brings them together in a really fun way.”  

Taylor said her organization, which serves 50 percent of children ages 6 to 14 in Steamboat, relies on fundraisers and donations to provide programming.

She added that club programming is free and is open from 3:30 to 7 p.m. after school and on most school vacations. Parents send their kids to the Boys and Girls Club to “help them become their best selves,” Taylor said.  

Parents are encouraged to bring their children to the event for the bouncy house, fire truck, games and gelato courtesy of Ciao Gelato.  

Tickets to the Barn Dance are $35 for adults, $10 for children and $75 for a family of up to five members. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the night of the event or at Central Park Liquor and Elevated Olive.