The smell of hundreds of steaks grilled to perfection by the Liberty County EMS Flatliner Kookers helped to set the mood for an evening of food, music and fundraising at the Liberty-Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s 500 Drawing on Friday, Aug. 10, at the Dayton Community Center.
“It’s an effective fundraiser,” explained Liberty County Tax Assessor-Collector Richard Brown. “It takes a lot of work from a lot of people to plan and carry it out.”
Despite rainy weather outside, the 29th annual event still welcomed guests to the Dayton Community Center who were hoping for a chance to win the grand prize of the evening – $5,000 in gold bullion.
While there was only one lucky winner of the gold, Agnes Carter, there were many winners announced throughout the evening. A live auction coupled with a silent auction provided an opportunity for guests to bid on and take home their favorite items.
Not to mention each person in the room who purchased the steak dinner also had his or her ticket placed in a raffle ticket drum, which Brown kept spinning all night to call every 38th ticket as a random winner of various large prizes before the final drawing of the golden grand prize at the end of the evening.
“I won the grand prize about four years ago, so I come back every year hoping to win again,” explained Guest Doug Long who attended along with Beddy Germany, and Festus and K. Cullars.
With a young daughter at home and another daughter on the way, guests Rob and Amber Jones welcomed the event as a chance to go out on the town and also to get away from the daily operations of running Hometown Tire & Auto in Liberty for a few hours.
“It’s a tradition for us coming to this fundraiser,” said Rob.
“This is a date night for us,” said Amber.
Participating in the chamber events, such as the Liberty-Dayton 500, also allows the Joneses a chance to mingle with other community members and get to know them on a personal level instead of just knowing what others do for business.
“We are members of the chamber. It has been a benefit for us to receive referrals from other chamber members, so we try to do what we can to help out,” said Rob. “We bought a gun tonight in the auction.”
Hailed as the biggest fundraiser of the year, the evening appeared to unfold and come to an end without a hitch – and that means members of the chamber are now in preparations for how to continue the tradition with next year’s “500” fundraiser.
The top prizes of the night went to the following persons:
- Lillian Rucka – Ladies Bulova Watch from Coats Jewelers
- Ellie Thibodeaux – Visa gift card donated by CRCU-Mont Belvieu
- Calvin Westcott – Visa gift card donated by First Liberty National Bank
- Bruce Karbowski – spa package donated by Liberty Med and Spa
- Precise Safety – Visa gift card donated by Magnolia Place Health Care
- David Leonard – Visa gift card donated by Post Oak Bank
- Carol Stanley – Visa gift card donated by Prosperity Bank
- Lois Brooks – Visa gift card donated by Texas First Bank
- Sullins and Johnson – Thrif-Tee gift card donated by Thrif-Tee Food Center
- Cathy Harbour – Hisense 43-inch LED HDTV donated by Walmart
- Steve Rodger – $500 Visa gift card donated by Liberty County Teachers Federal Credit Union
- CRCU – $750 Visa gift card donated by PLC Construction Inc.
- Lopez Roofing – $1,200 donated by Golden’s Furniture
- John Carter – E-100 John Deere lawn tractor, valued at $1,539
- Agnes Carter – $5,000 in gold bouillon
For more information about the Liberty-Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, call 936-336-5736 for the Liberty office or 936-257-8926 for the Dayton office.
By Rachel Hall, special to Bluebonnet News
