Thanks for a record breaking Fireman's Ball

Sorry this has taken a while, but I've been waiting to get some better numbers on what we earned from the Fireman's Ball and get all the bills in. I've gotten most of them in and after going through the numbers best we can, I'm gonna go out there and say that without a doubt, it was another record breaking year for the Fireman's Ball.

It's a bit rough, but we should net around $20-$21,000, when we figure the expenses and what was earmarked for the new 6x6 water tender we are just about finished building.

Each year I am more and more amazed at how this town comes together to support us. We don't keep numbers at the door because it's too hard with people coming and going, people who just want to donate and bid on auction items, family tickets, and just the fast pace of people coming in.

But, judging by all the sore ribs and sore toes and the line of people out to the Sportsman Motel, I'm gonna have to say there were way more people than we have had before. Going off the food and plates, we served more than 375 people. And a lot of people didn't eat, whether by choice, by arriving too late, or because we just ran out of food. Best estimates of how many people came to the Ball are up in the 400-450 range. That's unbelievable. If we had a bigger venue in town I have no doubt that the town would fill it to the brim as well.

Our help was top notch. We had a phenomenal 8th grade class that worked their tails off and helped us on Sunday clean up. Our kitchen staff was amazing. Handling all those people was a huge feat and they handled it with ease. The BBQ crew did a bang-up job as always. The Highway 200 Band was outstanding. Can't thank them enough for always donating their time and performance for our little shindig every year.

The donations we got were amazing. Mike Brown and Jesse Sallin's live auction items. Wow!!

We were hard pressed to get out and get donations because we had a lot of training going on, people in EMT classes, Firefighter One classes in Seeley Lake and the rest of us were trying to hold the fort while we were shorthanded. But, as always, the town folk and local businesses came together and donated some phenomenal items. Helena, Great Falls and Missoula businesses also chipped in and helped us out. We got some nice cash donations from people that have nothing to do with Lincoln, they just wanted to help.

I know I will miss some people, so I'm not going to try and list everyone. I could take up the whole paper.

But I will say, without one person handling a ton of logistics and making sure I don't forget anything, things wouldn't happen as smoothly as they do. She does more and more each year to take some of the load off me and my firefighters. She could darn near have it all done and we could just show up and walk around and sell 50/50 tickets all night. Thanks Teresa Sutton. Couldn't do it without you!

Again, thank you all for supporting us and making this another record Fireman's Ball. We'll be putting the money to good use. For now, we'll be getting ready for when Mother Nature decides it's time to turn the thermometer up and all this snow finally starts moving down the mountain.

No time to rest!

Stay Safe.