Friends of the NRA Banquet set for Saturday

The annual Hot Springs County Friends of the NRA Banquet is this Saturday at the Days Inn. Doors are scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m., with a dinner featuring baron of beef or ham at 7 p.m. NRA members and nonmembers are welcome.

This year marks not only the 10th for the banquets, but also the 25th anniversary for Friends of the NRA. Because of the milestone, gun favorites from the past 25 years have been selected and are available in the standard package. There are at least 26 firearms available during auction, raffles and games, and the popular Wall of Guns will be set up.

Among the firearms available will be the Gun of the Year Daniel Defense M4 Carbine, a Kimber K6 which is one of the new top-of-the-line revolvers, a Henry Big Boy Silver Lever Action .44 Mag and a Nosler Model 48, 30 Nosler caliber.

The event will also have games, among them Plinko for youth and opportunities to buy a rose for a special lady; those who buy roses get a chance to win a firearm chosen with women in mind.

Other items available throughout the night include art, jewelry and other memorabilia, as well as bucket prizes. When people buy a raffle ticket packet they have tickets to put in to win selected firearms and another group of tickets to put in three buckets — gold, blue and red — to win additional prizes. Among the items this year is an autographed Charlie Daniels flag fiddle, as well as pictures and a CD.

Donations through the live and silent auctions are tax deductible since Friends of NRA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Proceeds from the banquet will go to a pool of funds generated statewide. Garbin noted 50 percent of the money stays in Wyoming. Since the inception of Friends of the NRA, she said, in Hot Springs County there has been awarded 16 grants totaling $114,000.

Grant recipients have included 4-H shooting sports, the Thermopolis Gun Club and the Thermopolis Clay Cutters Scholastic Clay Target Program. The remaining 50 percent of proceeds goes to the National NRA Foundation to support items such as safety courses, the Eddie Eagle program which teaches gun safety, women’s programs, enforcement training and Game and Fish programs

Admission is $35 for adults and $25 for youth 14 and under, which includes the dinner. Advance tickets are available at White Horse Country Store/Canyon Sporting Goods, Black Bear Café, Thermopolis Hardware & Mercantile and Storyteller, or by contacting Paul Garbin at 921-8303.