The streets of St. Walburg were filled and the party was on.
Read more: Rotary hears impacts of continued Avery School support
Party in the Pasture was a big hit again this year with hundreds packing the small town.
“It’s just a good time,” Justin Novak, president of Party in the Pasture and the communiplex fundraising group. “We want to kick off the summer right and have a party in the pasture.”
The event brings the party to St. Walburg and helps support the community.
“We do it to fundraise for our communiplex, support groups and other programs that we run,” he said. “It helps fund all that and keep it alive for a small town. That’s huge for us.”
The event features something for everyone.
“We’ve got a ball tournament and get a lot of people through the gate for that,” said Novak. “We run 20, 24 teams sometimes.
Christian Apostolovski – Meridian Source
“We have a bunch of different types of racing. We’ve got drag racing, quad racing, mud racing, tough trucks, demo derby and mud quad racing.”
New this year is the introduction of the PBR, which took place during the second night of the three-day event.
“We’re bucking around 40 bulls,” said Novak. “I think we have 20 riders coming in, maybe even 30 now. We have nine of the 10 best riders with PBR coming in.”
The event also featured a cabaret.
“Then, we have a cabaret and beer gardens Friday and Saturday. The last two years we’ve done, we call it the bush party,” said Novak. “It’s karaoke, music, a bunch of party games and we had a mechanical bull this year.”
Beyond being a vital community fundraiser, the event also drives a massive economic boost for St. Walburg.
“All the hotels are sold out, the restaurants in town are all (packed),” he said. “The economic impact is just huge.”
Novak explained that without the help of sponsors and volunteers, the event wouldn’t be able to run.
“We have a huge volunteer group that puts this on. Without them, we wouldn’t have anything,” he said.
Read more: AJHL expands playoffs, adds new all-star game
