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Rotary raises money through horse races
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Two DJs were at the event providing music throughout the night. Several local businesses partnered with the Poland Rotary Club to provide product for the event.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Raffle prizes that were available to win were golf clubs, a Michael Kors purse, Michael Kors watch, iPad, Drone and a $1,000 gift certificate to Aebischer's Jewelry.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The Night at the Races event was hosted by the Poland Rotary Club on Jan. 29 at the Holy Family Parish Center. One of the fundraising events was the horse races that guests were able to bid on different horses.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
The Poland Rotary Club hosted its fifth annual Night at the Races fundraiser on Jan. 29 at the Holy Family Parish Center.
The Night at the Races fundraiser always takes place the weekend before the Superbowl and is one of the biggest fundraisers for the Poland Rotary. Money is raised through the Poland Rotary, a local service organization, and then the money is provided to local charities.
“It’s gotten bigger, we are expecting around 350-400 people here tonight,” said Dan Dull, a member of Poland Rotary.
The Poland Rotary partners with several local businesses to help the Night at the Races come together. Many local shops donated food or gave the Poland Rotary a discount for the event. Poland Rotary raised money by selling entry tickets, which are all-inclusive, raffle tickets for the bigger prizes and a horse race in which people can bid on different horses.
“We used to do a more formal event, but with the younger crew in Rotary no one wanted to dress up in a suit and tie so we wanted to change it to an event like this,” said Dull.
The event becomes larger each year, which is beneficial in helping raise more money for the Poland Rotary and other local charities.
The auction race, led by Dull who is an auctioneer, is where the guests bid on the race horses. Most of the time a table will bid together and the total amount of money raised is split in half. One half goes to the winner or winners and the other half goes to the Poland Rotary. Dull said the amount raised for the horse races is usually around $2,000.
The next event hosted by the Poland Rotary will be the Chili Open Golf Classic on March 5.