Ducks Unlimited set fundraising banquet

The Montana Ducks Unlimited of the Hi-Line annual banquet is set for Friday, starting at 5 p.m., in the Olympic Room at the Duck Inn.

Tickets are $35 for singles, $60 for couples, $15 for youths or $250 for a sponsor ticket. Ticket sales end Thursday and can be purchased at the group’s website at https://www.ducks.org/montana/events/60686/hiline-(havre)-ducks-unlimited-banquet?poe=events .

Ticket sales will also provide a one-year membership of the group for each attendee.

The event will include silent and live auctions as well as a raffle. Items for the auction, donated from the local businesses, include guns, sporting good packages and more.

Montana Ducks Unlimited Hi-Line Chapter Chairman James Bachini of Havre said money collected from the banquet will be sent to the national headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, and then will be sent back in the form of funding for projects in Montana. 

He said people coming to the banquet get a double bonus.

“They would have a good time if they came; they would be doing their part in water conservation because the money comes back,” he said. “(Ducks Unlimited) spends about $5 million in the state of Montana every year, in the form of projects, so it’s a pretty good deal.”

For more information, people can contact Bachini at 262-3739.

Ducks Unlimited is a conservation group that was formed in North America in 1937, for water conservation projects to be done in the nation, including Canada and Mexico, Bachini said.

“(In Montana), they do quite a few projects over the years and mainly watersheds and ditches, ponds, dams, headgates and things like that to manage and control the water that’s around,” he said. “It’s important for everyone. It enhances the watersheds around the country, all the low-lining places, the swamps and whatnot which are filtering the water, our groundwater for us to drink and consumption for the animals and things like that.”

He said Ducks Unlimited has 6,000 chapters and 40 of those are in Montana.

The Hi-Line chapter began in 1975, and the group is celebrating 45 years in 2020, he added

“A group of businessmen got together and said, ‘Hey, we gotta do our part,’” Bachini said.