Milk River Gobblers Banquet Saturday

The 5th Annual Milk River Gobblers Banquet is set for Saturday at the Havre Eagles Club, with dinner, raffles and games, all to help fund the Gobblers’ upcoming year of activities.

Organizer Jeff Dibblee said all the money they raise will stay in the community and help fund things like scholarships for young hunters.

This year’s banquet, Dibblee said, will look a lot like last year’s, with 150 seats available, including some tickets available at the door.

He said they will have a chef from Conrad preparing the prime rib this year, which is a specialty, along with a special cornbread.

They will also have their usual gun raffles.

The fundraiser also offers a Hi-Roller Package, which includes $300 in general raffle tickets and three tickets into a separate Hi-Roller Drawing with high-value items including three firearms. It also includes a Milk River Gobblers Tumbler.

Dibblee said he wanted to remind people that the high-roller package doesn’t include a meal ticket, which will need to be purchased separately.

Last year, Dibblee said, the money raised from the banquet paid for five scholarships, helped supply the Havre Community Christmas Dinner with turkeys and helped put on a youth fun day.

He said he’s had some health problems recently which required the organization to cut back on some of their normal activities, but he’s since recovered and they’re hoping to do some new things.

“This year I’m back to a hundred 110 percent,” he said.

Dibblee said this year they will have more raffles and, hopefully, begin a partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to transfer turkeys from overpopulated areas to those that could benefit from the animals.

Doors for the banquet open at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m., and prices will be the same as last year.