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First half of fundraiser a success

by Mike Miller
| December 1, 2010 11:30 AM

In an effort to raise money and a little Christmas cheer, Plains-Hot Springs wrestlers are helping locals decorate their homes for the holidays by selling Christmas trees.

“This is our first year, and we’re hoping it’ll take off a little bit and become a yearly thing for us,” Savage Horsemen head coach Kenny Margerrison said. “Ever since I took over the head coach job here I’ve thought that would be a good fund-raiser, because nobody in town really sells trees.”

High school clubs and organizations are always looking for ways to fund their programs via car washes or bake sales, but the economic recession has hit these entities harder than ever in recent years.

Athletic programs all over the nation have been cut or scaled down and Sanders County teams have been affected as well.

Smaller sports like wrestling, cross-country and softball have been impacted the most. In Plains, for instance, all three sports are now run by entirely volunteer coaching staffs.

“It’s [fundraising] huge for us,” Margerrison said. “We get a set amount of money now, and a lot of times it’s not enough to cover the bussing.”

Despite relatively small team sizes, wrestling remains one of the more expensive sports to maintain, because since not every school has a program, each team has to travel that much further in order to compete. Additionally, most tournaments require entrance fees due to low ticket sales and high officiating costs.

“We’ll probably have somewhere around $1,200 a year in entry fees and our travel is usually $4,000 to $5,000 and then supplies,” Margerrison said.

While tournaments are expensive, Margerrison insists that they are essential to his wrestlers performance and growth.

“It kind of gives us an idea of how we stack up against everybody,” he said. “A lot of times tournaments are the only time our kids get to see some of their competition on the other side of the mountains until they get to state.”

Wrestlers do what they can to cut costs, including staying with relatives or family friends during travel to avoid expensive hotel costs.

According to Margerrison the wrestlers do a variety of fund-raisers throughout the year including, flagging for the motocross races while they’re in town and working a booth at the fair.

“We make five hundred bucks here, and five hundred bucks there,” Margerrison said. “We’re hoping this [Christmas tree sale] will kind of be our big one.”

Margerison got the idea from his relatives who have sold Christmas trees in Wyoming the last 25 years.

In addition to selling trees, wrestlers are selling baked goods and holiday wreaths. The baked items were made by Kassy Marjerrison, and Gretchen and Lisa French while the wreaths were hand crafted by Doreen Stokes.

Over the weekend, the wrestling team raised $720, nearly half of their $2,000 goal for the two week event. Margerrison is confident that as the word continues to spread and as Christmas approaches more people will be willing to purchase a tree.

The wrestlers still have plenty of trees available, and will be back next weekend at the Wild Horse Elementary School on Dec. 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. until dark.

For pre-orders or special requests call Marjerrison at (406) 396-7036. Trees of any size or shape are $20.

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