• Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner served from 5:30 to 6:30.

In true Rotary tradition, the Rotary Club of Star Valley is hosting their annual Oktoberfest fundraiser on Saturday, September 2 at the Barn in the Star Valley Ranch Resort RV Park.  In partnership with the Thayne Senior Center, all proceeds go towards the Rotary Club’s various charitable efforts and the Thayne Senior Center fund for the construction of a new building.

“Half of all ticket sales will be going to the Thayne Senior Center this year,” said Amy Moon, Rotary of Star Valley President, in an interview with SVI News last week. “The more tickets sold, the more money that goes to the Center. They are in desperate need of a new building to increase their space.”

Traditional German items are on the menu, including bratwurst, polish sausages, sauerkraut, a hot German potato salad, and apple strudel.  Beverages available for purchase will include sodas, waters, beer, and wine.

In addition to the mounds of good food, there will be a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle. The winning name on the raffle will be drawn at the conclusion of the evening. You must be present to win. A DJ is also scheduled to offer lively dance music.

“Last year, we had a group who loved line dancing and they hijacked the DJ to play line dancing music for them, so that was actually a lot of fun having people dance while everyone else visited,” Moon smiled. “If you’ve never been out to the barn on Star Valley Ranch Resort, I highly recommend getting there for an event, because it is a very unique space.”

Rotary of Star Valley is a non-profit service organization consisting of volunteers from the length of the valley. “I think this is one of the few clubs that includes people from the whole valley, which is one of the reasons I love this club.”  Club members focus on “bringing people together who are looking to do good in the world and just make the world a better place on all different levels – health, economy, education.”

As a non-political, non-religious organization, Rotary is mindful of the causes they choose to support.  Their funds go towards a variety of local, national, and international recipients.

“They cover the whole gamut of making society a better place,” Moon shared. “Right now, we donate to the Star Valley Health Foundation Breast Care fund, which is a fund that helps finance women who can’t afford it to get a mammogram and have the mammogram analyzed. We donate to the food shelves. We donate to the Thayne Senior Center and to the library system. We have a student scholarship that we do every year, and then we have a school in rural Ukraine that we sponsor, and it has been a challenge working to sponsor them over the last couple of years, but we are doing our best.”

Oktoberfest is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” Moon explained. “We use the funds for things that we find important to better not only Star Valley, but the world in general.  It’s really a lot of fun. People enjoy themselves and we’ve had people coming back every year because they really enjoy it.”

Tickets to Oktoberfest are $15 in advance or at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Thayne Senior Center or at the Star Valley Ranch Resort office. For more information about Rotary of Star Valley, visit rotaryofstarvalley.org or the Rotary of Star Valley Facebook page.