Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
The New Rockford Eagles hosted the inaugural Stick Horse Calcutta in 2014 as a way to raise money for the $10,000 pledge they made to the community swimming pool project. The tradition carries on with this year's fifth annual "Run for the Roses" Eagles Stick Horse Calcutta slated for Saturday, Nov. 17. It is good fun for the whole family, so don your derby hats, bring the kids and place your bets on your favorite stick horse!
The evening begins with a freewill donation pork loin dinner served from 5:30 - 7 p.m. At 7:30 pm, the stick-horse auction begins, where groups of friends, families, organizations and businesses can buy a horse to race. The buyers choose real life jockeys to run the race on their behalf. Once all six horses have owners and jockeys, spectators can place their "bets" on the horse of their choosing by purchasing 50/50 raffle tickets and putting them in the bucket for their chosen horse(s).
Race time is 8 p.m., as the jockeys, numbered from one to six, take their places on the starting line. Then with the roll of a die, the horses are off! When a horse's number is rolled, the jockey moves his or her horse to the next square on the game board. The race will be held indoors this year, and the game board will be taped off on the dance floor.
The first horse to make it to the finish line isn't the only winner in this game. The buyer of the winning horse wins half of the money collected from auction, and those who placed bets on the winning horse will have their tickets drawn for 50 percent of the raffle proceeds. The remaining half of the auction and raffle proceeds will go into the Eagles charitable gaming account, which funds local organizations and projects for which the Eagles have received requests.
Eagles treasurer Josh Guler explained that events like these are opportunities for the organization to "give back" to the community. Over the past four years the Stick Horse Calcutta has brought in over $20,000 for local projects, and two of the Calcutta winners donated all or a portion of their winnings back to the recipient organization.
Every year the Eagles give tens of thousands of dollars back to the community through their charitable gaming. Requesting funds is simple and requires only a letter of request and completion of a half page form. Any governmental entity or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is eligible to apply.
