Chartered in 1978, the Truckee Rotary Club has been operating as one of the many branches of Rotary International. As stated on Truckee Rotary’s official website, their goal is to “serve [the] community and environment… leading with integrity and modeling the Rotary motto, Service Above Self.” To achieve this, the current president of Truckee Rotary, Richard Anderson, explained that they provide grants to nonprofits that need financial support, plan events to bring the community together, and organize hands-on programs. 

Acting as both a means to support the grants they give and a fun event that brings the community together, the Truckee Rotary’s annual “Small Town, Big Night Out” fundraiser is, as Richard Anderson put it, one of their “most important fundraisers.”

The “Small Town, Big Night Out” fundraiser has been taking place for a few years as a descendant of Truckee Rotary’s previous annual fundraiser known as the “Cadillac Ball,” which was more of a black-tie event hosted at the Ritz-Carlton. The new fundraiser is entirely western-themed, complete with a dance floor where they taught line-dancing and swing-dancing, live music (this year’s entertainment being a local band known as Wild Ginger), a buffet fixed with foods such as cornbread and ribs, a photo booth station with props ranging from cowboy hats to gold bars, a bar for drinks, and a stand specifically for whiskey. Throughout the event, there were fun awards, including an award for best-dressed guest, an award for best-decorated table, and a raffle whose top winner won $10,000. 

Although the general setup has remained the same for the past few years, Brand Perry, the co-manager of this event for two years now, expressed that each year they have been trying out new things in response to community input. For example, this year, there were cornhole games set up where there had previously stood a mechanical bull. In doing this, they have ensured that the event is truly reflecting the preferences of the community, which is evident from the moment you step into the transformed gymnasium and are greeted by a dense crowd of people, almost all donned in cowboy hats. 

To host the event itself, the main drivers are volunteers, both from Truckee Rotary and from the various organizations that they support. By doing this, Truckee Rotary can keep costs down and focus on its main goal of the night: fundraising. Perry broke down the funding they get from the event into three categories: sponsors, ticket sales, and raffle tickets. 

The tickets themselves cover the cost of getting the space, decorations, catering, and entertainment, leaving sponsors and raffle ticket sales as the main contributors to Truckee Rotary’s funding for grant money. “We make all this money from this event, and it goes right back into the community,” said Perry. Adding on that this funding lasts them throughout the year to give grant money to whichever non-profit organization may need it.