Badger football season is officially here, and what better way to kick it off than with Bonners Ferry’s homecoming festivities. In the spirit of the event that welcomes students back to school, the Bonners Ferry Badger Booster Club, with the help of Mountain West Bank, will host a Homecoming Tailgate BBQ following the Homecoming Parade downtown, and all of Bonners Ferry is invited.
BFHS’s homecoming week will be held from Monday, September 19 to Friday, September 23, with this year’s homecoming football game on Friday at 7pm at the Bonners Ferry High School, which will be a non-conference game against the visiting Pullman High School (WA) Greyhounds.
To gear up for the big game, the Bonners Ferry Badger Booster Club, run by local board members Shelly Kramer, Sandy Garner, Heidi Stockton, Crista Davis and Jennifer English, will hold their annual Homecoming Tailgate BBQ in the Mountain West Bank’s parking lot, located at 7186 1st Street. The BBQ fare, including hamburgers, chips and drinks, will be donated by Mountain West Bank and cooked up by members of the Badger Booster Club.
“We normally start the lunch about 11am, and it lasts until the food runs out,” said Patti Branson, VP Branch Manager of Mountain West Bank, “approximately about 2pm.”
All hands will be on deck for this event. BFHS football players from the varsity squad led by head coach Cory Kramer will assist with the heavy lifting – unloading supplies, setting up tables and emptying trash. While both the junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders will help with decorations and executing the event, as well as gathering and rallying up the fans.
“The girls will help to gather the crowd by flagging down motorists with signs along the streets and bridge to bring people back to the bank,” said the head coach of the BFHS cheer team, Sarah Jenkins. Even the Bonners Ferry High School band will be there to entertain the crowd with festive tunes.
“All of this takes place right after the homecoming parade downtown,” explained Branson. “Then our athletes head up to the school to get prepped for the much anticipated game. “
The Bonners Ferry Badger Booster Club will be taking donations for the tailgate lunch, with all proceeds going to the Booster Club. Funds raised are used to help support all of the Bonners Ferry High School sports teams and covers anything from new equipment and uniforms to traveling funds for district and state championships. Funds raised by the booster club also go to the BFHS academic and club groups as well, such as drama club and choir.
Some of the other ways that the BFHS Badger Booster Club raises funds includes running concessions at all of the BFHS home football games, putting on the Community Breakfast for the Bonners Ferry Rotary Club, operating the food booth at the Boundary County Fair, and running concessions at the Demo Derby, which took place earlier this month. Functions like this enable the Badger Booster Club to support Bonners Ferry youth and their activities, as well as supplement shrinking monetary support due to budget cuts.
“With the community’s support and the volunteers to help, we are able to help fund school events and programs that enrich the students’ lives,” said Booster Club board member Shelly Kramer, “the Homecoming Tailgate BBQ aims to do just that.”
For more information on the Bonners Ferry High School Badger Booster Club Homecoming Tailgate BBQ, tune into BFHS Football team’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/BonnersFerryFootball, or contact Patti Branson at Mountain West Bank, PBranson@mountainwestbank.com.
Go Badgers!