30 Years Ago

February 1, 1990

Band gets rave reviews after performances

The Broadus High School Band, under the direction of Doug Wilbert, was well received after their performance at the Miles Community College basketball game January 22.

As the band played the “Star Spangled Banner,” Allison Jurica sang it so the words could be heard.

The band played four sessions during the evening. Singing with the bad at various times were Tami Archer, Ginger Ridenour, Eric Graff, and Allison Jurica, who also played instruments.

Locals were pleased to see former Broadus Lady Hawk standout basketball players, Lody Mader of Williston College and SharLa Russiff of Miles Community College.

The Community College served the band group a sloppy joe supper and helped pay for the gasoline.

After the last home basketball game of the season Saturday night, January 27, the Broadus High School Band played for a dance at the VFW Hall. The floor was filled with dancers of all ages as the band played a range of music from waltzes to rock and roll. The line almost encircled the hall for “Glow Worm,” and the floor was jammed for the “Butterfly.”

Many adults expressed surprise at the quality of sound produced by the high school band.

Music Boosters sponsored the event.

Football field lights project going well

By Principal Brian Patrick

The funding for the football field lights is going well. At this point over $2,000 has been raised through various projects and donations.

Money making projects have included 50/50 raffles, Deadwood gambling raffle and sweatshirt and T-shirt sales. Various businesses have made donations and an individual contribution of $1,000 was received from Drew Lewis.

Powder River County High School is one of two schools in the entire conference which does not have football field lights. All area schools who play football have football field lights.

Conference schools which were contacted all agreed that their attendance increased by at least double when they were able to have night games.

At the present time, the gate receipts for the Powder River High school do not meet the expenses of the referees, ticket takers, scorers, and ambulance service for the home football games. The average gate receipts for the past season were $271.25. The average amount of money that was paid out for expenses was $327.90.

The projected increase in revenue will help the football program become self-supporting. The cost of power for the lighting system will average less than $15 per game. This could help save a program in the future which may be investigated as a possible cutback because it does not financially support itself.

At the present time, Exxon has agreed to donate the materials to construct the towers to place the lights on. With permanent metal towers in place, the only future projected expense will be in replacing light bulbs.

The average life of football field lights is around thirty years.

Afternoon football games have not been as well attended partially due to the type of economy we have here in Broadus. The football season is at the same time that many farmers and ranchers need to get work done on Saturday afternoons. With the option of night football games, more community people would be given the opportunity to attend and support high school activities.

This is a community project where the lights will be financed by advertising and more community projects.

The addition of the lights will allow for more support for the athletes who year after year represent the school and community so well.