Rotary sells 600 chicken dinners to raise funds for community project

KALKASKA – The members of the Rotary Club of Kalkaska were anything but chicken while raising funds for a community beautification project on Sunday, June 24.

The local Rotary Club held its annual Chicken Barbeque at the Kalkaska County Fairgrounds, just outside the Kalkaska Civic Center, on Sunday. And, despite the threat of rain, hundreds of hungry residents came out in support, making the fundraiser a huge success, according to organizers.

“We don’t have the final numbers yet, but we sold in the neighborhood of 600 chicken dinners,” said Tom Tanner, PR chairman and soon-to-be past president for the Kalkaska service organization. “That’s the best we’ve done in the last couple of years, the most successful in about the last five years.”

Tanner said the difference, in comparison with past barbeque fundraisers that are held on the last Sunday in June, is that Rotary members focused on selling dinner tickets in advance.

“Historically, we haven’t been that aggressive about it,” Tanner said. “I think the pre-sell of tickets was a big factor this year.

“(And) we tried to do a better job of getting the word out.”

It also helped that Mother Nature didn’t intervene.

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