Sweepstakes Dinner
Saturday ✪ November 29, 2025
Stanford, Montana
6:00 p.m. - Stanford City Hall
Saturday ✪ November 29, 2025
Stanford, Montana
6:00 p.m. - Stanford City Hall
The CMR Stampede Club Sweepstakes Dinner is held annually in November on the Saturday following Thanksgiving Day. The ticket price is $150 for a couple and only 100 tickets are sold. People who buy tickets keep the same numbered ticket from year to year, and even pass them onto their grown children or other family members.
Number drawings are done using a ping-pong ball system. Some places (the first number drawn and then every 5th placed ball thereafter) get their money back. The individuals whose numbers are drawn in the ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety and one-hundredth positions make up 10 of the finalists for money prizes, based on money received during the evening of the dinner. All the money collected by the Club goes back into the community by either assisting in putting on the PRCA rodeo in July, or given to community groups across the county. As the only county-wide civic organization, this organization plays a major role in assisting the small communities to support activities, particularly youth activities, in their town.
The dinner is prepared locally by a volunteer organization, like Search and Rescue. They prepare an incredible Prime Rib dinner that makes "prime" seem puny anywhere else. The bar is open for the entire evening, and all types of beverages are available to suit the tastes of just about any of us country people or any of you whose heart lies in the country! After desert if you still feel hungry, another cut of prime is on its way to you. The preparers of the dinner get paid for putting on the meal, which further enriches their organization. And at the end of the meal if there are any prime roasts left, well they are auctioned off to help that group even further. It is country hospitality and autumn fun at its best!
But this is only the beginning - raffle tickets are sold at the Dinner, too. These tickets, sold only for a dollar, are thrown into a separate bucket and one ticket is pulled to be the 11th finalist. There is usually a scurry of people buying raffle tickets once their ball has been drawn out of a finalist position and the main number drawing has eliminated them. Plenty of time is given for these raffle tickets to be sold, as each dollar is important for returning to the community.
Once the 11 finalists are identified, the Calcutta begins. Each finalist is "sold" twice and the buyer of the eventual winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd places) have a share in the money wagered on all the finalists. Some attendees bid as individuals and some form consortium's and buy finalists as a group. It is a rowdy and fun-filled time with everyone knowing that every participant is a winner - all having helped their communities by lending some of their dollars back to the area through the Stampede Club.
And this is not the end either! After the money has been managed and doled out to the winners, that is when the band set's up and begins to play. You can dance until you cannot dance anymore, or just listen to the favorites being played by the best of our regional country bands. It is a full night to enjoy and to remember.
If you are interested in purchasing a ticket for the Sweepstakes Dinner or donating to the Club to help keep this small county and its communities vibrant, please contact us at [email protected] or you can call Mick Kirby at 406-566-2422. All donations are tax deductible as we are a 501(c)(3) organization.
We'd love to see new faces and we can guarantee you that you will make lasting new friends! We know that Charlie Russell would approve of this event as it is the way of Russell Country - coming together to meet up with old friends while making new ones.
Number drawings are done using a ping-pong ball system. Some places (the first number drawn and then every 5th placed ball thereafter) get their money back. The individuals whose numbers are drawn in the ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety and one-hundredth positions make up 10 of the finalists for money prizes, based on money received during the evening of the dinner. All the money collected by the Club goes back into the community by either assisting in putting on the PRCA rodeo in July, or given to community groups across the county. As the only county-wide civic organization, this organization plays a major role in assisting the small communities to support activities, particularly youth activities, in their town.
The dinner is prepared locally by a volunteer organization, like Search and Rescue. They prepare an incredible Prime Rib dinner that makes "prime" seem puny anywhere else. The bar is open for the entire evening, and all types of beverages are available to suit the tastes of just about any of us country people or any of you whose heart lies in the country! After desert if you still feel hungry, another cut of prime is on its way to you. The preparers of the dinner get paid for putting on the meal, which further enriches their organization. And at the end of the meal if there are any prime roasts left, well they are auctioned off to help that group even further. It is country hospitality and autumn fun at its best!
But this is only the beginning - raffle tickets are sold at the Dinner, too. These tickets, sold only for a dollar, are thrown into a separate bucket and one ticket is pulled to be the 11th finalist. There is usually a scurry of people buying raffle tickets once their ball has been drawn out of a finalist position and the main number drawing has eliminated them. Plenty of time is given for these raffle tickets to be sold, as each dollar is important for returning to the community.
Once the 11 finalists are identified, the Calcutta begins. Each finalist is "sold" twice and the buyer of the eventual winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd places) have a share in the money wagered on all the finalists. Some attendees bid as individuals and some form consortium's and buy finalists as a group. It is a rowdy and fun-filled time with everyone knowing that every participant is a winner - all having helped their communities by lending some of their dollars back to the area through the Stampede Club.
And this is not the end either! After the money has been managed and doled out to the winners, that is when the band set's up and begins to play. You can dance until you cannot dance anymore, or just listen to the favorites being played by the best of our regional country bands. It is a full night to enjoy and to remember.
If you are interested in purchasing a ticket for the Sweepstakes Dinner or donating to the Club to help keep this small county and its communities vibrant, please contact us at [email protected] or you can call Mick Kirby at 406-566-2422. All donations are tax deductible as we are a 501(c)(3) organization.
We'd love to see new faces and we can guarantee you that you will make lasting new friends! We know that Charlie Russell would approve of this event as it is the way of Russell Country - coming together to meet up with old friends while making new ones.
