ALERT fundraiser banquet to feature Company Brass jazz band

The biggest fundraising event of the year for the ALERT air ambulance service is coming up on Saturday, April 28.

 The 34th annual ALERT banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. that night at the Flathead County Fairgrounds with a hosted social hour and dancing to Company Brass, a long-time Flathead Valley jazz band. Dress in your best Kentucky Derby attire for this year’s theme, Run for the Roses – the optional hats, suits or your favorite Montana Bill of Fare add to the fun of the evening. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m.

A silent auction featuring locally donated art, entertainment and merchandise runs throughout the evening. A live auction kicks in later, with big-ticket items that always spark some lively bidding. Prize drawings for more than $11,000 are sprinkled throughout the banquet.

Highlights from the past year of ALERT’s operation and the people it touched are planned for the evening’s program. The annual Clyde Smith Award will be presented to a local emergency Medical Service or Quick Response Unit, in honor of the logger who put up his business as collateral for the loan that got ALERT off the ground.

To purchase tickets, call Lori Alsbury at 752-1710. Learn more at www.nwhc.org/foundation.