Bash For Cash benefits charity
SANDPOINT — The Ironhorse Riders Motorcycle Club is set to fund raise like no one else can with this year’s Bash For Cash.
A regular event every November, Bash For Cash is an evening of music, drinks, raffles, give-aways and entertainment. This year, the fun is scheduled to go down at the Panida Theater on Friday, with the doors opening at 6 p.m. and the show starting at 7 p.m. The cost is $15 at the door or $12 in advance, the tickets for which can be purchased at Sandpoint Music, Eichardt’s, Rhythm Works, The Panida and Pedro’s.
“We want to see a sold-out house here,” Ironhorse Rider club president Hairy Abbott said.
The entertainment lined up this year is sure to pack a punch. The headlining act this year is Generations, a respected blues outfit complete with a full horn section. Plenty of supporting acts are also lined up, including The Liabilities, the Miah Kohal Band, Bio Beat, Troy Anthony, The Cole Show and Brenda. Beer and wine will be available for attendees of proper age, but all ages are welcome for the evening. The event is supported by more than 30 community businesses.
“Every year, it just keeps getting better and better,” club vice president Lonnie Jones said.
According to motorcycle club associates, everyone that attends the event can feel good about doing so, too. Every dollar of proceeds from ticket and refreshment sales goes to support the Ironhorse Riders' many philanthropic endeavors.
“How can you go wrong with this?”Jones said. “You buy a ticket, you have a great time and you know that your money is going to some great organizations doing some great things.”
Beneficiaries include Angels Over Sandpoint and its Backpacks For Schools program, the Sandpoint, Clark Fork and Priest River food banks, the Panhandle Animal Shelter, the Lake Pend Oreille High School scholarship program and numerous other charities throughout the region. Ironhorse Riders organizers take care to spread their fundraising evenly to each supported charity.
“That way, our efforts are felt in all the different organizations and people we try to sponsor,” Jones said.
The Bash For Cash is one of the Ironhorse Riders’ biggest events during the year, but it’s not the only one. Members also engage in several motorcycle runs during the year, including the Older Than Dirt Run and Rachel’s Run.
Those charitable events follow in the footsteps of the club’s five founding members, who laid out the vision for the Ironhorse Riders many years ago. Barbara Trudeau, Joe Castro, Bill Poteet, Jones and Abbott defined the club’s goal as one to help the community in the needs they found most pressing.
“The first reaction many people had when they found out we were bikers was, ‘Hmm, what kind of angle are they working, here?’” Jones said. “But they learned pretty quickly we had the community’s best interests at heart.”