The inside was just like an bar I've ever been in- bar and on the left with a small resaurant on the right. So far, I thought, I've seen the saloon part and the steakhouse part. I was anxious to see the pig races that Steph had been telling me about. We walked to the back of the bar to a deck on the back of the building and there, in all its glory, was the race track.
It wasn't much larger than the average in-ground pool with an actual starter box for the pigs. The race track was below a deck complete with pic-nic tables. A set of stairs on the right led to a lower deck on the other side of the track. There was a small crowd of people, maybe a dozen or so, and the races hadn't yet begun.
Each night, according to how much people bet, there are 12 races. The pigs, none of which are fully grown, are sponsored by local businesses, the same businesses whose advertisements were on the walls of the track. You buy a square, similar to bingo. Then someone rolls a set of dice and you either get a pig or you don't, depending on which square you chose and the outcome of the dice roll. So just because you buy a sqaure doesn't mean you'll get a pig. I bought a two dollar square but I didn't get a pig.
A man stood at the balcony, called off who sponsored each pig, called who won a pig from the squares, and then the pigs were placed in the start box. The pigs were corralled by a boy and a girl no older than 5th grade. As I later found out, the money earned by the gambling went towards a scholarship fund for students from the area. Once the pigs were in the starting gate, a recording of the trumpet sounding the start of race was played, the gate went up, and the race was on! It took less than 30 seconds start to finish.
I saw probably 5 or six races and as I watched I couldn't help but observe this community come together for an event offered twice a week that went towards a good cause. I later found out that the scholarship fund created by these races is today over 81,000 dollars! It was great to see the comradery built by the races. The crowd throughout the night grew to little more than twenty or so; but as these people watched the pigs race from the bar's balcony, I watched the sun set on the foot hills of the Beartooth mountains and thought of how fun this event was and how it served a good cause for the community it belonged to.
-rob
Each night, according to how much people bet, there are 12 races. The pigs, none of which are fully grown, are sponsored by local businesses, the same businesses whose advertisements were on the walls of the track. You buy a square, similar to bingo. Then someone rolls a set of dice and you either get a pig or you don't, depending on which square you chose and the outcome of the dice roll. So just because you buy a sqaure doesn't mean you'll get a pig. I bought a two dollar square but I didn't get a pig.
A man stood at the balcony, called off who sponsored each pig, called who won a pig from the squares, and then the pigs were placed in the start box. The pigs were corralled by a boy and a girl no older than 5th grade. As I later found out, the money earned by the gambling went towards a scholarship fund for students from the area. Once the pigs were in the starting gate, a recording of the trumpet sounding the start of race was played, the gate went up, and the race was on! It took less than 30 seconds start to finish.
I saw probably 5 or six races and as I watched I couldn't help but observe this community come together for an event offered twice a week that went towards a good cause. I later found out that the scholarship fund created by these races is today over 81,000 dollars! It was great to see the comradery built by the races. The crowd throughout the night grew to little more than twenty or so; but as these people watched the pigs race from the bar's balcony, I watched the sun set on the foot hills of the Beartooth mountains and thought of how fun this event was and how it served a good cause for the community it belonged to.
-rob
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