MSQHA Banquet Update                                                                                                                      October 15, 2022

During our general meeting in December 2021, we decided to have the awards committee reevaluate the date of our banquet. This was brought about after several years of not receiving part of our year end awards on time. After much consideration, we have decided to postpone the Banquet giving more time for awards to arrive.

An addition consideration was the rising cost of the facility we had been using. Although the Red Lion in Post Falls had worked well for us well for several years, the costs had just become too much. The $60 a plate was not covering the cost of the food, room, bar, PA system, gratuity, and service charge. Over the past few years this cost to the club grew, and has been rising  from a few dollars to a few hundreds of dollars.

With the numbers down at the horse shows and membership declining, our funds for awards and the banquet are low. Currently, we are considering having the banquet at the CWQHA Horse show, as we did during Covid. This helps in several ways. The room and PA are already paid for. Tables and chairs are available for a reasonable price. The bar is BYOB. No one has extra travel costs to a special event. The weather is usually better for travel. Plus, it gives the awards plenty of time to arrive.

 Any suggestions are welcome, for food, fundraising, or any other aspect of the banquet. Donations are always welcome and appreciated.

Please remember when submitting ideas: we typically have 50 to 70 attendees from the ages of 5 to 80+ years old. They travel from Central Washington and Western Montana, the Canadian border, and the Oregon coast. Several have special food requirements. We need a PA System and 20+ tables and 70+chairs. The dinner, auction and awards typically take 4 hours.

Thank you for your support and participation over the years,

MSQHA Banquet Committee,

Joe Smith, Todd Hovrud, Tracy Bauman, Susan Clary