6th Annual Oklee Volunteer Firemen’s Blizzard Bonanza

On February 25th, the Oklee Volunteer Firemen held their 6th annual Blizzard Bonanza. This event has grown over the past years, and this year was by far the largest crowd in attendance. 

The evening started with refreshments available from TJ’s Tavern of Oklee for social hour and a very delicious deep fried walleye dinner was served which included cheesy potatoes, vegetable, dinner roll, and dessert along with coffee or lemonade. 

The many raffles for meat or firearms, kept the firemen busy selling tickets and the crowd willing to buy for the chance to win a large pork loin, a slab of cut bacon, or one of many types of firearms.  There also was a Silent Auction with lots of great items to bid on. And when you walked in the door you also received a blue door prize ticket. The main raffle was drawn at 10:00 p.m. and the winners were: 

1st place ($1000 Locker Gift Certificate) Jerry Hanson/ TRF, MN.

2nd place (Girls Getaway and $500 cash) Ethel Erickson/ Warren, MN.

3rd place (Savage 22-250) Boyd Ness/Gonvick, MN.

Tim Eggebraaten, who has emceed many of Oklee’s events beginning with the Male Beauty pageant before the Oklee Centennial was once again on stage, not only to entertain for the evening but to also be the host of the Family Feud game. The game was played just like on TV, with five contestants on a team. The team members were drawn randomly and placed on one of two teams. Team A, later naming themselves the Blizzard Goonies, consisted of Joanie Bjerklie, Darla Hegge, Liz Follmann, Lora Johnson and Lora Filpula. Team B, who named themselves, Ross’ Harem included Eileen Paquin, Ross Hegge, Amanda Vettleson, Melody Nelson, and Krista Bernstein.

There were four questions asked in the Family Feud, and Oklee-ites had been surveyed for the most popular answers. Questions were similar to what you would hear on the TV show. The two funnies questions were regarding “what can you turn on during a power outage” and “what would a police officer tell you if you were pulled over.” Laugh abounded with the answers and both teams each won two rounds, however, the final round had triple points making the Blizzard Goonies the winners of the Family Feud with a score of 168 to Ross’s Harem score of 141. 

A set of Wild games tickets plus hotel room package was auctioned off for $410 and was donated by Oklee Lumber, didn’t catch the winners name on that one. But Jim Reinbold won an ice fishing package in one of the card raffles, Kurt Sundrud won a Buckmaster pistol in a card raffle, and Jena Dessellier wan a .22 rifle in another card raffle.

Alan Paquin, early in the evening thanked Tim Eggebraaten for once again being the emcee and also talked about what the money raised by the event was being used for. The Fire Department had recently purchased a new water truck and the proceeds were going to help pay for this important piece of equipment.