A four-person golf scramble will serve as the kickoff event for the fifth annual Cattlemen’s Ball of Nebraska on Friday, May 31 at the new Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln. The ball will take place Saturday, June 1 at the Benes Cattle Company, 25 miles northwest of Lincoln near Valparaiso, Neb.
The $400 team entry fee includes golf, cart, continental breakfast and a social following the scramble. Prizes and awards will be given at the after-golf social and will be announced at the ball. A hole-in-one prize of a 2002 Mitsubishi Montero SUV will be awarded courtesy of Williamson Auto Center in Lincoln. The field for the event is limited to 36 teams. To reserve a foursome, call (402) 488-2446.
Additional ball activities include an art show, style show, horse-drawn wagon rides, live and silent auctions, and a celebrity team penning contest. Team penning is a timed sport in which three people on horseback herd three designated cattle into a pen. The Honky Tonk Tailgate Party Tour, a package concert tour presenting three country music artists, will perform at the ball’s evening concert.
Staff members from UNMC’s Eppley Cancer Center, with the help of nurses from Nebraska Health System and the UNMC College of Nursing, will provide free screening for prostate and skin cancer throughout the day.
The hosts of the 2002 Cattlemen’s Ball include Ermin and Delores Benes, Dan and Kathy Benes and their families. Chairpersons for the 2002 event are Dr. Elliott and Lynne Rustad of Lincoln.
The Cattlemen’s Ball is held each year to showcase rural Nebraska, promote beef in a healthy diet and to raise money for health care research. The UNMC Eppley Cancer Center in Omaha is the primary recipient of this fund raising effort with 90 percent of the proceeds going toward cancer research programs at Eppley. The remaining 10 percent of the funds raised stay in the local area and are used for health care activities. The UNMC Eppley Cancer Center received $133,000 for cancer research from the 2001 Cattlemen’s Ball held at the Thacher Cattle Company, southeast of Valentine, Neb.
Invitations are not sent as the event is completely open to the public. At the 2002 Cattlemen’s Ball, Top Hand ticket holders ($60) may attend Saturday afternoon and evening activities beginning at 1 p.m. Trailboss ticket holders ($250) receive a champagne reception, commemorative gift, Trailboss brunch and preferred seating for the evening dinner and concert. Tickets are limited. For tickets call 1-800-666-8071 or send a check to P.O. Box 181, Valparaiso, NE 68065.