Fundraiser for Newman scholarships will feature live music, auctions and more
Wichita, Kan. – Mid-America Ag Network owner Larry Steckline and his wife Carla Stovall Steckline will host a one-time-only reprise of the “Party on the Ponderosa” to benefit Newman University. The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 on the Steckline ranch, 3201 S. 279th Street West in Garden Plain, Kan., just 10 minutes west of Wichita.
The Party on the Ponderosa was held several times in previous years on the Steckline ranch to raise funds for Newman University scholarships. In 1997, more than 400 people gathered at Steckline’s “Ponderosa” and raised more than $100,000 for student scholarships. This year’s event will also be a fundraiser with a goal of $100,000, as well as the culminating event of Newman’s year-long 75th anniversary celebration.
“The Party on the Ponderosa was such a success when we did it in the past we thought it would be great to bring it back this one time for the 75th anniversary,” Larry Steckline said. “It’s just a good old country party with good food, entertainment, fireworks – a grand extravaganza for the wrap-up of Newman’s 75th anniversary year.”
The event will feature a western barbeque dinner buffet, refreshments, and strolling entertainers in period costumes including “Buffalo Bill Cody,” the Dixie Lee Dance Troupe, fiddlers Chelley Graves and Sarah Baxter, and cowboy poet and western singer Dave Zerf. The party will also feature gunfight re-enactments, performances by the Prairie Drill Team Horses and the Bucky Fowler Band, a live and a silent auction to raise funds for Newman scholarships, and a concluding fireworks display.
“We’re very grateful to Larry and Carla for hosting this event,” said Newman Vice President for Institutional Advancement Tom Borrego. “This will be a night of fun and entertainment for everyone, and a wonderful way to see people you know as well as a great opportunity to make new friends from across the community. It’s also a fantastic way to support current and future students at Newman University – and maybe take home a new treasure or two from the auctions.”
Admission to the party is $100 per person. All ticketholders will have an opportunity to win a 2009 Ford Ranger from Lubbers of Cheney. Tickets and more information are available online at http://ponderosa.eventbrite.com, or by calling the Newman University Advancement Office at 316-942-4291, ext. 2228.
Carla Stovall Steckline and Larry Steckline, left, will host the “Party on the Ponderosa” Sept. 26 on their ranch outside Garden Plain to raise funds for Newman University scholarships. With the Stecklines are Event Committee Chairs Shirley and Mark Dugan.
