Planned with the natural lull between Christmas and calving in mind, the Carbon County Ranch & Farm Bureau Federation Cowboy Ball combines much needed social time amongst ranchers and friends with fundraising for the scholarship fund in the county.

In its fourth year, the event drew more than 250 attendees for an evening of dinner, live music, dancing and auctions, raising over $6,000 for the scholarship fund.

“The first reason we do the event is we want to get the guys off the ranch in kind of a difficult time of year for some,” Berger said. “It’s a long winter. We kind of picked a time between Christmas and calving when they’re not so busy and guys might need a reason to come to town and catch up and visit with some of their friends.”

For Berger, the value of the evening goes beyond the fundraiser itself.

“You know those guys need that,” he said. “It’s really great to see all the ranch guys here, and we see a few guys that you just don’t see hardly any time of year.”

In addition to providing fellowship during a long winter, the event supports scholarships for Carbon County students.

“As most of us know, there’s not a lot of people going back into agriculture fields,” Berger said. “We give preference to people who are, number one, Farm Bureau members, but also if they’re going into a field of study in agriculture, they’ve got a preference.”

The goal is to encourage young people pursuing agriculture and agriculture-supporting careers.

“We’re just trying to encourage people in some of those fields and give them a little help going into those areas of study,” Berger said.

Scholarships are not limited to four-year colleges.

“We’re not limiting this to just college,” he said. “Trade schools and things like that — we even gave a scholarship to somebody who’s getting an AI certificate to start their business.”

For Berger, keeping scholarship dollars in Carbon County is especially meaningful. He views the scholarships as an investment in the future of the county.

“I think this county is a good county as far as just a lot of support,” he said. “People want to pour money back into the community.”

“Some of those agriculture jobs and agriculture support jobs — we know that a lot of them aren’t going to stay here, but a lot of them do end up coming back here,” Berger said. “So I think it’s sort of an investment for those people who grew up here and hopefully come back and do something to help our industry in the valley.”

In previous years, the county provided approximately $2,500 in scholarships. By rolling those funds into the annual event, the county has been able to significantly increase the amount awarded.