Advertisement The event, which will raise funds for the Boys & Girls Club of West Salem Area, will be held Jan. 19 at the Maple Grove Country Club beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“I think it’s just important for the community to come out Saturday and try to help out the Boys & Girls Club and try and raise some money,” said Miller, a 1987 West Salem High School graduate. “It’ll be a good time on Saturday.”
A Major Leaguer for 11 years, Miller recently wrapped up his third year with the Milwaukee Brewers. Currently a free agent, Miller said he has gotten some offers from other teams, but he might be leaning towards retirement so he can spend more time with his wife, Jeanne, and their two children.
“I’m contemplating retirement,” Miller said. “I believe I can still play; physically, I can do it. But it’s whether I want to get on a plane and travel for eight months for my 19th year.”
The Winter Fun Raiser will be hosted by the Village People, and proceeds will go toward the endowment fund for the local Boys & Girls Club. A number of items will be up for live and silent auctions — including a 15-inch flat-screen DVD-television combination, Green Bay Packer apparel and club seats for four at a Milwaukee Brewers game. Theater tickets, framed prints and business vouchers will also be available
The event will feature bobblehead races, and Miller will be available to autograph baseballs, which can be purchased at the event. The West Salem Adult Jazz Band will perform, and there will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.
“There’s just going to really be a well-rounded array of items,” said Village People member Cheryl Brenengen. “We’re hoping people see the value in investing in the Boys & Girls Club. It’s a great way to spend a cold, January night and it couldn’t be for a better cause.”
Tickets for the event are $30 and are available at Hansen’s IGA, Features Sports Bar & Grill, Ace Hardware, Westview Inn, Brenengen Chevrolet, Le Coulee Cheese Castle, Hunter’s Last Chance and the Boys & Girls Club. Tickets will be available at the door as well.
The first Winter Fun Raiser took place in January 2007 and raised over $14,000 and was attended by about 250 people.
Brenengen said she hopes to make the event something that continues to occur in years to come.
“We’d really like to keep the fundraiser going just to ensure the future of the Boys & Girls Club in West Salem,” she said. “The more money we can gather in the first three years, the less we’ll have to ask from the community in future years to keep it going.”
Fundraising for the club reached its $600,000 goal late last September. According to Village People member and club advisory committee chair Don Brenengen, about $574,000 was raised locally and a $70,000 start-up grant from Boys & Girls Clubs of America pushed the total to $644,000.
But with club membership at 415 in the first six months — about 125 more than was was projected after three years of operations — Don said it’s important to keep fundraising going.
“Up to this point, we have stayed at or below budget, but the higher than expected membership will make staying on the original budget more challenging,” he said. “That only shows that the need for a club was greater than was projected.”
Club director Deana Protz agreed, noting the Winter Fun Raiser is a good opportunity to donate to youth facility.
“With that type of number, we definitely need the community to support the club,” Protz said. “It’s always good to donate and keep us having supplies and keep the kids coming and keep the programs going.”
And that, said Miller, is why he enjoys lending a hand.
“A lot of people do a lot more than I do. I’m just trying to help them along, and if throwing my name out there helps, every little bit I can do to help I will,” Miller said. “I think it’s a good thing for the community to have — being from West Salem and really not having a place like that as a kid.
“It takes a village to raise the kids.”
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