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Nite at the Races, on the 3rd Saturday every October, is SML Rotary’s most productive fundraiser. Started in 2008, the 2013 event netted $13,000 for community charities.

You can buy a race event ticket, name a horse or race, buy an ad in our event program, or support Nite at the Races in other ways.

The 4.5-hour event begins at 5:30PM at the W. E. Skelton 4-H Conference Center in Wirtz, VA. The event is an exciting and fun-filled evening of video horse racing, dinner, refreshments, a 50/50, door prizes, race winner prizes, and a ladies’ hat parade contest.

There is a cash bar with wine and Triple Crown Cocktails. Attendees are encouraged to bring appetizers for their table; some go all out and leave neighboring tables envious.

Nite at the Races is an evening of fun that builds community camaraderie and raises funds that support the charitable activities of the Rotary Club of Smith Mountain Lake. It produces more than half of the funds that we raise each year. In the past, Nite at the Races proceeds have helped to provide:

fruits and vegetables for clients of Lake Christian Ministries, through the “Tackling Hunger” project;
scholarships to Franklin County and Staunton River High School students;
the “Excellence in Education” banquet honoring nine elementary and middle school “Teachers of the Year”;
weekend backpacks of food for hungry schoolchildren who need them;
Thanksgiving baskets that bring holiday cheer to needy families;
a community needs assessment and a Resource Directory of social services at Smith Mountain Lake;
funding for international projects led by SML Rotary and matched by our District and Rotary International;
plus direct donations to charitable organizations that support needy families near SML.

Please support and enjoy Nite at the Races by ordering tickets, naming horses, donating door prizes and raffle prizes, Taste of the Lake Gift Card and by advertising on our first ever Placemat. Please see sponsorship flyer for opportunities!

Tickets are $50 per person or $400 per 8-person table. That entitles guests to admission, dinner, $16 in funny money for betting on any of the eight video-cast races, plus opportunities to win door prizes and raffle prizes. Some raffle prizes are worth hundreds of dollars.
You can name a horse for $20, or all 10 horses in one of the eight races for $300.
You can donate a door prize valued at $50 or more, or a raffle prize valued at $100 or more.
You can advertise in our program for $150 to $1000, to promote your business or as an anonymous benefactor.
Taste of the Lake Gift Card ($10 & up)

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