Cowboy Cotillion Country Fun for Community Children

Judson Cole, a brisket dinner and silent auctions were the main attractions of the Cowboy Cotillion Saturday, a fundraiser hosted by the Junior League of San Angelo.

“This is our largest annual fundraiser,” said Allison Ogburn, Cowboy Cotillion Fundraiser Chair for the Junior League. “It’s fun, it’s rowdy, it’s casual: people like it.”

The popular event featured a variety of western flavor, with many country themed items in the auctions, and local country music band Judson Cole.

“We all love country music, its great party music. It’s a great theme to be dressy and casual,” Ogburn explained. “Judson Cole is up-and-coming. They’ve been around a while but have a bit of a following now, and we’re happy to have booked them.”

Ogburn explained that the Cowboy Cotillion has been around since 1985 under various names like the ‘Western Dance,’ but in the last five years the Junior League has really brought it back.

“We like to raise money and have a little fun!” Ogburn exclaimed, and described the various projects the League is involved in. The biggest one mentioned is the ‘Food 2 Kids’ program they started in 2007.

“Before this program came out, we found out 48 percent of kids are on the free or reduced lunch program,” Ogburn explained. “They get fed at school and go home on weekends and might not get much to eat.”

That’s why the League started their program, which gives backpacks of non-perishable items to students on the free or reduced program on Fridays so that they have food to eat over the weekend.

According to Ogburn, the ‘Food 2 Kids’ program is about to be taken over by the Food Bank full time.

“Just as in all the other projects, we bring them through its infancy and then turn it over to other nonprofits,” she explained.

The Junior League has been responsible for many staples around San Angelo, such as the Kids’ Kingdom Park, Sonrisas Therapuetic Riding, the Boys and Girls Club and many other sites and programs.

Such things need money to be implemented, and that is the reason they put on the Cowboy Cotillion.

For more information about the Junior League of San Angelo, or to donate, visit sajuniorleague.com.