Spud Fest fundraiser a success for museum

LaRue Hot Springs Museum hosted their annual Spud Fest fundraiser at the end of April with the focus of warm food and good conversation. Spud Fest was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19, but community members and museum board members alike were ready and excited to celebrate again.

This year, approximately 100 dinners were sold at the fundraiser, the same number of potatoes sold at the 2019 event. "We sold out of baked potatoes halfway through the event and it was exactly the 100 pounds of potatoes we had prepared that morning," said museum president Christine Walsvick.

Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce businesses provided silent auction items that raised $300 at the event, held at the senior center. The fundraiser brought in $1,800 that will help benefit the museum for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

"I think the event went as well as it could have," Walsvick said. "We really should plan for more potatoes next year." The museum's president said the event had a great turnout, with 25 people waiting at the door when the fundraiser kicked off at noon. "The patrons were happy and enjoyed themselves," she said. "There was a good, positive energy in the room that day."

LaRue Hot Springs Museum opened for the 2022 season at the beginning of May. With the grant award museum vice president and Hot Springs Public School teacher Sher Loberg and her students received through the Montana History Foundation and the successful fundraiser, Walsvick says the museum is in a better position now than it was last summer as they work to improve the grounds throughout the season.