Dixon stampedes for annual school fundraiser

Each year, the Dixon community rallies for the annual Bison Stampede, a fundraising event for the Dixon School. Saturday marked the ninth year for the event.

Community members, students and staff participated in a fun run and community breakfast on Saturday. The running event consisted of a 10k, 5k and 1-mile fun run. The 10k race started first, with just one runner at the start line, Bruce Genzel. Dixon teacher and track coach Jason Ries gave Genzel a big high-five as he started the course. More than 20 people competed in the 5k run, followed by a handful more in the one-mile fun run.

For the breakfast, school staff served up pancakes, sausage and eggs to runners and community members. Each participant also got a raffle ticket, with which door prizes were drawn at the end of the race.

Lucy Metcalf is a seventh-grader at Dixon School. Her artwork was picked by students and the community for the 2023 Bison Stampede t-shirts. Metcalf said a classmate gave her the idea for the shirt design, which she drew in pencil. She said the drawing took about seven hours to complete.

Christa Anderson, principal at Dixon Elementary, said she was thankful for the great weather Saturday and for the community members showing up for the students. "Everything we do is about student development. This gets people out in the community and gets the kids active," she stated, adding that running is a lifetime skill and the event also served as a training run for the school track team.

Anderson said that previous Bison Stampede funds helped with playground equipment and improvements to the basketball court in front of the school. This year, Anderson said the goal is to improve parking around the school. She said the school serves as a hub for the community and that improvements benefit the entire community. Metcalf said her favorite improvement was the playground equipment. "It really changed everything."

Anderson also noted that the staff helped organize the event. "Our staff really stepped up to make this event a success." The event this year was sponsored by Blackfoot, Runner's Edge, Mission Valley Security, KERR Radio, DickAnderson Construction and Valley Bank.