When Pigs Race, Kids Win

In Bear Creek, Montana pigs don’t fly, but they do earn money for scholarships. We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Red Lodge, Montana then headed back toward home in Wyoming, stopping in Bear Creek at the Steak House just in time for the first pig race of the evening. There are five pigs in each race; fans sign up on a piece of paper with squares, similar to what is used for Cow Chip bingo games, and pay $2 per race. When it’s time for the race, numbers are selected at random for the pigs across the top of the paper, and then the order of their placement in the race down the side of the paper. The person whose name matches those two criteria has a 1 in 5 chance to win $25.

I didn’t get it for the first 2 races because … I thought they were naming the PIGS, not the winners, and didn’t pay attention. When it became evident that I had no idea what was going on, I went up to the announcer and asked. Sure, he had the tiniest little smile when I admitted that I was talking the whole time, but he explained it to me, then, when it was time for the numbers to be drawn, he came and asked me to do it! Talk about being the first one picked for a PE team: I was tickled.

One of my favorite numbers is 2, so imagine how excited I was to be a double 2 on the number draw – and actually had a chance to win. Shortening the story, my pig came in second, still one of my favorite numbers, but I thanked the man for including me in the process, even though he apologized because I had not won. I told him au contraire: I was the biggest winner because I got to draw the numbers and had a pig to root for, as well as the potential to win $25.

This little community is proactive when it comes to sending their kids to college: so far, the pig races have netted $91k in scholarship money! Where there’s a need, practical people find a solution, implement it, and solve the problem.