2024 FVTU Banquet

Our 2024 FVTU Fundraiser Banquet is in the books and turned out to be a rousing success. We would like to thank all our members and friends who attended the banquet and those who purchased tickets for our amazing raft raffle.

On May 18th at approximately 8:30 PM, Flathead Valley resident Jacob Balbas beat the odds. His name was on the winning ticket that was drawn from nearly 1,000 entries as the Grand Prize Winner of a beautiful 14-foot NRS Slipstream Raft package from Flathead Valley Trout Unlimited. We tried calling him live at the Banquet but his phone went immediately to a voicemail that said “This is Jacob, texting me is the best way to reach me.”  

So we texted him. And we texted him the next day and again the day after that but received no response. Hmmm, wherefore art thou Jacob?  So, after 3 days FVTU President Wade Fredenberg resorted to Google. Indeed, there was a name match and an address on linkedin. So, unwilling to let Jacob’s generosity in buying raffle tickets go unrewarded, Wade went to the address he found. It wasn’t easy to locate but there was a fairly new house with an open garage and a couple of guys working in a shop. Wade walked in and said to the older of the two, “Are you Jacob?”  “Yes”, he replied, “Who are you?”  Wade replied, “I’m the President of Flathead Valley TU and I’m here to make your dreams come true!  You just won our Grand Prize at the Raft Raffle!”  “No Way!  I have never won anything in my life! For real?” Jacob replied incredulously!  After being reassured it was true he said: “Can I give you a hug!”  So, all’s well that ends well in a man-hug. 

Jacob has two young sons, but no boat, and had been wondering how he would be able to teach them to flyfish from a brushy riverbank. Now he won’t have to!  And now the rest of the story.  Why wasn’t he answering his texts?  Well, Jacob sheepishly admitted he was so frustrated with his poor 5G coverage that just a few days earlier he threw his cellphone out the window of his truck!  Is there a lesson in all this?  Indeed, if you win the Grand prize from Flathead Valley TU at our annual banquet, you can rest assured we will leave no stone unturned in finding you! 

Congrats Jacob! And a big THANK YOU to all the great folks whose hard work helped to make the banquet a success.