$3200 Cow Flop at the Frontenac Frolic

Aug 07, 2014

It is not often that someone gets to walk away significantly richer after a cow does her business in a field. But that was the case on August 2 when five-year-old Holstein dairy cow, Emmy-Lynn from Barr Farms in Burridge, answered the call of nature in a fenced field beside the Bedford Hall near Godfrey. 

In fact three individuals, Roger Bradley, Donna Stairs and John Parks, took home prize money totaling $3200 in the famous cow flop bingo, which offered up 1600 chances to win. The bingo has become a major draw at the annual Frontenac Frolic at the Bedford hall, a fundraiser for the Bobs and Crow Lakes Foundation that is now in its fourth year. The frolic included a huge indoor/outdoor flea market, bake sale, and silent auction with members of the association donating all of the items up for grabs. There was a canteen and numerous activities for kids that included a petting zoo, pony rides and more.
The foundation is the financial funding arm of the Greater Bobs and Crow Lake Association, which boasts over 250 members who together are committed to enhancing and preserving the water and air quality, nature and wildlife in and around the lakes and educating residents about how best to do just that. The GBCLA is one of the first lake associations to create its own funding arm and it was created in 2005. On average the frolic raises upwards of $10,000 each year for the foundation and the funds raised are used to support the numerous projects initiated by the association.
Susan O'Brien MacTaggart, past president of the foundation and currently a sitting board member, outlined the recent projects that are underway. They include fish restocking, placing fire pumps around the lakes and providing boating guides to all the boaters on the two lakes. Other projects will also be announced later this year.
MacTaggart said that it is important to have a foundation in order to be able to independently raise funds for lake area projects since provincial grants are fast becoming harder to acquire. “Since forming the foundation in 2005 we are now able to independently raise funds for our own projects. We have successfully not only become a charitable foundation in Canada but have also received clearance in the US by the IRS, so that anyone who owns a home or cottage here can receive a tax receipt for any donations or bequests that they make."
For more information visit the foundation's website at www.bobs-and-crow-lakes.org and /or the association's website at bobsandcrowlakes.ca