by Joe Buttweiler –
MASON CITY – Get ready for “Another Good Night for JDRF.”
The JDRF Raiders of Mason City will host a celebrity bartenders event from 5 to 9 p.m. April 12 at the Historic Park Inn in downtown Mason City.
More than a dozen celebrity bartenders from North Iowa, with help from staff at the Historic Park Inn, will serve up beverages to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Tips and other donations will all go to JDRF, which seeks to find a cure for juvenile diabetes.
The disease, also known as Type I diabetes, affects roughly 500 to 600 youngsters in North Iowa, according to Dr. Mark Johnson, director of the Diabetes Center at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Those with Type I diabetes must take insulin via shots or pumps because their pancreas has stopped making insulin.
Celebrity bartenders will include radio personalities Jay Brooks, Jared Allen, Joe Malone, James Shaman and Alice Hanley, KIMT reporter Amy Fleming, Mayor Eric Bookmeyer, North Iowa Area Community College President Debra Derr, state Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, and John Rowe, former chairman of the Cerro Gordo County Republicans. Others will be business leaders Scott Moorman, Jeff Stadheim, Tim Putnam, Randy Black and Mike Winblade, both of Hy-Vee, as well as Shelly Schmit of NIACC and former parks board member Kitty Clasing.
Admission is free to this cash bar event. It will take place in the ballroom at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Historic Park Inn, 7 W. State St., Mason City.
The local JDRF chapter hosts annual fundraisers including a golf outing and a Lady of the Lake Cruise. The group also raises funds at the annual Up in Smoke BBQ Bash, and at other events.
“We thought it would be fun to have another spring get-together to raise some money for a good cause and build on some of the energy in the downtown area,” said Joe Buttweiler of the JDRF Raiders steering committee. “We had a huge turnout for a similar event in April of 2010. “Everyone said we’d have to do this again. So we’ve planned Another Good Night for JDRF … and for everyone who attends!”
