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Siluria Brewing hosted the third annual Derby Day Party put on by Shelby Humane Society on Saturday, Sept. 5. (Reporter photo/Keith McCoy)

By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter 

ALABASTER – Well dressed ladies and gentlemen gathered at Siluria Brewing Company for Shelby Humane’s third annual Derby Party on Saturday, Sept. 5, for a good cause.

The event, which coincides with the Kentucky Derby, is an annual fundraiser designed to benefit Shelby Humane’s spay and neuter program. This year’s Party was hosted by the Dixie Flyers, a Birmingham-based flyball club.

According to Shelby Human Public Relations Coordinator Leeangela Garate, this year’s fundraiser generated more than $2,000 to help fund the organization’s spay and neuter program.

“Three years ago we created the Derby Party as an annual fundraiser for Shelby Humane,” Garate explained. “Everybody gets dressed up like they are going to the Kentucky Derby, which is happening at the same time. Guests pay admission and they get a ticket which is used to bet on a horse for a gift basket.”

Approximately 70 guests attended the party where they were treated to food from Taziki’s and desserts from K&J’s elegant pastries, as well as drinks which were included as drink tokens in the price of admission.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Derby Party provided a safe way for people to get out and socialize with others, taking in all of the glory of the derby-themed festivities.

The party included a “Dapper Dan’s” hat contest challenging men to don their best hat for the races, and the fan-favorite hat contest for the ladies. Winners of each contest won a gift certificate.

The fundraiser portion of the party, however, is what is important to Shelby Humane, as the organization has been impacted financially during the pandemic.

“We have been limited with what we could do for fundraising. It has impacted what we have been able to offer the community and even things such as our supplies we have here were impacted,” Garate said. “The money will go to the spay and neuter program based on how much has come in it has allowed us to do low cost spay and neuter for the residents of Shelby County.”

Garate said that the organization would now be able to offer roughly 50 low-cost spay and neuter services for the county, which provides immeasurable benefits to the local community by controlling and limiting the population of dogs and cats.

The Dixie Flyers Club hosted the Derby Party for Shelby Humane. As a flyball club, Dixie Flyers works closely with dogs and wanted to make a difference for animals and owners in the area.

The club donated gift baskets ranging in value from $200-570.

“For another organization to put this on for us and not get discouraged when it wasn’t able to happen, to give as freely as they did, it was huge,” Garate said. “It’s just another example that we cant do this alone. It takes like-minded people working together.”

For more information about Shelby Humane visit Shelbyhumane.org.

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