RAPID CITY - Firearms enthusiasts should mark their calendars for next weekend.

The Southern Hills Friends of the National Rifle Association will host its 10th annual banquet Sept. 20. The event will be at the Laughing Water Restaurant at Crazy Horse National Memorial near Custer. Games, raffles and silent bidding begin at 5:30 p.m. with the dinner and auction at 6:30 p.m.

Entry to the banquet is by reservation only. A banquet ticket is $45, and a raffle ticket is $25.

Ten guns will be raffled at the dinner, ranging from the $1,299 Henry Big Boy .45 Cowboy Edition to the $242 Rugger 10/22 Wood Semi Auto. Also, exclusively for those attending the dinner, there will be an additional raffle for a 7mm Weatherby Vanguard.

Funds raised from the banquet help support shooting sports by renovating gun ranges, supporting scouting and 4-H programs and providing educational programs designed to teach responsible gun use and ownership.

"After the first party, we got $6,000 for Boys Scout camp near Custer," Jon Abels, an organizer of the event along with his wife Beverly, said about the first banquet about a decade ago.

Abels said the money that goes to the Friends of the NRA is also is for safety training with firearms. The money goes to the Eddie Eagle program - which educates youths about firearms - and the Refuse to be a Victim program for women.

"There's a whole list of programs," Abel said. "You don't let people mess with guns unless they have safety proficiency.

Last year, the Black Hills Area Council Boy Scouts benefitted again, receiving $1,980 from the state Friends of the NRA.

For more information, or for dinner or raffle tickets, call Gary Gruber at 605-673-4345.