Black-tie optional event includes open bar and live music from Savvy, a Bozeman-based cover band
By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR
On Feb. 1, Big Sky locals have an excuse to dress up and get down to a popular Bozeman-based cover band while celebrating local workforce housing efforts.
Now in its third year, the Big Sky Winter Ball was created to provide a space for locals to dress fancy and dance, while raising money and support for the Big Sky Community Housing Trust. This ball will deliver its traditional open bar and “black-tie, but just try your best” dress code, according to event co-founder Matt Zaremba. New for 2024, however, is a live cover band from Bozeman, Savvy, voted “Bozeman’s Choice Local Cover Band” by Bozeman Magazine in 2023 and 2024. Tickets are on sale for $150.
At the ball, a 50/50 raffle will benefit the nonprofit Big Sky Community Housing Trust. Founded in 2016, BSCHT supports workforce housing in three primary ways: construction and partnerships for new housing stock including the MeadowView condominiums and the Powder Light and RiverView apartments; lease incentives for property owners to rent to local tenants through the Rent Local program; and support of permanent workforce ownership through the Good Deeds program.
In each of the Winter Ball’s preceding years, Zaremba and co-founder Allen Potts have raised more money for BSCHT. Weeks before the 2023 event, they told EBS they’d already doubled the funds raised over the inaugural 2022 ball. In mid-January 2024, they told EBS the ball has raised the bar even higher. Also real estate partners in the Zaremba Potts Group, they have taken near-full responsibility for securing event sponsorships and donations, according to BSCHT leadership.
Zaremba told EBS it’s becoming an easier pitch as the event makes a name for itself.
“We’ve had three-times the amount of business participation up front, local small businesses and the clubs sponsoring and buying tickets for employees, a lot of out-of-state Big Sky homeowners buying tickets for the local workers,” he said.
This year, organizers expect more businesses to attend and bring their staff. About half of attendees will be sponsored—any local worker struggling to afford the $150 ticket should reach out to the Big Sky Community Housing Trust. Many tickets are donated to make sure any hardworking local can afford the night out, because locals don’t get too many chances to dress up, Zaremba said.
Any business or individual looking to donate tickets or sponsor the event should reach out directly to Zaremba or Potts. “We’re easy to find and we’ll help you navigate the donation process,” Zaremba said.
In past years, Zaremba has enjoyed standing at the door and checking out attendees’ outfits. “Some people come in tuxedos, some people get really creative with the ‘black-tie optional,’” he said. Zaremba and Potts give credit to The Waypoint for offering affordable open-bar pricing for all three years in support of the event’s cause.
The fun and formal event was an initiative born completely outside of BSCHT, and has required minimal staff resources as the Winter Ball founders spread the hype.
“And it still very much is that… They’re the ones that are knocking on doors and trying to get people involved,” said Becky Brockie, BSCHT program director.
Event celebrates housing trust’s impact
The Winter Ball is primarily a celebration, gathering a wide range of locals—from second homeowners to first-winter employees—for a fancy night out in February. Also raising some money and celebrating BSCHT’s efforts, it’s an event to be proud of regardless of how much money is raised.
“Our partners, and those [local workers] they help, can come together. It’s not just about our partners, but those that our programs impact directly,” said Jennifer Boutsianis, BSCHT stewardship coordinator.
Zaremba and Potts are inspired to support working people who want to stay in Big Sky.
“Allen and I have been here almost 10 years now, and we’re raising our families here. And we think the housing trust is just a super important movement,” Zaremba said. “… I moved here working three jobs, trying to figure out how to make a life in the mountains, and without organizations like the housing trust, it just doesn’t work.”
Brockie said this is the first year BSCHT has helped organize the event, taking over ticket sales and administrative work while Zaremba and Potts focus on sponsorships. The housing trust will share a few housing-related words between Savvy’s sets, but it’s mostly a celebration, Brockie said.
“For us, it’s a chance to celebrate with our partners in town everything we’ve accomplished since we’ve become an independent nonprofit,” Brockie said. “And it’s also a chance for us to raise awareness and funding for important programs like Rent Local, which is the most immediate housing we have available.”
David O’Connor, executive director of the housing trust, said it’s much easier to feel the immediate impact of Rent Local and Good Deeds, compared to BSCHT’s large, complex, slow and expensive development projects. The Winter Ball feels like a grassroots effort with immediate impact, just like those fast-moving programs.
“The community is so supportive of housing and so understanding of the need—there’s definitely very broad acceptance across the entire community that this is our biggest crisis that we’re facing right now,” O’Connor said.
Local workers can enter to win two Winter Ball tickets by submitting their housing story—in writing or video—via email to BSCHT by Tuesday, Jan. 30.
“We’re looking for engaging stories that capture what it’s like to find a home in Big Sky,” a Jan. 25 housing trust email stated.
