SUPERIOR – Members of the Superior community held a barbecue Saturday at the old schoolhouse to raise awareness and collect donations for the United Service Organization.

The first event of its kind in Superior, the barbecue was arranged by Nolan Webber, a member of the Army Reserve, with the help of Mike and Jackie Perotti. According to Webber, all of the donations will be given to the USO to provide care packages, entertainment and family support to active service members as well as programs that help veterans.

Webber says he knows first hand how the USO’s work affects troops and what it means to them. He says the organization’s services are a great motivator and mean a lot to the deployed troops who receive them. According to Webber, every little bit helps.

“Any participation, any donations we get, as far as I’m concerned is a success,” said Webber.

The barbecue featured grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the schoolhouse lawn with coleslaw, beans and beverages inside. With warm weather and clear skies, it was a perfect day to hold a barbecue.

According to Webber, anyone can start an event to support the USO. By logging onto their website, people can propose events to the organization with an estimate of how much they expect to raise. Webber feels there would be more USO events if people knew how easy it is to start one.

“If I hadn’t looked into it randomly, I wouldn’t have known that anybody could go up and host an event like this,” said Webber. “I think if that knowledge had been out there, there would be a lot more events like this, in this community.”

With Superior’s high number of veterans and patriotic atmosphere, Webber believes events like this would be very popular. It is his hope that the barbecue will become an annual event and continue raising money to support the USO.