Big Donation To STARS From Old Grouch’s And Town Of Drumheller

Last month a tradition that has been going on in our community for nearly 20 years took place once again at the Old Grouch’s in Drumheller.

It was the annual STARS fundraiser and this year, was an added memorial for Fran Nargang, who passed away in late 2025. The final numbers are in and $17,870 was raised in 2026, one if not the biggest totals for the fundraiser in its 18 year history. With that big number for STARS, it ended up even bigger as the Town of Drumheller showed their support by making a $16,000 donation, approximately $2 per person in our community.

Jackie Seely, Donor Relations and Development Officer for STARS notes the importance of not only receiving support from fundraisers but also from municipalities. “It is very important. It creates a very sustainable pillar of funding for STARS because we rely on multiple sources. We receive $15 million per year from Alberta Health Services but after that we have to fundraise 59 percent. That comes from multiple areas, whether that is municipalities, community driven fundraisers, businesses, or individuals. It is crucial to have this pillar of sustainability in Alberta. We have over 95 percent support of municipalities, 80 percent of those are over the two dollars per capita. The Town of Drumheller is now a regional leader at over two dollars per capita.”

It is not just the larger communities supporting STARS financially, according to Seely, it is nearly all municipalities in the province. “We have almost all of the Counties and MDs in support. We’ve been working on building full regional partnerships where the towns and villages within a county, are also supporting. That continues to grow, as we reach out to those communities, and thankful for what they can do to support.”

Another cool moment on Wednesday was an announcement by Darren Tanke, a local paleontologist, recognizing Fran Nargang and the Old Grouch’s.

“After she passed, we created a group called ‘Paleontologists Memorial Wall’ on Facebook, which recognizes paleontologists worldwide, not only scientists, but technicians, even cooks, field assistants, volunteers, amateurs as well. Fran was not a paleontologist, but she cooked meals for a great many paleontologists at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and scientist that were visiting the museum from around the world. We created a page to recognize Fran and her contributions to paleontology, and to STARS.”

As for the accomplishment this year with the fundraising efforts at the Old Grouch’s, Jay Nargang, Fran and Garry’s son, and now owner and operator of the restaurant, is very proud. “It says wonderful things about the community and support, and it says wonderful things about my mother.” Jay is so proud to continue the tradition. “To honour STARS is wonderful, to honour Mom and Dad is awesome.”