It’s a Wing Ding Kinda Thing: Wing Cookoff Benefits Casper Shrine Club

Pepsi and wrestling and days off for Ferris. Batman and Robin and Neil Patrick Harris. Supporting the Shrine Club by eating their wings; these are a few of our favorite things.

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So imagine our delight on Saturday when the 4th Annual Wing Ding took place, benefitting the Casper Shrine Club.

But before we get to the good stuff, what exactly is the Casper Shrine Club?

"Our main focus is that we raise money for the Shriner's Children Hospital," said Greg Breed, the creator of the Wing Ding event. "That's our number one goal. That's what we do. So this event is actually to raise money for our club to keep our club in existence. Our main goal is to fundraise and raise money for the Shriners Children Hospital."

So, what does the Shrine Club do? What does the money raised by them actually go to?

"We pay for the kids," Breed revealed. "A hundred percent for the kids. If their parents don't have any insurance or anything, everything's paid for. We actually pay for the parents to fly the children back and forth to the hospital."

The Shrine Club does a lot for many children, in Wyoming and beyond.

And that's why they rely so much on fundraisers such as the Wing Ding. This event and others allow them to keep going throughout the year, year after year, to make sure kiddos are taken care of as much as possible.

"Our man fundraiser has always been the Shrine Circus," Breed stated. "But with the PETA stuff and everything going on, that's kind of really gone by the wayside. So we needed a way to fund our club every year. And [this community] has all kinds of things, like Bubbles, Baubles, and Beans and chili cook-offs. So I thought, 'What better idea than chicken wings?' Every restaurant sells chicken wings. So that's where we came up with the idea and this is our fourth annual and, so far, it's been a real success."

Breed said that he thinks more than 1,000 people were in attendance at Saturday's event, with more than 13 different Wing vendors, including The Office Bar & Grill, Crave (who was the main sponsor for this year's event), I Scream 4 Wings, and so many more. Each competitor had a variety of flavors, from traditional buffalo to parmesan garlic, bourbon and blueberry; even some with peanut butter.

But as great as all of the wings are (plus the beer and the sweets), the best part of the event was the fellowship. Hundreds of people came out to the Shrine Club to eat wings, drink beer, and just hang out with each other; all while raising money for the Shriners Children Hospital.

"The one thing I love about this event, and I knew it was gonna be this way, but everybody that's cooking and everybody that comes as a participant, and all of the volunteers - everybody has a good time," Breed said. "So that's what it's all about for me - just eat some chicken wings and have a great time."

Okay, we will.

Photos from the event can be seen below, but we will not be sharing our wings: