When Logan Shelton’s cousin Dustin died in 2008 at the age of 32, members of his family stepped up to carry on the legacy with the Dustin Rump Big Buck Contest, a yearly fundraiser to support Rump’s son, Isaac.
For the past three years, that fundraiser had been dormant. But Shelton, in his third year as a Hoosier Energy line specialist out of Napoleon, was ready when the opportunity to revive the event and help someone else came along.
In May of this year, Shelton’s South Dearborn High School classmate, Emily (Maples) Tremain, and her husband Paul learned that their 3-year-old daughter, Regan, had B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Treatment will continue for the next two years with daily medication, weekly appointments, and inpatient/outpatient stays to administer chemotherapy.
Given the reigns of the Facebook page and its followers, Shelton and his wife, Abbey, along with cousin Evan Schuler and his wife, Rae, organized a new Dustin Rump Big Buck Contest, which cost $30 per person to enter. Kids 16 and under were free with a paying adult.
The rules are simple: Deer must be taken in Indiana. No poaching and follow Indiana State Laws. Gross score – all points count. All deer scored by an Indiana Conservation Officer.
“We started planning in May or June when we found out, so we had some time but was still a pretty quick turnaround,” Shelton said.
Sponsored by Lawrenceburg American Legion Post 239, the final celebration day, called “Rallying for Regan,” was set for September 7.
Regan Tremain poses with Isaac Rump, the son of Dustin Rump, during the Rallying for Regan event in conjunction with the Dustin Rump Big Buck Contest. The Rumps are cousins of Hoosier Energy line specialist Logan Shelton.
“A ton of people donated for the raffle, the live auction, the silent auction – everything,” said Shelton, who estimated over 100 businesses participated in one form or another.
The event also included food, a bounce house for kids and live music with every dollar of the proceeds going to benefit the Tremain family with their ongoing medical bills as well as travel to and from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and associated expenses.
Nearly 400 people turned out for the event, which included auction items such as a two-day fly fishing guide in Montana, a one-week Mule Deer hunt, a waterfowl hunt, African safari hunt and a hunt at rock musician Ted Nugent’s property in Michigan. The live auction even saw a cheesecake sell for $200.
The whole event turned out to be more than anyone might have expected.
“The Tremain family was shocked and very humbled,” Shelton said. “They didn’t really expect anybody to go out of their way to do something like this.
“Regan’s got a long road ahead, but they, and we, are very optimistic.”