When event chairs Lynn Keith and Gretchen Knowlton started planning the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust’s 11th annual Barn Bash, they knew they had to mix it up.

“We decided we were going to do something totally different,” said Knowlton.

The Barn Bash is one of DNRT’s biggest events, and the 275 tickets sold help with operational costs. The fundraiser has traditionally centered around a catered, sit-down meal and square dancing, but that idea was exhausted years ago, said Keith.

“We wanted to have more of a tapas event,” she said, so the women brought in nine vendors, including Farm & Coast Market, dNB Burgers, Wok Magic, and Bayside Restaurant. They shortened the table size—from a five-foot round, to three- and four-foot tables with no preset seating—to woo people towards the dance floor and silent auction, but they didn’t stop there.

“We wanted a sense of DNRT trails,” said Knowlton. Six trailers of plants helped fill Sylvan Nursery on Horseneck Road, which the women watered daily leading up to the event. They created an indoor trail, complete with signage, mossy logs, and benches. The crew of volunteers even built a wooden bridge to jump the water feature dividing the trail from the dining area.

Ticket sales brought in approximately $20,000 for land conservation in Dartmouth, but Keith and Knowlton had another fundraising idea.

“We need to give bodies to our critters,” said Keith, explaining that the animations recently spotted around town were only heads when they were first conceived. “We gave them legs. They can dance. They can play. They can run,” said Keith.

Each of the animals—including three mice, a chicken, a cow, a donkey, and a pig—served as a “team” for the Race to the Barn fundraiser, which was a way to start raising money prior to ticket sales, the women explained. Donors gave money to support whichever fictional team they wanted to win. By the night of the event, the racing livestock had raised $33,000, but there were bowls set up to invite more donations.

One of the bowls has $600 in it, said Keith, who supported “Team Cluck Cluck,” the fictional chicken named for her dad’s pet chicken.

Another fundraising element was the silent auction, which included handmade jewelry, date night for two, and two adirondack chairs made from reclaimed wood from a Lincoln Park rollercoaster.

“This is our 45th birthday,” said Keith about DNRT. “We couldn’t let the 45th birthday go by without a bang,” she said.

The hay-filled, folk-music-bumpin, pixie-light-lit barn was a success according to guests.

“They did a beautiful job decorating,” said Amy Silveira, who had won tickets to the event through DNRT’s Christmas raffle.

Priscilla Hill came up from Florida for the event (but she does summer in Dartmouth). “They’re great fundraisers and you get to see everyone as well,” she said listing the Barn Bash and the Lloyd Center’s Clambake as examples.

Maureen Fanning, like many of the guests, boasted their support for DNRT. “I do a lot of trail work,” she said. “People brought flowers from their gardens and fields [for the centerpieces].”

Hugh Fanning had a different agenda: “I’m here mainly to eat.”

Despite the move away from a hoedown-centric event, the band—Three Cats and a Dog—still performed a couple of line dances. Red bandanas filled the floor, along with cowboy boots ranging from lime green to denim to traditional brown leather.

“My favorite part’s the dancing,” said Nancy Snyder, who wore vintage boots she bought in Omaha, Nebraska.

Even DNRT Executive Director Dexter Mead admitted he does some dancing at these events. “There’s usually a bit of square dancing. It’s really fun,” he said.