Alberta Bair - A Montana Legacy
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It all started in 1985 when Miss Alberta Bair (1895-1993) sold in a live auction a 75- foot lot in Los Angeles for $2.8 million. Over $700,000 of the sale proceeds were gifted to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Yellowstone County to construct a permanent home for the Boys & Girls Club. The citizens of Yellowstone County matched Miss Bair’s funding through a capital fund drive.

On February 26, 1986, the Boys & Girls Clubs’ clubhouse at 505 Orchard Lane, was officially dedicated as the Charles M. Bair Family Memorial Building.

Timothy Healey, the Club’s founding board president noted, “Alberta was very proud of the Bair Clubhouse – which won national awards for its design. She loved to hear about the activities at the Club and was especially pleased with the Bair Clubhouse’s location on Billings’ south side.” Although Miss Bair’s death ended her family’s physical presence in Montana, it did not end her legacy, which has been conscientiously continued by the advisors of the Charles M. Bair Family Trust.

On September 7, 2004, the Charles M. Bair Family Trust gifted $1-million to the Boys & Girls Clubs Endowment Foundation’s Campaign for Youth – a campaign to raise $5-million in endowment funding.

The Charles M. Bair Family Trust advisors have followed in Miss Bair’s stead, providing annual grants of $25,000 to $50,000 that have helped provide bleachers for the Club’s gymnasium, a van for its transportation program, lighting upgrades in the Activity Center and Gymnasium, Summer Camp programs, a Teen Center and much more. As a result of their investment, the Club has grown to serve over 400 youth each day.

“Today the Charles M. Bair Family Memorial Building and the Club’s mission stand firm, supporting the important work of building up and urging on great kids,” said Wayne Hirsch, President, Boys & Girls Clubs Endowment Foundation. Hirsch, who is also an advisor for the Charles M. Bair Family Trust noted, “Alberta would be delighted to see how the Club has increased its capacity and is serving more youth in Yellowstone County.”

Thank you Bair Family Trust advisors for carrying on Miss Bair’s legacy by helping to secure the programs she cared so much about for future generations of youth in Yellowstone County.