The tower at Smoke Farm, midway through its construction by the high-school students of the Sawhorse Revolution.
The tower at Smoke Farm, midway through its construction by the high school students of the Sawhorse Revolution. Smoke Farm

Every year, Burning Beast, the whole-animal feast held at Smoke Farm in Arlington, sells 400 tickets in a matter of hours. This year was no different, except that this year, Washington's drought—along with low rainfall, wildfires, and the accompanying statewide burn ban—necessitated its cancellation.

While people love Burning Beast (here are some photos of last year's extravaganza) because it's a gluttonous affair held in a beautiful setting, many might not be aware that it's also the big annual fundraiser for the Rubicon Foundation, the nonprofit behind the educational, environmental, and cultural projects at Smoke Farm. Nonprofits rely on community support, and if you take away an organization's biggest, most popular fundraising event, well, that's bad news all around. But this weekend brings another opportunity for you to support Rubicon and Smoke Farm—at their Builder's Dinner this Saturday, October 10.

This year's dinner, which will be held at Smoke Farm, is being headed up by Joshua Hart of Monsoon, and will be made from ingredients sourced from local farms. As at Burning Beast, you can get there early, wander the farm, and explore the Stillaguamish River. Afterwards, there'll be a bonfire, and you can camp in the field. You'll also be able to talk to the folks from Sawhorse Revolution, another nonprofit supported by Smoke Farm, which teaches high school students community-oriented carpentry skills. They'll be there working on structures for Impossible City, a project to build much-needed structures for the Nickelsville homeless encampment.

As Brendan Kiley wrote, "Many of the Sawhorse students don't have access to shops and tools—sometimes because their families can't afford them; sometimes because their schools have cut arts, trades education, and other hands-on types of learning in their mad dash to 'teach to the test'; sometimes just because they're girls and if there's a project to do at home, it's always done by the boys."

Tickets for the Builder's Dinner are available here.