The High Mountain Hay Fever Bluegrass board has proudly presented $36,000 to the Custer County Medical Center as a result of proceeds from this year’s eighth annual festival in Westcliffe.

Board member Will Sibbald said he is pleased with the amount, even though it is less than the 2009 contribution of $70,000.

To supplement this year’s financial gift, the Warren Helman family, leader of the bluegrass band The Wronglers who played at this year’s show, personally contributed $5,000 to the clinic. Sibbald said it was because they were so inspired by the works of both the festival and the medical center. That brings the number up to $41,000.

“This was a great year,” said Sibbald. “We ended up in tremendous shape. There’s been growth every year, so this year is okay.”

Medical center administrator Terry Nimnicht said the money from the bluegrass organization will be used to continue to improve the quality of health care, improve infrastructure to link medical records electronically to other area medical facilities and provide training for more efficient record keeping. Nimnicht said the monies are leveraged to use for matching funds from grants to get the most they can.

To date, money generated for the clinic from the bluegrass festival totals $251,000.