Brock Ninker

After a motorcycle accident and the passing of seven years, Brock Ninker, former owner of Hansel and Gretel’s, hopes he has had his last surgery.

Ninker sold Hansel and Gretel’s in 2017 in part to pay for medical bills, but following a surgery on his tibia, his leg continued to bother him. After a surgery in December to correct the discomfort Ninker said he thinks this was the last surgery. 

To this end Ninker, who has a long history of aiding the community through charity events, is hosting a dinner, 50/50 silent auction and a raffle to help with the $5,000 cost of this most recent surgery. In this fundraising effort Ninker will be joined by his old friend Kevin Gordon in the kitchen.

The duo will be serving up pulled pork, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, coleslaw, dinner and dessert. The K-Bar saloon will be providing a cash bar. Items in the silent auction will include a signed James Bama print and paintings by local artist Michael Kopriva that hung in the Hansel and Gretel’s restaurant.

“He and I are some dangerous fellas behind a stove, or a grill or any other cooking utility you put us behind,” Ninker said.

Ninker does not expect to raise the full $5,000 and added that even if the event is just having a few beers with friends he will get that “camaraderie” out of the evening. 

“Sometimes the working class folk need a hand too and we’re too [stubborn] to ask for it,” Ninker said.

Following this year’s event he hopes to host the same event for different beneficiaries in the years to come.

“[I am] incredibly thankful for this community and I want to continue to do anything for it [moving forward],” Ninker said. 

This all started in 2015 when Ninker and his wife were in a motorcycle accident while participating in a cancer run event. Ninker said he was keeping an eye out for deer when the bike slid on loose gravel and into a ditch. Thankfully Ninker’s wife only received a concussion and broken tailbone. 

Ninker had numerous injuries including lacerations on his kidney and colon. He also had to have a cage in his neck installed and a pin in his tibia. Ninker said this was a life changing event not only for him but his friends and family as well. 

“For whatever reason the good Lord has a plan for me so I’ll just keep plugging along until I figure out what it is,” Ninker said. 

The dinner will take place at 6 p.m. this Saturday at Homesteader Hall at the Park County Fairgrounds. Meal tickets are $15 per person but community members can attend the event to participate in the auction for free. There will be only 75 tickets in order to provide the right amount of food. Tickets can be purchased in advance by contacting Ninker or his wife Sasha at 307-250-2672.