ST. Joseph &8212; High school football teams across the country are going through the beginning of fall practice season, and with that comes the annual picture day.

Players, coaches and fans at Tensas Academy got together and decided that if you&8217;re going to have a picture day, you might as well at least have fun.

Thus began the Meet the Chiefs/Auction/Fundraiser night, depending on which fan you may ask.

The Tensas Athletic Association banded together to cook meals for everyone, get items to auction and put on a fun night for everyone.

Jeff Lee, president of the athletic association, said these fundraisers were the lifeblood of the school.

&8220;This is our second year doing this, and we had a great turnout last year,&8221; he said. &8220;This school is kind of the lifeblood of this town, and without sports this school would suffer.

&8220;We have a lot of fun doing this,&8221; Lee continued. &8220;We cooked I don&8217;t know how much jambalaya. We cooked some brisket for lunch and sold 500 plates. These athletes need the funds that this can generate.&8221;

Lee&8217;s wife, Leslie, agreed with his sentiments.

&8220;Right now we&8217;re working to build a baseball field out there,&8221; she said while pointing past the football field. &8220;It&8217;s something we haven&8217;t had before and the kids are really excited about it. We love this school. If you lost the athletics, you&8217;d lose a lot of the kids that go here.&8221;

Tensas head coach Chris Jacobs was happy to have a committed booster organization for his program.

&8220;It&8217;s great,&8221; he said. &8220;As a head coach and athletic director, there were some years we were squeaking by. But if you look out here at the kids, that&8217;s brand new equipment they&8217;re wearing except the shoulder-pads. It costs money, so we rely heavily on fundraising. Thankfully, we&8217;ve got a good group in the athletic association that helps us. We&8217;ve definitely got some amazing cooks for this.&8221;

Jacobs was also excited about his team&8217;s chances this season.

&8220;One place I know we&8217;ll be improved is we&8217;ve got four coaches who&8217;ve been out here for a while,&8221; she said. &8220;It&8217;s teams like this where it&8217;s good to have continuity. We&8217;ve got about 19 kids that might come out here this fall, but we&8217;ve got 14 kids who are really going to be tough, hard workers for us.&8221;