POCATELLO — The annual POW*MIA Awareness Association Rally and Motorcycle Rodeo was held at the Bannock County Fairgrounds this weekend for the first time in four years.

The return of the local event to the fairgrounds “thrilled” Hiedi Young, a board member and liaison for the Pocatello POW*MIA Awareness Association.

“This is where we feel like our home is and this is where we feel the best,” Young said. “So we’re really, really happy to be back home.”

Young said the fairgrounds was an option this year because the association was allowed to collect a share of the revenue from rented space for concession vendors. Previously, a Utah company, contracted with the county, had complete control over concessions at the fairgrounds.

“Before, it just wasn’t working for us,” Young said. “We couldn’t be profitable because of the concessions contract that they had in place.”

The association’s Pocatello chapter held its annual event at Idaho Falls’ Sandy Downs Arena during the previous two years and at Pocatello Raceway in 2016.

“Pocatello Raceway, the people there were great, but it just wasn’t optimal for what we do,” said Young, who added having the event in Idaho Falls was “inconvenient” because volunteers were from Pocatello and regulars were used to going to the Bannock County Fairgrounds for the event.

The non-profit organization runs the event to raise funds that can be used to boost awareness about the fact that remains of some missing U.S. veterans have not been returned home.

Young said it is important that the voiceless are given a voice for the “humanitarian” cause.

“We want to heighten the public awareness of the issue so that our congressman and senators will keep appropriating the funds needed to go out and find their remains and get them identified,” Young said. “If we don’t remember the men and women who sacrificed for our country, we’ve lost.”

This weekend marked the 19th edition of the POW*MIA Awareness Association Rally and Motorcycle Rodeo.

The last time it was at the fairgrounds was in 2015, when there were threats that there would be a confrontation between rival motorcycle gangs. Bannock County’s BearCat armored vehicle, Southeast Idaho Special Tactics and Response team, Bonneville County SWAT team, the Pocatello police SWAT team and Chubbuck officers arrived at the scene as a result.

The issue de-escalated before becoming a problem.

Young said no one was in danger and it was handled by event staff before law enforcement arrived.

“In 2015, we did have a couple motorcycle clubs that weren’t very happy with each other,” Young said. “We caught on to what was going on and we pulled them aside and they said, ‘You know what? You’re right. This isn’t the place. This isn’t the time. We’re not going to do anything,’ and it was done.”

Young said the event’s image took a “little bit of a hit” because of the incident. She added that they employ a private security firm.

“We police ourselves. We take care of ourselves,” Young said. “We have a lot of motorcyclists that come here, but they don’t come here to fight and cause problems. They come here to support a cause because they believe in what we’re doing.”

Young could not say with certainty that the event will continue to be run at the fairgrounds, but she hopes it will remain there.

“We have to renegotiate every year,” Young said. “If everything keeps going the way that it’s going, that would be our plan. That’s our preference is to come back in 2020, but until we get through 2019 and until we start booking things for 2020 we can’t confirm that, but that’s the current plan. We would like to come back.”