by Eric Harrold
The 47th Annual Banquet of the Northwest Iowa Ducks Unlimited Chapter was held on Friday, March 1 at the Sheldon Eagles Club.
By the time the prime rib was carved up and ready to go on plates at 5:30, there weren’t many seats left to be taken as most of the 165 that attended were in the building, checking out raffle items and catching up with friends.
Many were lined up at the raffle tables, eager to purchase tickets for the hundreds of items that were being raffled or auctioned, which included 56 guns.
Bruce Brock of LeMars once again served as auctioneer, a role he has filled in at least the past decade of banquets.
Chapter chairman Todd Helmers seemed pleased with the proceeds yielded by the evening’s fundraising efforts. He said banquet proceeds have increased each year by about 2 percent, with this year’s banquet raising just over $40,000.
Helmers said that while fundraising figures are reported to the national office of Ducks Unlimited, the money raised is all spent within the state’s borders, mainly on habitat-related projects.
As is often the case, chapter leaders gave a nod to a couple of folks who were not present, but had made noteworthy contributions to this year’s banquet.
The first was banquet committee member Logan Wolthuizen, a member of the United States Air Force who is currently deployed to Saudi Arabia. Wolthuizen, who grew up in Sanborn, has been on the committee for three years, and despite the distance created by his deployment, continues to remain an active participant.
Tracy Robinson, wife of deceased sponsor Heath Robinson, donated a CZ 20-gauge shotgun to the auction in his memory. Heath along with his father Ron, crafted wood products for auctions in past years.
In addition to raising funds that are integral to the organization’s conservation mission, the banquet provides an atmosphere of camaraderie and good-natured ribbing among those attending, who appear as though they wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.