DU Porterville Chapter Banquet Oct. 2
Each October, finds duck hunters and other supporters of wetlands conservation at the local Ducks Unlimited Annual Banquet. The banquet, in its 37th year in 2012, is more than just a fundraiser. It is a unique opportunity for hunters and friends to get together before the season opens to look at new gear and firearms, learn about local opportunities, enjoy a great dinner and begin making hunting plans for the fall and winter.
This year’s banquet is on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at Veteran’s Memorial Building at 1900 Olive Ave. Cocktails begin at 6 p.m., dinner at 7:30 p.m., and the auction begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $60, and $30 for those 17 years and younger (a portion of which is tax deductible since DU is a nonprofit). Banquet seating is limited. For information on tickets call Pam Neel at 784-4215.
Aside from a steak dinner, highlights of the banquet include raffles, a live auction, games and a silent auction. Everything from duck hunting related paintings, sculptures, gift certificates from local stores and restaurants, 15 or so firearms, camping gear, jewelry, decoys, cutlery and local merchant products are given away in the raffle. A special “greenwing” auction aimed at hunters 17 and below is also featured.
There are also several games where guests can buy a chance to win high-quality hunting guns for $5 to $20. Games include “pluck-a-duck”, “DU Dice”, and the “Key Game.”
The Porterville Chapter’s Banquet, which usually produces well over $10,000 for Ducks Unlimited, Inc. each year, is always one of the most successful in California. This year’s chapter chairman Dago Garcia chalked that success up to the outstanding support of local businesses and other donors who give thousands of dollars in funds or products each year, as well as the generosity of those who attend the banquet during the auction and raffles. Garcia also cited the efforts of the volunteers on the banquet committee.
Thanks in large part to fundraising efforts such as the Porterville Chapter’s Annual Banquet, Ducks Unlimited, Inc. raised more than $1.3 billion since 1937 to restore, enhance and protect more than 9 million acres of wildlife habitat in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
