By Lexi MooreFor seven years the Beaver Creek Sportsman’s Club members have gathered once a year to share their love of the outdoors with friends, neighbors and relatives during their annual Wild Game Feed.The afternoon event offers food, games and a raffle at the Beaver Bar in Beaver Creek. It gives non-members a chance to eat a good meal, learn more about the organization and become members.Club members gather at the bar early in the morning to begin preparing the food for the freewill donation meal. The meal depends on what club members have in their freezers from various fishing and hunting excursions over the past year."We have had a lot of different types of food throughout the years," said Club President Arlyn Gehrke, "… turtle, snake, elk, deer, duck, pheasant, alligator, rocky mountain oysters and more."The club organizes a raffle for the event to help raise money for their community projects. In 2005, the group used money from the raffle to help purchase and install a new dock at the Rez in Hills and started treating the Rez’s algae problem. The algae treatments are costly and will need to continue for two additional years before the situation improves.Residents interested in purchasing raffle tickets can contact BCSC members prior to the event or at the bar on Saturday. The tickets cost $1 each or $5 for a book of six.Raffle prizes will be outdoor items of all kinds. Last year’s raffle included a cooking fish won by Ed Gehrke, pictured at left, and Lonnie Ackerman, above, took home a VIP trip to Cabela’s in Mitchell, including the flight from Sioux Falls, and a $50 gift certificate.The drawing for raffle prizes begins at 6 p.m., but winners do not need to be present to win.The day of the feed the group will sell separate raffle tickets for a guided pheasant hunt. Unlike the regular raffle, the pheasant hunt winner must be present to win.
