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Ducks Unlimited chapter holding banquet
By Jonathan Starkeyy
Staff Reporter
The Indian River Chapter of Ducks Unlimited will hold its annual banquet at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, in the Millville Fire Hall on Route 26. Tickets are available for $40 at the door or by calling Indian River Chapter Chair Rod West at 539-4551. West said that the banquet is the signature fundraiser for the chapter, which has struggled in recent years with finding volunteers.
“We’re just trying to get more support,” West said earlier this week. “But everybody and their brother is trying to beg for that dollar. We’re trying to beg, too.”
West said that the chapter thrived through the late-1990s, but now there are only six members in the Indian River group and it is hard to get much done. To volunteer, call West at the aforementioned number or visit the organization’s Web site at www.ducksunlimited.com.
Ducks Unlimited works to promote healthy wetlands that support large populations of waterfowl. The organization organizes restoration and educational projects across Northern America, supporting conservation and the sport of hunting. A group of conservationists formed the organization in 1937 to restore waterfowl to vanishing wetland habitats.
Ducks Unlimited officials replaced two water-control structures at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge last year to help control the water level in the refuge. The organization has also conducted habitat projects in Kent County, on the Delaware Bay and in the Little Assawoman Canal.
“This is something I’ve always enjoyed,” West said, adding that lack of volunteers and funds have slowed the Indian River chapter’s progress. “We try to preserve as much as can be for tomorrow.”
A buffet will be served at next Saturday’s banquet and people in attendance will have a chance to bid on items in live and silent auctions. West said items like Ducks Unlimited emblem-laden prints, decoys, knives and guns will be auctioned off that night at the Millville Fire Hall.
Officials will also auction off the “gun of the year”: a Remington 20-gauge 1187.
In addition to the auctions, West said there will be a high-low and blackjack card tables. Winners at the tables will have their name placed in a raffle for a Benelli shotgun.
Next Saturday’s event will be catered by Jimmy’s Grille from Bridgeville and all proceeds will benefit the Indian River Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and future projects.
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