On Saturday February 15th the Bella Coola Rod and Gun Club held their annual Dinner/Dance Fundraiser at Lobelco Hall. It was a full house and guests enjoyed a delicious buffet featuring an impressive selection of meat from local hunters and food producers that included elk, moose, white tail deer, mule deer, caribou, cougar, beaver, turkey, lamb, winter caught rainbow from up top and Spring salmon!
While waiting for dinner folks got to “join” (by projector and screen) several hunts and outdoor excursions from the past year and share stories of their own memorable outings. As well there was a very interesting display of antlers, taxidermy mounts and fir pelts to admire.
Awards given out this year were to Jim Knudsen for first place and to Mitch Moren for second place in the Annual Buck Derby.
Dinner was followed by a dance with music from AKA and many took to the floor to shake it up to the great blend of rock and roll, rockabilly and pop tunes. The fund raising portion of the evening included a silent auction with items from local artists including painting and jewellery, tools for the home and yard, construction materials such as lumber and gravel and services such as backhoe time. There was also a raffle with two awesome prizes, a 20-minute helicopter ride won by Mitch Moren and a Go Pro Hero 3+ Silver edition action camera won by David Kopas.
Funds raised at this event help pay for improvements to the new gun range located up the Saloompt River Road and to cover insurance and other costs. Members (well over 100) are proud of the fact that they own the range and have a long term lease on the adjacent land – and that they achieved this without government grants. The club celebrates its 62nd birthday this year and continues to advocate firearm and bow safety, hunter training, ethical hunting and an appreciation for the outdoors.
Memberships can be obtained by contacting the membership chair, Sandie MacLaurin at 250-982-2670 or randy_sandie@xplornet.com. Family memberships are $45, Individuals $35, Seniors $25 and Juniors $20.
The club would like to thank local businesses and individuals for their generous donations of items and services to our annual fundraiser. Your help makes this event a yearly success!