ANNUAL BANQUET BAGS $50,000-PLUS

ITCHING TO HUNT: This Dennis Minor painting of a yellow Labrador among turkey and duck decoys, titled Old Timer, was one of the those sold at the La Grande chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation's annual banquet. ().

The Union County chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation grossed $52,500 at its annual banquet earlier this month.

A portion of the net proceeds will go to the NWTF to promote the federation's goals, such as development of wild turkey habitat. Another portion will be kept by the Union County chapter for community projects.

Dinner was served to 279 people at the banquet. Money was raised from the sale of banquet tickets, which covered the cost of dinner and a NWTF membership, and the sale of auction items. Big-ticket items sold at the auction included an elk hunt in Saskatchewan for $4,900 and a custom-made hunting rifle for $1,350.

The winners of scholarships awarded by the La Grande NWTF chapter were announced. A $1,000 scholarship went to Kelli Jo McKee, and a $500 scholarship went to Brady Anthony. Both are Imbler High School seniors.

Over the past six years, the Union County chapter has given out more than $7,000 to local students in college scholarships.

The chapter has been involved in community service projects for years. In addition to its scholarship program, it reaches out to those in need. During the holiday season the chapter purchased 70 frozen turkeys and donated them to Neighbor to Neighbor Ministries through its Turkey Hunters Care Program.

The National Wild Turkey Federation is a non-profit organization headquartered in Edgefield, S.C. Founded in 1973, the organization has 545,000 members who are part of 2,250 chapters. Chapters are located in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and 14 other countries.