Ducks Unlimited banquet set
By Brielle Kennington
Argus Observer
Friday, January 11, 2008 12:26 PM PST
| |
| Ducks Unlimited will raffle off this Suzuki King Quad 450 Ducks Unlimited Edition four-wheeler at its annual banquet Feb. 2. The four-wheeler was donated by Edge Performance Sports and is currently situated at Les Schwab Tire Centers on East Idaho Avenue. |
Ontario - The Lower Snake River Chapter of Ducks Unlimited will be raffling off a four-wheeler at its annual fund-raising banquet Feb. 2 at the Elks Lodge in Ontario.
The banquet starts at 5:30 p.m. and the event is the key fundraising effort for the organization.
The banquet includes a prime rib dinner, games, a silent auction and opportunities to win prizes. This year, the big prize is a Suzuki King Quad 450 with a price tag of $6,849. The four-wheeler was donated by Ontario’s Edge Performance Sports.
“We donated it because Ducks Unlimited is a great organization, and a lot of folks are out there using our products,” Ryan Gentry co-owner of Edge Performance Sports and Co-owner of Gentry Ford Sales. Tickets to attend the banquet cost $35 per person and $65 for couples. Tickets for the banquet can be purchased through any Ducks Unlimited committee member or through KSRV 1380 The Bull, Edge Performance Sports and Les Schwab Tire Centers.
Tickets to take part in the raffle cost only $10 each.
The four-wheeler raffle is part of an effort by the organization to raise funds. Last year the Ducks Unlimited Banquet attracted 125 people.
“We’d like to see 160 this year,” Lower Snake River Chapter of Ducks Unlimited committee member Daryn Lukehart said. Proceeds from Ducks Unlimited events go to restoration and conservation efforts of wetlands.
“We turn it into Ducks Unlimited headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. They are efficient with their money. They are able to take every dollar they make and raise it 17 times,” Lukehart said.
Lukehart, the owner of Daryn’s Auto Doctor situated on Southeast Second Street said he joined Ducks Unlimited because he thought wetlands are a vital part of the ecosystem, and the organization is not just for hunters and biologists.
“Ducks Unlimited is for anybody who wants clean water and clean air, that is truly what they are about,” Lukehart said.
Ducks Unlimited has demonstrated its commitment to restoration by conserving 904,629 acres of wetland in 2006, including 86,709 acres in Oregon alone. One of the conservation projects in Oregon includes the Ladd Marsh in La Grande.
“The Ladd Marsh program is being worked on. It’s phenomenal what they did out there. You can see it from the interstate, right off Interstate 84, right before you get to La Grande. It is on the righthand side to the north of the interstate. You can’t miss it. They built some levees and pumped water in,” Lukehart said.
The purpose of Ducks Unlimited is to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl. These habitats also benefit other wildlife and people, but members can get more out of the organization than better habitats.
“It’s a huge commitment at times, but you meet so many great people through Ducks Unlimited,” Lukehart said.
For more information on Duck Unlimited go to www.ducks.org.
“We’re not going to turn anybody away,” Lukehart said.
