By Frank Stanko • Daily News franks@wahpetondailynews.com Oct 14, 2022 Updated Nov 21, 2022
Sportsmen’s Smoker visitors will dine on wild game chili and stew. It will be available at no extra cost and served until it is gone. There will also be no shortage of raffles, including ones exclusive to women, offered to the general audience and exclusively offering local meat. Gun boards and games will also compete with the raffles for audience members’ attention.
While the public is always invited to the Sportsmen’s Smoker — “Bring your friends for a night of fun!,” a poster reads — guests must be 18 or older to attend on their own. Young visitors are required to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Tickets cost $20.
Sportsmen’s Smoker visitors will dine on wild game chili and stew. It will be available at no extra cost and served until it is gone. There will also be no shortage of raffles, including ones exclusive to women, offered to the general audience and exclusively offering local meat. Gun boards and games will also compete with the raffles for audience members’ attention.
Proceeds from the Sportsmen’s Smoker will be used to support local youth programs, wildlife projects and Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton.
Early Bird tickets are available until Thursday, Oct. 20. Those tickets will be entered into an additional gun raffle. For more information, call:
- Curt Mund at 701-640-3857
- Rich Truesdell at 701-640-5136 or
- Kelly Carlson at 218-766-1396
To learn more about the Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club, visit www.rrasc.net. Club information will also be available at the Smoker.
RRASC President Greg Gerou visited Daily News to talk more about the Sportsmen’s Smoker and the club’s role in the southern valley.
“Our club could not do the many project that we are involved in without the funds from this event,” Gerou said. “Without the support of local businesses and organizations, our Smoker would not be the success it is.”
Projects and organizations that benefit from or are possible thanks to Sportsmen’s Smoker profits include development along and access to the Red, Otter Tail and Bois de Sioux rivers, the Junior Wildlife Club, which provides outdoor activities to youth ages 8-16, the Ladies Rooster Roundup, a ladies only pheasant hunt, the Twist of Fate archery hunt and Hunt of a Lifetime for people with serious illnesses, college scholarships for wildlife management and enforcement students and area high school clay target and fishing leagues.
“We’re adding sponsorships to the Smoker. Depending on what level a business or individual would like to support us at, they receive tickets, become a member of the club and get entered into our general raffle,” Gerou said.
Sponsorship levels include:
- Silver, $250, which includes one year of RRASC membership, two Sportsmen’s Smoker tickets and four general raffle ticket strips
- Gold, $500, which includes one year of RRASC membership, three Sportsmen’s Smoker tickets and six general raffle ticket strips
- Platinum, $750, which includes one year of RRASC membership, four Sportsmen’s Smoker tickets and eight general raffle ticket strips
- Diamond, $1,000, which includes one year of RRASC membership, five event tickets and 10 general raffle ticket strips
“We’re going to try something new this year,” Gerou said. “It’s ‘Pay What You Pull.’ There will be a bucket with poker chips marked from 0-50. Whatever you pull, that’s the amount of money you pay for a ticket and a chance at a firearm. We’re going to give that a shot and see if it works.”
Gerou continues to be proud of “some really good people who care a lot” when it comes to RRASC’s work with youth. There are many to name.
“Cindie Van Tassel does the goose hunt. Kevin Manock does the waterfowl hunt and Mark Althoff does the pheasant hunt. They’re all committee chairs and they just do a super job for us,” Gerou said.
Asked to give an elevator pitch for the Sportsmen’s Smoker, Gerou reminds the public that “it’s what drives everything” for RRASC.
“Last night, at Mix & Mingle, I had a gentleman stop by our booth. We got to talking about the Smoker. If it wasn’t for the Smoker, the club would not exist. That really drives everything. Everything we do has a financial cost and somebody or something has to pay for it. Well, this event does,” Gerou said.