Wild Meat Supper

The Mills River Methodist Church's annual Wild Meat Supper was held last Saturday night and by all accounts was a colossal success. I believe the final tally of people served was somewhere around 280 and I was told they had over 60 people on a waiting list if seats came available. The fellowship hall of the church was crammed to absolute full capacity. If they had tried to fit any more bodies into that room I'm sure they would have been in violation of the fire ordinance. Fortunately, half of the Mills River Volunteer Fire Department was in attendance.

The food as usual was fantastic. We dined on deer, elk, buffalo, wild turkey, pheasant (which was a little too dry for my tastes) bear, and wild trout. Ridge especially liked the elk pasta and Mom's spicewood cake. My personal favorite dish of the meal was Dad's cube steak. It was melt-in-your mouth delicious. I was particularly careful however, when selecting my deer steak while going through the serving line. I had watched Ray earlier in the day preparing the meat and saw him cutting off sections and smelling it before putting it in the frying pan.

"Some of this meat's pretty old," he said, when he noticed me watching him trim the suspicious meat. "Been at the bottom of the freezer for a couple of years. I done believe some of it's gone bad."

That's the thing about Ray-the man will not waste venison under any circumstances, even if it has the potential to cause an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.

After the dinner, there was an auction that benefit the Methodist Youth Mission Outreach Program. Donnie Goode served as auctioneer. The majority of the stuff auctioned off was junk donated by folks around the community, that came straight from their basement or attic. But there was some highlights: Dad donated two hand-built bird houses and a rabbit gum. Some guy donated an old .22 single shot rifle and off course there was a variety of baked goods from some of the local women in the community.

Dad's two birdhouse went for $50 bucks and the rabbit gum went for $45. One of Aunt Mid's secret recipe cakes sold for a whopping $120. We were told that a couple of years ago, Mac Wiggins paid $400 dollars for one of her cakes. Pretty impressive for a cake. I sure do miss Aunt Mid. I wonder if she's baking cakes up in heaven for Uncle Walt?

the t-shirts I designed for the event were also a big hit. Bud ran the table were the shirts were being sold and at one point during the dinner he came over and whispered in my ear that they were selling like hotcakes.

All in all it was a great night, and Danielle and Ridge both had a good time as well. A lot of money was raised for a good cause and I believe everyone involved enjoyed themselves. It's always great being back home with friends, family and good food.

Until next year...