The Vermilion County Conservation Foundation’s sixth annual Sportsman’s banquet held on March 18th at the Sleepy Creek Winery Venue was once again a night to remember! Good friends, good food and beverages, while helping make a difference in our beautiful county parks make for a really good time!
The event was sold out at 250 attendees. The banquets are themed to promote families; men, women and children being involved in the outdoors.
A free fishing rod and tackle box is given to every child under 16 and the ladies table is always a very popular place at each banquet. The raffles and live auction bid items are things sporting people enjoy including: wildlife art prints, hunting trips, unique sporting weapons, outdoor equipment, along with really neat household items, tickets and/or admission to special events, a special buffet for 25, a 30-person barbeque dinner and even gift cards to some great places to eat.
The highest live auction item was a bourbon and cigar basket. Banquet sponsor’s benefits include drawings that offer a 1 in 5 chance of winning various sponsor prizes including hunting and fishing equipment and other outdoor equipment.
Thanks to a lot of generous attendees and a bunch of Foundation volunteers, the banquet net was $21,000. Thank you each and every one for being a part of and contributing to our event.
Each year banquet proceeds are dedicated to a project benefiting the Vermilion County Conservation District’s efforts relating to maintaining our parks, conservation education and outdoor recreation for Vermilion County and surrounding area residents. In the past, the Foundation Banquet proceeds also assisted the District fund the purchase of a new tractor.
This year the Foundation has a goal of supplying four new sets of playground equipment for the District. Two sets for Kennekuk and two for Forest Glen. This commercial grade equipment is priced at $22,000 each. This year’s proceeds will pay for the third set.
Below are a couple of pictures of one of the new playgrounds completed at Kennekuk.
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