Alissa Bell is receiving the dictionary from President Jeremy as Pamela Ruiz-Esparza looks on. Austin Price is seated and already using his new dictionary.

Seventeen years ago, the Pollocksville Rotary Club came up with the idea of having a big game hunting tournament. The purpose of the tournament was to eventually be able to quit cooking barbeque chicken dinners as a fundraiser. The Club had been earning $1,000 to $1,500 a year with the barbeque chicken and that was the only fundraiser of the year. Our hope was to one day being able to double that amount. Let’s face it, $1,500 doesn’t go very far when you have every group, organization and school in the County asking for help.

The first year of the tournament was a disaster. Only twelve hunters registered to hunt and only three deer were brought to the scales. The largest weighed-in around 154 lbs. and the smallest was around 50 lbs. There were only a small group of 10 or 15 advertisers and no sponsors. As you may guess, we made no money. In fact, we lost some.

The second year was a little better with about 50 hunters and an equal number of advertisers. The Club actually made a little money.

For the first three years of the Tournament, the weigh-in was held at the vacant lot on the corner of Main and Greenhill Streets. In the fourth year, 1996, we moved to the new Town Park, next to the bridge. This move was particularly appropriate, as we were donating a large portion of the proceeds to the park. It also gave us enough room to handle the one hundred plus hunters we had that year.

The Club was now making some pretty good money on the tournament, but we continued the barbeque chicken dinner one more year. It seemed that the more money we made, the more requests for aid to various organizations we received.

The participation, from both hunters and spectators, continued to grow and we began to have more people than we had space to accommodate. This was partially caused by a pot of lima beans. In the fourth year, Allen Bender decided to cook a pot of limas for all club members for lunch. As the hunters began to bring in their deer to be weighed, they would ask Allen for a bowl of the limas. Fortunately, Allen had cooked a large pot of them.

The next day, we had more beans, venison sausage and a couple of smoked venison hams. The spectators, seeing the hunters eating these camp cooking delicacies, began to ask if they might “have a taste”. Thus was born the camp cooking, so greatly enjoyed by hunters and spectators alike. The fare is generally wild game dishes such as venison sausage, venison burgers, bear burgers and sausage, venison spaghetti, venison chili, bear meatballs, etc. For those who are not used to “camp cooking,” we also offer hot dogs and regular burgers. Beans are, of course, still the standard fare for any camp.

Last year, we served over 2,000 people on Saturday night alone. Thanks to food services that donate a portion of the food supplies and individuals who drop contributions into our donation jars on the tables, we have been able to continue to serve, at no charge, all who wish to eat.

In 1999, we were forced to move from the Town Park, due to an accumulation of sediment from the flood that had to be removed before the park could be utilized again. At the time, we were frantic about having to move the event at the last minute. In the end, it turned out to be one of the best things that ever could have happened to the event.

Thanks to the generosity of Linda and Dick Staunch, the tournament was able to move to what is now the John D. Jenkins Rotary Park on Beaufort Street. The site is large enough to handle an expanded area for the crowd, as well as adequate parking on site. We hope to be able to continue to use the site for many years to come.

In 2002, hunter Joe Winters brought in the largest deer that anyone can remember seeing in North Carolina. This massive buck had a field-dressed weight of 225 pounds. It probably weighed between 275 pounds and 290 pounds on the hoof. The buck would probably have been a new state record, if it had been weighed before it was field dressed.  Joe still holds the tournament record today.

Last year was a remarkable event. Over four hundred eighty hunters participated in the event. The hunters donated over 80 deer to the Hunters for the Hungry Program, which is operated by the NC Department of Wildlife Resources. This was well over 4000 pounds of meat to feed men, women and children in area shelters and orphanages.

Thanks to our many sponsors, advertisers, hunters and supporters in the community, the Pollocksville Rotary Club is now able to make substantial donations to over 15 groups and organizations in Jones and surrounding counties, as well as making annual donations to all six schools in Jones County.

Keep watching. I will let you know when they are available!

See you at the scales!!!!

April