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Wild Game Dinner on Friday

Trophies of Grace from Wisconsin will display 25 of the largest North American whitetail mounts at the event. Shown are a portion of their extensive collection of trophy mounts at last year’s dinner. 

By TERRI CASTELAZ

Staff Writer

NORWAY — A large variety of dishes will be featured at the ninth annual Wild Game Dinner set for Friday at Grace United Methodist Church in Norway.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. for viewing wildlife displays, with dinner to be served at 6 p.m. 

This year’s dishes include whitefish, perch, bluegill and crappie chowder, wild boar quesadillas, wild boar and red deer meatballs, penne pasta in bison red sauce, tame turkey sandwiches, salad bar and wild cherry-topped cheesecakes.

The ninth annual Wild Game Dinner takes place Friday at Grace United Methodist Church in Norway. Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner served at 6. This year’s grand prize is a smoker, displayed here by Chris Spence, left, Dick Holmes and the Rev. Irene White, pastor of Grace UMC.

Blackwing Meats of Antioch, Ill., offers boar from Florida and Alabama, where they run wild, destroying crops and farmers fences. Blackwing Meats professionally traps the boars and harvests and processes them under U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service transportation guidance and licensing.

“Only 80- to 150-pound animals are processed in order to maintain a consistent wild boar nutty pork flavor,” event spokesperson Jan Johnson said.

Wild boar also are referred to as feral hogs. They feed on a variety of natural foods, including fresh-planted seeds, nuts, roots, berries and fruit, as well as acorns, wild greens and mushrooms.

Eaton Highland Farm in Denmark, Wis., supplied the red deer for the meal. Red deer originated in Europe and were taken to New Zealand, where they are a major farm industry. After a visit to New Zealand, Highland started a farm to produces USDA-inspected red deer venison.

The evening also will offer the array of mounted animals and fish, many taken by sportsmen in our local area, along with Trophies of Grace white-tailed deer mounts and guest speaker, AJ Dudek.

Dudek, from the Appleton Alliance Church, is a professional guide for First Adventure Flyfishing in Colorado and Wisconsin.

“He has always had a passion for the outdoors and has more than 10 years of professional guiding experience in fly-fishing and backcountry trips,” she said.

He is on the pro staff for companies such as R.L. Winston Rods, St. Croix Rods, Scientific Anglers, Ross Reels, PEAK Vises, Muddy Outdoors, etc.

Ticket are $10, with children younger than 5 admitted free.

Reservations are limited to 250, so “everyone is encouraged to call with their reservations now,” Johnson said.

To reserve tickets, call the church office at 906-563-8917. Those who get the answering machine should leave name, telephone number and the number of tickets needed. Tickets can be picked up and paid for at the door the night of the event.

The church is at 130 O’Dill Drive, behind the Jake Menghini Museum in Norway.

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