Next Thursday, Marion Countians have the chance to support local wildlife programs and have a great meal as the annual Marion County Mississippi Ducks Unlimited Banquet takes place.
The event is set for Nov. 16 at the Columbia Country Club and organizers are excited.
“We’re going to have a live auction with several guns, a silent auction and several raffles for different items,” Chairman Karla Brown said. “There will be some tables set up with specialized items for youth.”
Catering for the event will be done by Jason Moree of 98 1-Stop. Tickets are $55 for a single, $75 for a couple, or $25 for a “Greenwing,” a person 16 or under, and can be purchased online at www.ducks.org, or at the door on the night of the event. Doors open at 6 p.m. with the live auction beginning at 7 p.m.
“This is our second year,” Brown said. “It’s a non-profit organization, and we’re hoping to grow it in Marion County. We want to get more people involved and more youth involved.”
Brown said she and other members are often asked if Marion County benefits from the money raised to conserve wetlands and wildlife.
“That’s a yes,” she said. “There is no question about the benefits to us. Marion County is not a ‘fly way’ so to speak. We see ducks, but not anything like they do in the Delta or Arkansas, etc. By giving to Ducks Unlimited, it goes where the ducks are born, where they come from. If they aren’t raised in a good, healthy environment, they don’t grow to be mature ducks that migrate down this way. It all goes back to the beginning where they start. Just like our children at home, if you raise them right, in a good sturdy home and environment, we hope that they will grow into responsible mature adults. We’re doing the same thing for our ducks – trying to raise them ‘right.’”
According to the its website, Ducks Unlimited got its start in 1937 during the Dust Bowl when North America’s drought-plagued waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows. Determined not to sit idly by as the continent’s waterfowl dwindled beyond recovery, a small group of sportsmen joined together to form an organization that became known as Ducks Unlimited.
Ducks Unlimited is a grassroots, volunteer-based organization. Its members are conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts who live primarily throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Its volunteers host more than 4,000 grassroots fundraising events annually, such as member and sponsor banquets, shooting and fishing tournaments, and golf outings. Event dollars represent some of its most important sources of revenue. Since event dollars are typically unrestricted, it is able to spend these funds in our highest priority areas and use them to leverage additional funds from other sources.
For more information contact Karla Brown at (601) 674-6099, Matt Brown at (601) 674-0442 or Brandon Carney at (601) 447-0322.
