Friday evening, March 6 – Worship Center, Leola, Pennsylvania.

Jana, Josh, Ian, Cerwin, Jere, and I went for the 5:00 PM meal. (There are three time choices – 5:00 PM, 5:30 PM, and 6:00 PM.)

We like the early seating, as it gives us time to see vendors and reserve seats in the auditorium before the crowd arrives.

My platter of ribs, pulled pork, beans, macaroni salad, and coleslaw. There was also a wide variety of desserts – which I did not photograph.

This delicious food was prepared by Hess’s BBQ – http://www.hessbbq.com/.

I enjoyed reading the Bible verses on the wall of the fellowship hall.

We enjoyed visiting vendors – especially Kevin (blue shirt) who is our local contact person for Whitetail Trophy Hunt, Osage Beach, Missouri, where Cerwin hunted in 2013 – and I went along for the experience.

Next to him were our neighbors Roy & Faye Reiff, owners of Rawhide Guide Service.

http://rawhideguideservice.com/about-us/

http://rawhideguideservice.com/

Ian entered a shooting competition.

He was surprised and pleased to learn – during the program – that he earned second place.

His prize – a Hunting Video Game.

A favorite vendor of mine is the beautiful decoys.

It amazes me that these are hand made.

The skilled owners of Metzger Decoys.

I enjoyed visiting with these vendors.

Taxidermy is another skill that fascinates me.

After reserving 17 seats for our family and friends, and visiting vendors, I went to the silent auction room and bid on a few things.

Each item I bid on eventually received higher bids, meaning I didn’t get anything. That’s good, because I really didn’t need anything.

Then I went to the auditorium to wait for the program to begin. The stage was decorated with a flock of turkeys.

Several items were auctioned at 7:00 PM – just before the beginning of a huge assortment of door prizes.

Jordan and I were the only two from our group who had our number called. I forget what he won, but I got a pink t-shirt (which I gave to Jana and Diana – I think Jana kept it.), a wildlife blanket (which looks great in the man cave.), and a $25 gift certificate to Kohl’s (which I spent on a maxi skirt).

It took about an hour to give away all the door prizes – then they threw a lot of t-shirts , into the audience. You can see many of our family members in this photo – hoping to get a shirt. See if you can find: Jere, Diana, Jeff (look between Diana and Jana), Jana, Nate (behind Jana), Josh, Jenna (mostly hidden behind Josh), Dustan, Ian, (front) my empty seat, and Cerwin. Jordan (hidden behind Diana) and three friends were also there, and next to Jere were two other friends for whom we saved seats. That should equal our 17 seats.

The featured speaker was Chad Schearer (and his family), a champion elk caller and outfitter from Montana.

He began by asking us to imagine that it was early morning and we were in a field surrounded by elk.

He began calling elk, and soon we heard elk behind us.

The 2nd and 3rd calls came from his sons Wyatt and Walker who walked in the back doors and up the aisle to the stage while calling elk.

Walker

Wyatt and his dad.

He asked how many young hunters bagged their first deer this year. There were quite a few. He gave prizes to several – including these bows.

After introducing his boys, doing a variety of wildlife calls, and showing some hunting and fishing videos, he called his wife Marcia to the stage.

It was quite fun to hear about some of their hunting experiences.

He closed the program with a gospel message – reminding us that it is important to invite your friends and family to enjoy the great outdoors, but it is even more important to invite Christ into your life and follow Him.