Every year the Austin Area Wildlife group in Austin holds a spring banquet to give back to the community for all its support of their efforts. It was held at the Austin Hall last Saturday night.

"We had a guest speaker, Jason Dyck," says president Corey Nichols. "He's a host of Jason Dyck's Guide Life on Wild TV. And we had our Austin Junior Rifle and Junior Archery Clubs cooking and serving the meals for the banquet. It was a great turnout for the banquet. We had about 110 people. "

He says they raise funds through a reasonably priced meal accompanied by entertainment for various programs their club operates. Nichols notes it gets people out of the house for a get-together, and helps local organizations with some money. This year, he adds, they gave $1,310 to Enabled Outdoors, a program initiated by Jason and Marnie Dyck developed where children with physical or mental disabilities or life-threatening diseases can have a chance at experiencing outdoor activities such as fishing, ATV rides, outdoor camping and much more. Past events saw them give to the Lions and others.

Nichols said they raffled off a rifle and did well overall. He notes they also had Team Lady Fowlers come out, including a group of girls the Nichols mentored. That group helps new lady hunters learn the outdoor traits of shooting waterfowl or large game. He says the entire evening was likely one of the best events they've held to date.