Outdoor banquet was done right
Despite the looming specter of the coronavirus “delta force,” the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation held its annual Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet Saturday at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
It was a grand event, too, although banquet organizers said they expected a bigger turnout. Attendance didn’t look sparse to me, despite a much larger space than usual. The crowd certainly wasn’t elbow to elbow as it has been in the past, but overall, attendance was very good, and the crowd was enthusiastic.
There were several major changes in the format, especially in the auctions. Instead of the usual live and silent auctions, all of the auctions were held online, which made them available to a worldwide pool of bidders. This proved to be highly profitable. Deke Whitbeck, president of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, said that this year’s event set a fundraising record with $500,000. One item in particular interested me, a locally crafted split bamboo fly rod. It sold for $1,425, which was out of my range. It sure was pretty, but at that price, all I could think about was the million ways I might break it. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I am not, and will never be, a good enough fly fisherman to own a rod like that.
Libby Davis, chairwoman for the banquet, wanted it known that she and her staff did everything necessary to make the banquet comply with covid-19 mitigation guidelines. In addition to spreading attendees out over a much larger area, they required attendees to wear masks to enter. Everybody also had their temperatures screened before they could enter.
“I don’t have covid, but I do have chronic wasting disease,” I said to the person that took my temperature. He was not amused.
Also, holding the online auction eliminated people congregating at the various auction items. You could glide past the auction tables, and if you saw something you liked, you could note the auction number and use a smartphone to bid online at your table.
The buffet line also minimized personal contact. The catering service staff wore gloves and served each attendee individually so that nobody else touched or hovered over the food.
Had there been a Most Conspicuously Attired award, it would have gone to Ray Tucker of Little Rock. He wore a sport coat in an uncommonly bright shade of orange. It wasn’t blaze orange. I would describe it as “Lost and in need of rescue” orange. He was very easy to find no matter where he went.
As always, the highlight was mingling with friends and acquaintances who I don’t often see, such as former Game and Fish Commission member Emon Mahony of El Dorado. Mahony and his family received the Game and Fish Foundation’s legacy award for their contributions to wildlife conservation, especially in south Arkansas. It was also a pleasure to visit with former Game and Fish Commission member Steve Cook of Malvern, federal magistrate judge Joe Volpe of Little Rock, Buck Horton of Pine Bluff and also the Bequette family.
Kayle Browning of Wooster, who won a silver medal in women’s trapshooting at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, took an extended turn onstage with emcees Trey Reid, Steve “Wildman” Wilson and Game and Fish Commission director Austin Booth.
Browning generously gave us a few minutes at her appearance earlier in the day at the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation Shooting Sports Complex at Jacksonville. Read all about her Olympics experience and her philosophy on competitive target shooting in the Sunday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Mainly, everybody at the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet was thrilled to be out of isolation and enjoying fellowship. They did it responsibly and respectfully, just as they did recently at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet in Benton.
Covid appears to be the visiting relative that won’t leave, but we are adjusting and learning to live with it as we near vanquishing it.
Our next big outdoors gathering will be the Arkansas Big Buck Classic in January. Rest assured Tom and Catherine Murchison will do that right, too.