Yesterday, Carl and I traveled to Hugoton to attend the “Pheasant Heaven Charities - Calf Fry, Beef Feed and Pig Roast.” Brad Musgrove, one of the organizers, invited us to the event. What an amazing evening! The use of a huge metal building, provided by Great Plains Gas Compression, was the staging area for the largest, free, community service event that I have ever witnessed. A model of civic efficacy, over 1500 people filed through the food lines for a meal of beef, pork, calf fries, and all the fixings for the price of a free will contribution. Started just a few years ago, in order to meet some philanthropic needs of the community, Pheasant Heaven was born.
Shirts and caps with the annual logo are sold, door prizes donated by local and area merchants are given away, raffle tickets for shotguns, a quilt, a Traeger grill, and other items were available and an auction was held.
Proceeds from the event, sponsored by local merchants and businesses, are awarded to local organizations that rely on charitable support in SW Kansas communities and to Pheasant Heaven Charities scholarships.
The timing is perfect: the night before the opening day of pheasant season, when the local motels and rentals are over-booked with hopeful hunters and hounds. As we drove the highway from Dodge City to Hugoton, the “No Vacancy” signs flashed their condolences to would-be guests.
Residents from near-by communities “save the date” for this now annual event. Hunters and their entourage from Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana also make plans to come in early, spend the evening with good food, jovial conversation, and shared story telling – all to benefit worthy causes in the southwest corner of the state.
The color guard presented the national and state colors, “The Star Spangled Banner” was sung, veterans were recognized, and the entire event was accomplished without a hitch.
What a wonderful display of community and American patriotism – the authentic passion of rural America!
Postscript – It was a beautiful autumnal day for a drive across the western corner of the Big First district. We watched combines and harvest equipment crawl through the fields as many farmers are still trying to get the fall crops in. Mountains of corn and milo, “stored” on the ground at every elevator along the route, served as testament of a bountiful late fall harvest. The beautiful hues of gold, red, and brown, evidence of the variety of seeds planted, in the mounds of milo were reminiscent of the sand sculptures we created in glass jars as students, and served as concrete evidence of Nature’s artistry. We certainly live in “America the Beautiful!”
