Game feed, family event back in full force

Photo by Robert Williams
Harvest Church pastor Ryan Stockstrom, right, introduces keynote speaker Jake Blow at the Taste of the Wild on Saturday, March 4, at the Frazee Event Center.

By Robert Williams

Editor

Organizers from Harvest Church were not sure what kind of reception the return of the Taste of the Wild game feed and family event was going to get with some big competition just across the border in Fargo, along with an unseasonably warm and sunny Saturday afternoon.

“I can’t complain; it did take a little while longer for people to come in with it being such a nice day,” said pastor Ryan Stockstrom.

The event was the seventh Taste of the Wild game feed since 2014, but the first since 2020. It was also competing for attendance with the final day of the 58th annual Red River Valley Sportsmen’s Boat, Camping & Vacation Show, the largest such show in the region.

Despite that and the weather, there were few empty seats amid a packed house at the Frazee Event Center with attendees dining on competitive wild game dishes along with collecting door prizes throughout the event and perusing the newest addition to the event, a silent auction.

Members of Harvest Church came together to return the successful event to its former glory.

“Setup went very well; we had a great crew of volunteers from Harvest to help,” said Stockstrom. “It was the easiest setup ever—many hands make light work.”

The show featured multiple speakers, including keynote Jake Blow presenting on designing high odds hunting opportunities. Blow specializes in taking undeveloped or underdeveloped tracts of land and transforming the land into turnkey hunting properties that attract and retain wildlife.

Preceding guest speakers were: Jack Mohr on survival skills; Phillip Kern on bow hunting and archery skills and Neal Seeger with a presentation on sled dogs,.

“It’s great to see a full house; the session speakers did a phenomenal job,” said Stockstrom.

The success of the event’s return bodes well for an eighth annual event in 2025.

“For sure; we’ll be doing it again,” Stockstrom said. “It’s debatable whether we’ll do it again at the Event Center or up at the Elementary maybe. We’re very happy with the turnout.”