On Saturday February 01 2025, the Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association hosted our annual Wild Game Banquet. The event was held at the Sacred Heart Hall, 455 Pigeon Ave Williams Lake BC and the doors opened at 5:30pm and dinner served at 6:30 pm
This year the all-consuming task was taken on by Cassy Premack our 2025 President. Cassy stepped up in 2024 to take over the onerous task of organizing and completing the 2025 Wild Game Banquet. She took over the torch from Lloyd Como who had been doing the event for a number of years.
Some of you will know Cassy as she is also a certified instructor for CORE and will be soon certified in PAL and RPAL
Cassy will be the first to admit that without the help and support of her family and friends, this would have been very difficult. As an Association, we say thank you to Cassy, your family and friends.
At the risk of excluding someone, these are individuals who we would like to recognize:
| Jim Feeley | Nancy Feeley | Jason Feeley |
| Caroline Chupa | Al Campsall | Raeleen Campsall |
| Steve Dickens | Tyler Hamm | Ed Oliver |
| George Chignell 😘 | Nick Antifaeff | Tristan Duffy |
| Jamie Chan | Gavin Laukkanen | Tia |
| Rhylee | Jackson | Josee |
| Daya | ||
| and anyone we missed 😁 |
As always there are challenges, this year it was the extreme cold this year, -15C temperatures. Couple this with the cold/flu that was making the rounds, but we still had a sold-out event with an excellent turn out. We hope to see those who could not attend due to cold/flu in 2026, thanks for not sharing.
WILD GAME DONATIONS
Any banquet or food event is known by the food it presents. Like all of past Wild Game Banquets, the wild game was donated by individuals who shared their harvest. This year we are thankful to the following individuals and families:
| Lorne Barron | Barry Jenkins and Family |
| Les Szmadyla | Iverson Family |
| Tristan Duffy & Cassy Premack | Rick Hodgson and Family |
| Moe Monita | Roger Rauchensteiner and Family |
| Robert and Hillary Lake | Trevor & Bruce Combs |
Table of Contents
Getting Ready
The Parking Lot
The Gate Keeper
The Chef
The Menu
The Bar
Trophies and Award
The Auction
The Horn Draw
Ours Guests
Getting Ready
Volunteers were out early, in fact, the actual preparation began days before. Checking the supplies, dusting off equipment and getting everything down to the event centre.
The Parking Lot
The Sacred Heart Hall parking lot provides a good amount of parking and again this year we had the services of our Community Policing members who provided the lot and vehicle security. Thanks guys, it was cooold out there.
Neil Sukert
Om Bhardwaj
Ric Northcott
Kuljeet Kaur
Denise Deschenes
Want more information on this group?
If you would like to be part of this great organization and would like additional information, check out https://rcmp.ca/en/bc/contact/community-police-offices
The Gate Keeper
Once the doors opened, attendees were met by George Chignell, a long time member and the Sergeant-at-Arms. And a great thank you to you all, and we hope you all won something.
The Chef
Now once you have the game, it needs to be prepared property. This is not your domestic “protein”, it is wild, and it takes a skill to prepare it properly. This year we also lost the excellent services of Gecko Tree Holding, Crystalee Baba, who had commitments that conflicted with the banquet. We wish her well and success in her new challenges and say a hearty thank you for your past services.
Fortunately, Cassy and Caroline Chupa were able to acquired the services of Billy Nicol and Company. Billy is an experienced Red Seal chef and his skill and talent showed through this night. He had an experience sauté chef, and crew to prepare the serving tables and present the food items. (I like the camouflage touch for the uniform)
The Menu
Charcuterie
Crudite
Assorted Hors D’oeures
Main Course
Sliced Roast Beast
Bison Lasagna
Roast Turkey
Smoked Trout Alfredo
Thai Duck Curry
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Vegetable Medley
Balsamic Braised Mushroom Salad
Caesar Salad
Dessert
Tiramisu
Fruit Platter
Assorted Cakes & Squares
The Bar
Now that you have the food, some refreshments are on order. Once again, our bar was handled by members of the Cariboo Archers. On hand was Raeleen Campsal who handled the ticket sales out front and behind the bar was Al Campsal and Steve Dickens.
If you would like more information on the Cariboo Archers, they have a Facebook page or through this website page
If you would like additional information on the BC Archer JOP, check this link.
Al and Raeleen Campsal are long time members of the Cariboo Archers. Their support has been instrumental in the groups growth.
Al is a great contributor to the Junior Olympian Program (JOP).
If you would like additional information on the BC Archer JOP, check this link.
Trophies and Award
After the dinner and while refreshments were flowing, we started announcing the various trophies and awards for this year.
This year our master of ceremony was Caroline Chupa who was our 2024 President and has remained a director into 2025. Many of you may know her for her as a certified CORE, PAL and RPAL instructor. She also has a CORE course for juniors.
Through out the year members submitted and had their harvest rated by Moe Monita, our resident impartial judge. Moe has been doing this invaluable service for free for a number of years and we appreciate it. Have you checked out our website for the current and past winners as well as the record holder in the various categories. You will also find the rules for submission and if you have any questions, give Moe a call.
A shout out to Lee Jackman, the president of the Cariboo Archers and a WLSA board director. Lee liaisons with Moe for the results and prepares the awards and trophies.
This years recognition and congratulations go to:
| CATAGORY | WINNERS | SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR | MELANIE McCOMBER | |
| Rainbow Trout | Robert Lake | 14 lbs 15 oz |
| Roger Rauchensteiner | 9 lbs 10 oz | |
| Lake Trout – Char | Jeff Knox | 19 lbs 7 oz |
| Jeff Knox | 12 lbs | |
| Trout – Catch & Release | Robert Lake | 10 lbs 14 oz |
| Mule Deer – Junior | Emma Grace Macdonald | 152 4/8 “ |
| Ella Iverson | 129 4/8″ | |
| Mule Deer – Typical | Fred Streleoff | 156 5/8″ |
| Robert Lake | 131 7/8″ | |
| Mule Deer-Typical Archery | Danny Cooper | 130 3/8″ |
| Lee Jackman | 113 2/8″ | |
| Mule Deer-Typical Archery – Ladies | Debra Barron | 111″ |
| Whitetail – Typical | Bryan Povelofskie | 122 2/8″ |
| Moose | Jeff Knox | 140 3/8″ |
| Robert Lake | 95 7/8″ | |
| Black Bear | Ming Wong | 19 11/16″ |
| Black Bear – Junior | Hunter Cooper | 17 7/16″ |
| Caribou | Jeff Knox | 325 6/8″ |
| Elk | Levi Turctte | 280 4/8″ |
| Big Game Aggregate | Ming Wong | Black bear 19 11/16″ (98%) |
| Aggregate Archery | Danny Cooper | Mule dear 130 3/8 (90 %) |
Check out our AWARDS|TROPHIES page. Here you will find the rules and categories, contact information for Moe Monita and past award winners. You will also be able to sort the trophy awards based by categories, year, name or score. See the current record holder.
See where you stand and who has the most record in that category. Add your name by being a member and give Moe a call.
The Auction
Also, we had the services of an auctioneer.
Terry Fowler, our auctioneer, got the ball rolling for the 2 firearms that were auctioned off.
We had a Winchester Wildcat .22LR supplied by Lone Butte Sporting Goods at 6051 BC-24, Lone Butte, BC V0K 1X0.
In addition there was a Winchester XPR 30-06 donated by Chilcotin Guns 1542 Broadway Ave S, Williams Lake, BC V2G 2X3.
The Horn Draw
If an auction is not your cup of tea, attendees could try their luck on our Horn Draw. There were 2 firearms available, both supplied by Lone Butte Sporting Goods at 6051 BC-24, Lone Butte, BC V0K 1X0. . One was a Derya Arms .22LR and a Tikka T3x 300 Win Mag.
The rules are simple and the odds are good.
Our Guests
