By KATHY PAULSEN

Staff Writer

While still licking our chops and wiping the gravy off our chins from another fabulous Thanksgiving, we are reminded that our recent feast just serves as an appetizer for the annual Wild Game Feed at Geneva Bar & Grill Saturday, Dec. 7.

Held under the heated "big top" in the parking lot at Geneva Bar & Grill, it draws people from near and far. This annual event was started some 29 years ago when Judy Thompson suggested to the hunters who had wild game in her freezer that maybe this would be a good way to raise money for the cancer crusade. What started oh so small all those years ago has now grown to be an extraordinary event.

People come to enjoy all those exotic foods prepared in many taste worthy methods by the greatest chefs available. The event provides the chance for the local chefs to see how many different ways they can prepare all of the great foods that have been donated. It also provides the opportunity for people from far and wide to take part in a feast that would cost them an arm and a leg in a fancy restaurant.

What can you expect to see served? You may find venison, moose, elk, beaver, rabbit, wild boar, raccoon, marsh bunnies (muskrat), wild turkey, goose, duck, pheasant, quail, guinea hens, bob whites, coot, or mud hens, alligator and fish, including lake trout. Last year’s event included a few new delicacies, including llama, dove and prairie chickens. New this year is "Sandhill Crane."

Those good old boys who have been doing this all these years have found many different ways of preparing wild game meats. Some are baked, grilled and deep fried, while some of the wild game is made into casseroles, some ground and served as tacos, and it is all good.

If you are a bit leery of trying something different or exotic, the Wild Game chefs also provide other things like mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, dressing, dinner rolls and bread, along with that famous Hope Butter.

As always, it is suggested to come early because the line is formed fast. The Wild Game is served beginning at 11 a.m., and there are many other activities that day. The gun raffle, which features over 50 guns, gets underway at 10 and provides a chance of a lifetime to try your luck. The Wild Game workers sell chances on all the different items available and are kept busy being "gophers" (pardon the pun). These gophers play a very important part in the success of this annual event and it could not be held without them.

All the great food is available to enjoy for a free will donation, with all proceeds donated to the Eagles Cancer Telethon for research at the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, and the Hormel Institute.

This annual event has now become the kickoff for the annual Geneva Cancer Auction at Geneva Bar & Grill in January. The 2014 Geneva Cancer Auction will be held the weekends of Jan. 10-11 and Jan. 17-18.

One can look forward to hours of enjoyment, conversation, camaraderie, along with meeting and greeting old and new friends at the Wild Game Feed and the Cancer Auction, and all for a great cause — to find a cure for cancer.