{"id":21021,"date":"2014-03-03T08:56:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-03T13:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=21021"},"modified":"2014-03-03T10:26:28","modified_gmt":"2014-03-03T15:26:28","slug":"sheriff-arranges-wild-night-for-adventurous-palates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=21021","title":{"rendered":"Sheriff arranges wild night for adventurous palates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifth annual fund-raising dinner a game-changer for K-9 program<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
\n
\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong>,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Chester<\/a>

Chester County Sheriff Carolyn \u201cBunny\u201d Welsh poses with the winner\u2019s of the black Lab, which came from Cedar Creek Farm in Nottingham: Jake Read (from left), and his father, Matthew Read. The pair said they purchased the puppy for Jake\u2019s grandmother.<\/p><\/div>\n

Long before the tickets had even been printed for Chester County Sheriff Carolyn \u201cBunny\u201d Welsh\u2019s Fifth Annual Wild Game Dinner, they weren\u2019t available.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Deputy Sheriff Harry McKinney, lead organizer of the popular fund-raising event, told Saturday night\u2019s crowd of more than 300 at the Westside Entertainment Center in West Chester that he started getting inquiries in late summer. The 2014 event represented the third straight sellout\u00a0 \u2013 with no end to that trend in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they had season tickets for this, I\u2019d buy them,\u201d said Guy Donatelli, a West Chester lawyer, echoing a majority sentiment. He and others pointed out that the camaraderie is rivaled only by the food \u2013 and the opportunity to support a cause that benefits the community.<\/p>\n

Welsh said proceeds from this year\u2019s dinner will fund training programs for her office\u2019s K-9 unit, which currently has three dogs that can detect explosives, one that sniffs out drugs, one trained to find accelerants, and one trained to locate cadavers. The dogs are used during emergencies throughout the county and beyond, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Sheriff<\/a>

Sheriff Deputies David Reeves (left) and Ben Tobin display their dish-washing prowess in the kitchen.<\/p><\/div>\n

For many, the dinner represents a fun family outing. Vincent Talucci Jr. and Sr. of Downingtown always reserve a table for relatives and friends. And typical of the gathering of avid sports enthusiasts, many of the attendees use their hunting outings to contribute to the dinner\u2019s ingredients. For example, Talucci Jr. joined McKinney in the group of wild duck donors.<\/p>\n

Alligator meat was shipped in from Louisiana by one of Welsh\u2019s colleagues: Sheriff Craig Weber of Lafourche Parish. \u00a0But most of the wild game came from Chester Countians. Foresta\u2019s Country Meat Mart in Phoenixville provided the deer, McKinney supplied pheasants, and Unionville\u2019s Bill Rubin donated buffalo and llama.<\/p>\n

Obtaining the food constituted one hurdle; the next was deciding how to prepare it, Welsh said. She explained that McKinney scoured countless recipes before finalizing this year\u2019s menu, a process that invariably involves reconfiguring the instructions to accommodate more than 300. In the kitchen, with few exceptions, Welsh\u2019s staff took over.<\/p>\n

\"Chester<\/a>

Chester County Sheriff Carolyn \u201cBunny\u201d Welsh thanks the crowd for attending the Fifth Annual Wild Game Dinner as Deputy Sheriff Harry McKinney gets ready to continue operating the extensive raffle.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dozens of deputies expertly prepared appetizers that included spicy deer sausage, duck bologna and fried alligator nuggets, old-fashioned pheasant soup, and entrees such as buffalo and llama meatloaf, venison stew, and alligator-stuffed peppers. One of the deputies, Chris Rongaus, was permitted to bring professional reinforcements: his brother, Andrew, assistant general counsel for the Pennsylvania State Police; and their father, Kenneth, longtime proprietor of Tony\u2019s Meat Market & Deli in West Chester, where all of them honed their culinary skills at various times.<\/p>\n

Chief Deputy Sheriff George P. March, who joined the office in the fall, said the assemblage of talent impressed him. \u201cI\u2019m just amazed at how well everyone works together,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty neat to see.\u201d Welsh added that more than half of her staff had a role in the production.<\/p>\n

She said she would be thrilled to be able to accommodate more patrons; however, finding a venue that offers more seating as well as kitchen facilities that her deputies can commandeer is a challenge. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t an extra ticket to be had,\u201d she said. \u201cI wish we didn\u2019t have to turn anyone away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>

More than 300 patrons filled the Westside Entertainment Center for the Fifth Annual Wild Game Dinner.<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to profits from the dinner, which costs $45 apiece, Welsh said her department also benefits from a host of donated silent auction and raffle items, ranging from an irresistible black Labrador puppy to about a dozen hunting rifles and shotguns. She said she expected the 2014 dinner, \u00a0which \u00a0returned to its normal place under the radar,\u00a0to net about $9,000.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the event generated a flood of publicity when word got out that an ArmaLite AR-15 semi-automatic rifle was among the weapons to be raffled. A cadre of protestors deemed the inclusion of that firearm appalling in the wake of the school massacre in Connecticut, which subsequently led to a virtual stakeout of the event by print and TV reporters.<\/p>\n

Welsh acknowledged that the timing was unfortunate; however, she pointed out that the raffle items were donated\u00a0long before the school shooting and that she doesn\u2019t select them. More importantly, she said, every raffle winner undergoes a rigorous background check.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1729\"<\/a>

Kenneth Rongaus (right) and the crew of deputy sheriffs react to the accolades of the audience after the meal.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last year\u2019s winner of the AR-15 turned out to be a respected, local businessman who also happens to be a gun collector, Welsh said. She added that he was disappointed that he was out of town and couldn\u2019t attend this year\u2019s festivities. In what turned out to be an unsuccessful bid to repeat his success, he purchased some raffle tickets in advance, she said.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, everyone seemed to go home a winner. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if I have the right ticket, I know I\u2019m supporting a good cause,\u201d one repeat attender suggested.<\/p>\n

Veronica Hoadley of West Chester agreed, pointing out that the food and conversation combined to create a winning atmosphere.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a great time,\u201d she said. \u201cYou get to meet so many wonderful people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assessing the 2014 event, Welsh said on Sunday that it was gratifying to see so many people enjoy themselves and to be able to raise funds that supplement the county budget. \u201cPeople really look forward to coming,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cHarry\u2019s already getting calls to reserve tables for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fifth annual fund-raising dinner a game-changer for K-9 program By Kathleen Brady Shea,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times Long before the tickets had even been printed for Chester County Sheriff Carolyn \u201cBunny\u201d Welsh\u2019s Fifth Annual Wild Game Dinner, they weren\u2019t available. Deputy Sheriff Harry McKinney, lead organizer of the popular fund-raising event, told Saturday night\u2019s crowd of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":21026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[4221,4636,5087,5088,5089],"class_list":["post-21021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-chester-county-sheriff-carolyn-bunny-welsh","tag-chief-deputy-sheriff-george-p-march","tag-deputy-sheriff-harry-mckinney","tag-forestas-country-meat-mart","tag-westside-entertainment-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}