Friends of NRA draw winners, support grants at annual banquet

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Celebrating a few of their prizes from Saturday's Raccoon Valley Friends of the NRA banquet were, from left, Jay Bottoms of Des Moines, Jim Nusser of Council Bluffs and Loren Nusser of Council Bluffs.

The Raccoon Valley chapter of Friends of the National Rifle Association hosted a fundraising banquet Saturday at the Adel Sportsman’s Club, drawing about 30 diners to the event, some traveling from as far away as Council Bluffs.

Shooting games started around noon and provided entertainment and a chance to win a free dinner that evening.

“We attend all the Friends of the NRA banquets we can,” said Jim Nusser of Council Bluffs. “We’ve already been to eight this year.”

Auction items included a fiddle signed by Charlie Daniels, a .44 Mag silver lever action rifle, a knife made from steel from the twin towers and many more items.

“We came to see what it was all about,” said Chris and Kelly Farley of Boone.

The raffle items brought lots of excitement as tickets were called for the lucky winners to pick up their prizes. One woman nearly knocked over her chair as she jumped up to grab her new Weston deep fryer.

“I guess she really wanted that fryer!” NRA field representative Tim Bacon said of the commotion.

There were three special guns in the raffle for guests who purchased the bonus packages.

The prime rib dinner was provided by Frederika Locker based in Frederika, Iowa. Hy-Vee provided the side dishes.

Last year, 29 Iowa youth clubs from all over the state earned grants from Friends of the NRA, including recipients such as the Waterloo Christian School Clay Target Team, Ottumwa High School Trap Team, Pella Shooters Club and Tama County Young Guns 4-H club.

“The day our profits no longer go to the youth is the day I will stop doing this,” said Bacon said of the banquet and the grants.

Committee member Dan Brubaker of Rippey addressed the crowd at the close of the evening.

“We want to thank everyone that made tonight possible,”  Brubaker said.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Friends of NRA. Future Raccoon Valley chapter events will be listed on the Friends of NRA website.

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