DANVILLE — The 2014 Danville Lions Club Raccoon Dinner will be held Monday, February 3rd at the St. Luke’s Community Center, located immediately behind the Danville St. Luke’s Catholic Church. The meal will be served from 5:00 until 7:30 p.m. on a first come, first served basis. At 7:00 p.m., the Danville Jazz Band will perform for the attendees across the street from the Community Center in the High School Auditorium. The main event will follow the band at 8:00 p.m. with a presentation by five time world weight lifting champion Rick Metzger. A raffle drawing for an AR15 rifle will be held at the end of the program, tickets are available at Danville Outdoors and Lonsinger Pharmacy in Danville, and the Knox County CVB office at 105 S Main in downtown Mount Vernon.
Clyde Banbury and Clyde Cornell started the first Raccoon Dinner. The meal was served in Banbury’s basement with 30 in attendance. After a few years, the annual dinner was moved to the elementary building at the school cafeteria since the interest in attending was dramatically increasing. As the event evolved, guest speakers were included as part of the program. There have been many notable and outstanding speakers such as Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes, OSU head coaches Woody Hayes and John Cooper, Gordy Coleman (Cincinnati Reds), Jerry Razor (newscaster), Ed Johnson, Steve Newman, Andy Geiger, Bill Conley, Craig Krenzel, Greg Frey, Katie Smith, Matt Finkus, and many more. The largest attendance to the event was over 800 people.
At the Dinner, almost 600 pounds of raccoon is served as the entree coupled with a full course setting of mashed potatoes, dressing, mixed vegetables, raccoon gravy, cake, and a generous serving of fresh homemade cornbread. A limited amount of ham is prepared for those wishing to attend whose health may not permit them to consume the raccoon.
The participants come from all over the United States and Canada to attend this famous event. Past events have seen a gentleman fly up from Missouri in his airplane just for the dinner and a newspaper editor come from Pennsylvania attending to enjoy the unique cuisine. The event had visitors from places are far away as Russia and Egypt.
The 75 year old Danville Lions Club, chartered in 1939, was sponsored jointly by the Fredericktown and Mount Vernon Lions Clubs. Since the beginning, the Club has truly lived up to the Lions Motto “We Serve.” They have sponsored and facilitated many hundreds of fundraising events and service projects to help the Danville area community and its citizens.
This year’s featured program will be Rick Metzger, CSP. As a five time world weight lifting champion, Rick Metzger redefines strength for his youth, association and corporate audiences. His keynote programs and seminars motivate a new generation to find power in their potential. He now speaks annually to over a quarter of a million people sharing with them his own special kind of love inspiration, humor and motivation.
Rick grew up on the family farm, he has worked in sales, marketing and management, is an accomplished coach and is a world weight lifting champion, having won ten USA National titles and five gold medals in World Cup competition. After his retirement from powerlifting in 2005 he challenged himself to find a new endeavor and in September 2008 he ran in his first marathon and in January 2010 completed an ultra-marathon! In May of 2013 he experienced a challenge that again taught him the importance of positive attitude and making the things you want to happen in your life your responsibility. Rick is a contributor to Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul and served four years on the National Council for the Study of Vocational and Technical Education in America. Yet none of these experiences compare to the most important job in the world, the title he cherishes most – being called DAD!
The respect of his peers has earned him the opportunity to serve as president of the National Speakers Association of Ohio and the National FFA Alumni Association. Rick has earned his CSP, Certified Speaking Professional, the highest earned designation attainable from the National & Global Speakers Association. It is because of Rick’s love of life, people and his profession he has become known as “The BELIEVER” – – challenging himself and others to be the best. As he shares with us his powerful message, please join me in welcoming one of America’s most powerful speakers – Rick Metzger.
For information about the Raccoon Dinner, contact the Knox County CVB at (740) 392-6102, toll free at 1-800-837-5282, or go to the web at www.VisitKnoxOhio.org and click the calendar menu item to access the detailed listing and a link to a map for the event.
