ROSCOE – Butch Kortright surveyed the 183 guests seated under the big white tent outside the Rockland House on Sunday afternoon and a smile came over his face.

“These people are here to support us,” Kortright, who is the President of the local Sullivan County chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) called the Long Beards, said. “We want to make people walk away happy.”

The four-hour event featured games and giveaways that put 28 firearms in the hands of happy people. There were also raffles and auction items for more than three dozen other prizes worth thousands of dollars.

In fact, this year’s Superfund Banquet set a new record by raffling off seven “Wall of Guns” giveaways.

“I didn’t think they could do it,” Kortright said. “But I’m happy they proved me wrong.”

One of the distinguished guests at this year’s event was NWTF State President Norm Ridley.

“He was surprised,” Kortright said. “Hearing about [our fundraiser] and seeing it in person are two different things.”

Ridley drove down from Clyde, New York to attend the fundraiser and said, “That was a fantastic job. They are one of the top groups in the state and they are all about the youth.”

Kortright explained that every chapter of the NWTF has to do a fundraiser each year to stay in good standing with the National organization.

Some of the proceeds from the fundraiser are then sent to the organization and implemented for various programs.

“I also sit on the state National Wild Turkey Federation board,” Kortright said. “And some of the money gets kicked back down [to our chapter].”

And Kortright said many of the funds filter right back into the local communities.

“We routinely do the biggest youth event in New York State of any chapter,” Kortright said. “It’s usually held in September in Roscoe but this will be the second year we had to cancel [because of COVID].

“We give away thousands of dollars of merchadise,” he said.

“That’s what we’ve always been about – youth,” Kortright said. “We also sponsor a Annual Big Buck Contest on Youth Weekend, which is around Columbus Day.

“We have a rifle and free mount as prizes,” he said.

And the Sullivan County Long Beards also hosts a Veterans Hunt for both deer and turkey.

Kortright said Kenny Peters and Dan Peters help out along with the Tamarack Hunting Club.

Kortright also said they do a frozen turkey giveaway for needy families for Thanksgiving.

“Those turkeys are already ordered,” Kortright said with a smile.

And how does all the work get done?

“We have a great group of volunteers and those who want to help us,” he said. “On this past Saturday and Sunday we had 25 people who gave us their time to help this event succeed. And we needed every one of them.

“That’s what makes us click,” he said.