Shriners get ‘Wild’ with supper

A humble bunch who rarely promote their good deeds, the Shriners’ main mission is to support the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children scattered across North America. The various hospitals offer free care for children up to 18 with orthopedic conditions, cleft lips and palates, spinal cord injuries and burns.

“They have different hospitals specializing in different things. The one in Galveston specializes in burns. We have hospitals that specialize in different types of orthopedic and prosthesis applications, while some of them specialize in spinal applications,” explained Skippy Williams, former president of the St. Mary Shrine Club. “And it’s not second rate doctors. These are top notch people.”

The St. Mary Parish Shrine Club does its part every year by hosting a Shriners Wild Game Appreciation Supper/Dinner. This year’s event is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 30, at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. Everyone is welcome to attend, but the $25 tickets need to be reserved well in advance to this popular function, according to Williams.

“It’s not just the members of the Shriners that come. It’s people from all over this community, as well as neighboring communities,” he said. “(The tickets) are all already sold. Every year, as soon as we print them, they are sold.”

The lucky 1,000-plus who were able to obtain a ticket to this year’s event can expect a delicious and potentially unique dining experience courtesy of the St. Mary Shrine Club who host the event, as well as volunteer cooks from the area.

“We have over 20 cooks that all cook something different and they are all volunteers from the community,” Williams said. “It’s wild game and also seafood. So, you’re going to have every kind of shrimp dish you can imagine. You’re going to have all kind of venison dishes. You’re going to have hogshead cheese. You’re going to have turtle sauce piquante, alligator sauce piquante and turtle soup perhaps. You’re going to have all kinds of dishes.”

Some of the more unusual items expected to be served include elk, dove and wild boar. One dish may even consist of nutria.

“Most people turn their nose at it until they taste (nutria),” Williams joked. “They don’t know what they are eating but when they taste it they’re like, ‘Wow.’ All of the stuff is so good that you don’t know you’re eating anything on, you know, the wild side.”

Many people would find this type of cuisine to be a bit bizarre, but not Cajuns, said Williams.

“To Cajuns, there is nothing weird. If we can cook it, we can eat it,” he remarked.

The St. Mary Shrine Club has been serving up wild grub at the annual supper for the past 15 years or so. The small group puts in a lot of time to make the event a success and so that everyone has an enjoyable evening.

“We’re not a very big club, so it’s a lot to put on but it works very well,” Williams said. “We want this to be a good social family affair.”

Shrine Club clowns from Baton Rouge are expected to attend the dinner, as are representatives from the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. The whole evening is a big thank you to all of the people who support the Shriners’ mission through their donations, volunteering and participation.

“We appreciate all the people that come and show support,” said the past president.

The Shriners have been in existence for many years and their roots can even be traced back to the 1500s, according to Williams.

“It’s been around a long, long time,” he said. “The Shriners belong to a Fraternity called the Masons. You can’t be a Shriner unless you’re a Mason and that’s been around since the Middle Ages.”

And what about the traditional fez hat?

“The theme of the shriners is all taken from a Moroccan play – that’s were the funny hat comes in,” Williams explained. “It stands out so much and it’s easily recognizable.”