The Gaylord, Mich., DU committee hosted a Sportsman's Night Out (SNO) on Sept. 23 in the hopes of rebuilding a chapter that has lost most of its members in the past few years. Area Chairman Rick Nash and Co-chairman Scott Johnston took charge of this event during the early planning stages and recruited younger volunteers from the area to assist.

"We decided to go with a SNO format to create some interest and excitement of holding a different kind of event," said Nash.

That is exactly what a SNO party is intended to do. The idea of hosting a SNO-style party is to act as a recruitment event for start-up chapters, as well as chapters rebuilding from scratch.

Nash mentioned that it was easier to sell tickets and promote the event since it was not your average DU banquet. The SNO party is a non-banquet-style event intended for all outdoorsmen. An event of this caliber will have fishing packages, big-game accessories, duck-hunting gear and turkey-hunting gear.

"The event was a huge success," said Lloyd Wilson, regional director for Michigan. "They had around 90 attendees and several commented on the excitement and fun of the event, and that they would certainly be back next year."

The committee's intentions were to bring the old committee back with the new committee to rebuild the Gaylord group back to its days of strong events. Nash said the committee accomplished its goals and are anticipating next year's event.

"The committee worked very hard and was able to recruit five new volunteers to assist in the rebuilding," Wilson said. "I feel like the we have a great start and hope to grow from here."