VERO BEACH — It was a wild Saturday at Jimbo Carroll’s ranch with guests cracking bullwhips, tapping kegs and eating grub suited for a hardy rancher-type during the Rotary Club of Vero Beach Oceanside’s Wild Game Feast benefit for SunUp ARC.
“It’s like old Florida out here!” marveled Marge Ercoli, who ventured beyond her 32963 zip code with husband, Bob, to enjoy a late afternoon on the breath-taking 6.5-acre property nestled in the southwest corner of Vero amid citrus groves.
Attired in an Under Armour Antelope t-shirt next to husband, Bob, in a Nike elephant shirt, Ercoli indicated their shirts were meant for their two grandsons. Instead, they deemed the shirts appropriate for a day out at Carroll’s Big Racks Processing ranch where a barn with taxidermy of bobcat, buck, wild turkey and other animals were mounted on the walls.
“After you are off the washboard road and push your teeth back in, you can enjoy it out here!” Mr. Ercoli said of the bumpy dirt road that led some 500 guests to the property for some decidedly non-beachy fun.
That jaunt meant an estimated $12,000 to SunUp ARC, which helps the developmentally disabled, as well as other Vero charities. Chuck Bradley, executive director of the organization, was on hand to answer questions about the group’s mission and was pleased by the turn out. He said SunUp Arc serves about 180 people in Indian River County.
The barn, or as Carroll referred to it _ “hunter’s hangout” _ was the place to be. That is, where guests formed a long line for a buffet of fried stag, fried quail, wild boar, smoked bear, fried venison and wild free range chicken and baked beans.
Mrs. Ercoli said she and her husband and friends decided to line up early. “If we don’t, all the weird stuff will be gone and that’s what we want to try!”
With napkins tucked into their shirt collars, some people ate white tail gourmet stuffed backstrap, alligator and watermelon. “The food is off their own range, “Jennifer Kieser, Rotary volunteer, said of local ranchers, hunters and others assembling their harvest to pitch into the day’s feast. “It’s not what you get at the grocery store. It doesn’t have ‘that’ taste.”
Watching the cracking of bullwhips and listening to the Old Barber Bridge Band, kept people highly amused as others enjoyed a free massage and game of corn hole.
“The beach is a tiny part of Vero,” mused Frank Jones, whose wife, Elaine, chaired the event. “This is where the people who hunt and fish live.”
Summing it up, he said, “This is just a bunch of people saying ‘hi ya’ and ‘others replying, ‘ar-ite!’”
The event was sponsored by George E. Warren Corporation. SunUp ARC is a non-profit, 501 (c) 3 agency, dedicated to meeting the needs of people with developmental disabilities throughout Indian River County by providing services on three campuses, two in Vero Beach and one in Sebastian. Those services include: Adult Day Training; Behavior Services including Behavior Analysis Services and Behavior Assistant Services; Residential Group Homes; Supported Living Services; In-Home Supports and Personal Care Assistance; Transportation; Supported Employment, and Respite Care.