Our Daily Show! Duck Pluckers, Deer Skinners, and Fish Hookers Ball on 9-13
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BRIGHTON - Alton Memorial Health Services Foundation will once again host the Duck Pluckers, Deer Skinners and Fish Hookers Ball to raise funds to purchase an ambulance for Alton Memorial Hospital.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, community members are invited to NILO Farms in Brighton for the event. Complete with raffles, a quail flush, launch golf, skeet and trap shooting, a silent auction, a live auction, a steak dinner and more fun, the ball is a chance to come together to support local health services and first responders. The foundation hopes to raise $225,000 to purchase a new ambulance.
“It’s making sure that at Alton Memorial, we have the right equipment in the right place at the right time for our staff so the paramedics and EMTs are able to do their job and take care of your family,” said Jason Bowman, EMS manager at Alton Memorial Hospital.
Bowman and Shannon Fraley, who oversees the event through Alton Memorial Health Services Foundation, explained that each ambulance logs between 50–55,000 miles every year. The Alton Memorial ambulances respond to approximately 14,000 calls every year and cover 375 square miles between Jersey, Macoupin and Madison counties.
Because the ambulances travel so widely, the foundation replaces one truck every year. They are hoping to raise $225,000 toward this goal.
You can support the ball by buying your $100 ticket, which includes a steak dinner, beer and seltzer, and a cash bar. Before dinner, attendees can also enjoy trap and skeet shooting from 4–6 p.m. and the Homer Clark Quail Flush at 5 p.m., which Fraley described as “cutthroat” but a lot of fun.
The silent auction runs from 4–7:30 p.m. Dinner and the live auction run from 6–8 p.m.
In addition to many items that the community and local businesses have donated for the auction, the organization will auction off fishing trips, hunting trips, spa days, tickets to local sports games, and a puppy.
They are also currently hosting an online raffle, with winners to be drawn at the event. You can win a freezer full of meat, a collection of bourbon, or many other great prizes.
“Our sponsors that sponsor this event and the auction, they are just outstanding to us. They give every year, and we appreciate that,” Bowman said. “We try to bring back new ideas so it’s not the same thing every year. Everybody has different sports, so we try to put things out there to our audience that they may like to do, fishing trips and different hunting trips and things like that.”
The dress code is “anything camo,” and the fun will continue throughout the evening. Fraley looks forward to sharing the foundation’s work with the community, and she is grateful that the community comes together to support the foundation.
“This is not your average black-tie affair,” she laughed.
For more information about the Duck Pluckers, Deer Skinners and Fish Hookers Ball, including how to support, donate or purchase your ticket, visit the official webpage on the Alton Memorial Health Services Foundation website or check out their official Facebook page.
