Tonasket Kiwanis Groundhog Dinner this Saturday

TONASKET – The 26th Annual Tonasket Kiwanis Club Groundhog Dinner will be on Saturday, Feb. 6 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Tonasket High School Commons.

“It began in the church in Ellisforde but they didn’t have enough space or people to put it on so we took it over in 1984 and it’s grown dramatically ever since,” Herb Wandler said.

The dinner will consist of sausage, potatoes, vegetables, coleslaw, a beverage and dessert. Tickets will cost $8.50 for adults and children 13-years-old and over, $4 for children 12-years-old and younger and pre-school children will be admitted free of charge. All funds will go toward funding the Kiwanis Youth services.

“We sponsor the boy scouts and help support grade school field trips,” Wandler said. “We also have scholarships.”

The Kiwanis Club will also be selling bulk sausage for $3 per pound.

“I picked up 14 hogs so we’ll have between 1,800 and 1,900 pounds of sausage,” Wandler said. “We served between 300 and 400 people each year, generally.”

He added that he believes people get hungry for the sausage around this time of year because every year the Kiwanis Club is told they’ve made their best sausage ever.

“It is an old German recipe and we don’t vary from it,” he continued. “We don’t change the recipe at all.”