Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School's deer tradition

For deer hunters, there’s nothing better to battle against the cold weather than a hot breakfast.

Just ask the students who are part of the Wittenberg-Birnamwood FFA.

Seven years running, the chapter’s deer hunters breakfast has been an ideal way for high school students and families to kick off the gun deer hunting season, as well as the annual Thanksgiving break. Nov. 22 was no exception.

Inside the standalone agriculture building at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School, some FFA members were standing watch over the pancakes on the griddle, but mostly they were jamming to music. Just outside the building, other members were battling the chill by cooking up the rest of the breakfast staples — eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns.

It takes a lot of work to make the deer hunters breakfast a success, with many of the helpers working since 5 a.m. to get breakfast ready, according to Vivian Resch, FFA chapter president. It was served about 2½ hours later when students arrived at school, she said.

“It definitely brings all of us together,” Resch said. “It’s kind of like a Thanksgiving dinner. We’re off for Thanksgiving, obviously, but it’s like a Thanksgiving dinner for all of our students and brings us together to show our appreciation for what we’re doing here in Wisconsin.”

Even though Resch described it as a Thanksgiving dinner, there hasn’t been any turkey served, but she didn’t discount the possibility in future years, considering the wide range of animals raised by FFA chapters across the country.

“We don’t have any turkeys yet,” Resch said. “Maybe we can get some.”

Deer hunters breakfasts tend to be more popular in northern Wisconsin, because there is so much agriculture in the area, according to Resch, and with that the knowledge of hunting animals to protect their overall viability.

“There’s a lot of people at our school that go hunting,” she said. “Of course, this isn’t open to just hunters; it’s open to anybody. Obviously, food is what we all need, so it’s something that brings many different varieties of people here.”

As for the food, the FFA went through 30 pounds of pancake batter, 10 pounds of bacon, 10 pounds of hash browns, 19 dozen eggs and 360 sausage links — plenty to satisfy the appetites of WBHS students and staff. There was also 24 pints of maple syrup donated by Sippl’s Sugar Bush in Aniwa, according to Matt Christian, WBHS agriculture teacher.

When Christian came to the school, he was interested in doing something that combined his passion for deer hunting with his chosen career teaching agriculture to the next generation.

“I love deer hunting and the tradition that comes with the Wisconsin deer season, so I wanted to do something that brought that tradition that everyone experiences all week into the school — the camaraderie, the music, everybody just coming together enjoying food and sharing stories,” Christian said. “We’re bringing just a little taste of that to the school.”

Christian enjoys seeing how eagerly his students embrace not only the tradition, but the work that comes with preparing the breakfast each year.

“It’s the students’ favorite part,” Christian said. “Most of the kids, 20 of them, were here at 5 this morning. We have a lot of kids who just come in and enjoy, but the kids who come in and cook enjoy it the most.”

For Resch, the breakfast also serves as a thank you to the school.

“It’s a fun morning, even though it’s early,” Resch said. “We all are waking, but we get excited by jamming out to music while we’re cooking. It’s nice that us students get to make something and give back to our school to show our appreciation for them being here and supporting the agriculture community.”

Having an event like this, in Resch’s view, provides an opportunity to show students who are not in the agriculture program what the FFA is all about.

“There’s a lot more to ag than just animals,” Resch said. “Any trees, if you do maple syrup, anything in that realm of natural resources. If you do things with water, aquatics, fish, all that stuff. It brings people into the ag building that maybe haven’t been, and it shows them what we actually are here.”

Resch is a senior, so this will be her last year participating in the deer hunters breakfast, but she’s hoping it won’t be her last year enjoying it.

Being an FFA member, she said, definitely brought her a lot of happiness and gave her a lot of memories. “I’m definitely going to miss it,” Resch said. “Obviously, going on to college, I’m hoping to come back on this day and come and visit, but I may not have the opportunity. I hope that the kids that are coming in here realize how important it is and how much it brings our school together, and I hope they continue it.”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com