The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
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Focusing on nature
Photographer Wade Nolan is featured speaker at Wild Game Dinner
By Sheila Pursglove, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: February 21, 2008
Photographer Wade Nolan has filmed wildlife from lions and leopards to killer whales to 5,000-pound rhinos. He spent five years north of the Arctic Circle and kayaked more than 1,000 miles of Arctic rivers. He's filmed bears on Kodiak Islands, and photographed Alaska brown bears and grizzlies. His camera has taken him into 17 Eskimo and Indian villages and down 300 miles of the Yukon River.
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And he's bringing his stories and images to Chelsea.
Nolan will be guest speaker at the fourth annual Wild Game Dinner, at 5:30 p.m. March 1 at Chelsea High School. The event is sponsored by Sportsmen's A.I.M.: Outdoor Adventures In Ministry and by Chelsea Free Methodist Church. In addition to the dinner and presentation, there will be a silent auction with donations from several local businesses.
"The event is a time for great food, good company, a time to share with friends, win some door prizes, learn something new and hear some amazing stories," says organizer Marty Patrias, coordinator of Sportsmen's A.I.M.
"Wade is an engaging speaker who has more outdoor experiences than most of us can imagine. He'll be sharing some of his video and photography work as well as stories of some of his life or death experiences that occurred on his expeditions around the globe. He'll also share how these experiences have changed his life and put things into perspective for him."
Nolan is a well-known speaker who has appeared before audiences in over 100 U.S. cities.
The Pennsylvania native moved to Alaska after college and worked in Mt. McKinley National Park - now called Denali National Park - learning wildlife photography and launching his writing career.
His association with an Athapaskan Indian missionary gave him the opportunity to live with the Eskimos and Indians of Alaska's North Country, and he and his wife worked and lived north of the Arctic Circle for five years.
Nolan began sharing stories of the Arctic with audiences across the United States. In 1982, he launched Alaska Wilderness Perspective Inc., and in 1993 launched Whitetail University.
Moving into video and television production, Nolan produced over 100 wildlife/nature and hunting-based videos across the next 15 years, with a primary focus on white-tailed deer and wildlife conservation. His productions have been broadcast worldwide and he has sold 2 million videos and won national and international awards.
One of his productions, "Safe Treestand Hunting," was produced in cooperation with the National Bowhunter Education Foundation.
Nolan now divides his time between consulting for companies in the hunting industry and speaking at church-sponsored Wild Game Dinners, where he blends his gifts as a professional storyteller with basic lessons and principals of Christianity.
"It is my opinion that people recall and relate to compelling illustrations. It is one thing to lecture second-hand about something you've heard, but far more meaningful to relate what you've experienced," he writes on his website. "As a strong proponent of 'Life Application Christianity,' I draw audiences into living stories and then firmly attach Christ centered truths that can be recalled years later."
The annual Wild Game Dinner is just one of several events hosted by Sportsmen's A.I.M., a group that started almost five years ago when Mike O'Quinn shared an idea about starting a sportsmen's group through the church.
The group is an event ministry, geared toward families, and sponsoring events that sportsmen and non-sportsmen can attend and participate in, Patrias says. A wide range of outdoor activities are offered, including shooting sports, archery, hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, canoeing, conservation, wildlife photography, dog handling and training, and wild game cookery.
Sportsmen's A.I.M. has hosted an annual Archery Tournament each September, Wild Game Dinner each March and Down South Deer Camp just before firearm season. Other activities have included a family archery league, fishing derby, youth duck hunt, clay pigeon and sporting clay shoot, pheasant hunt, and hunting and fishing seminars.
"We want to allow hunters and fishermen to be able to enjoy their passion in an environment that is wholesome and encouraging," Patrias says. "We share experiences, stories, build friendships, meet new people, learn new techniques and solidify the family in an environment that honors the God who created us and the great outdoors."
The Wild Game Banquet is the group's largest event, with a menu is developed and prepared under the direction of Jerry Cutsinger, executive chef of the Polo Fields in Ann Arbor.
"It's a feast of different game animals that offer a wide variety of flavors. We try to offer things that most people have never eaten before like crawfish, alligator, rabbit, squirrel, bison, elk, and ostrich," Patrias says. "We also include crowd-pleasers such as salmon and turkey with all of the accompanying side dishes."
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