Troops to get special delivery

More than 40 pounds of deer jerky will be sent to troops at an Iraq hospital thanks to about 15 volunteers who gave up their Friday night to carve up a deer. The deer was donated by members of the Northwest Towns Sportsmen's Club. Members of the club ground the deer into venison hamburger, seasoned it with jerky mix and then pressed it into strips of jerky on Friday at the kitchen of the Arlington Heights Legion hall. The strips will be dried, vacuum-sealed and shipped to Iraq by priority mail, said Wayne H. Wagner, a past president of the club who organized the event."It's an entire deer," Wagner said. "We're using as much of the deer as we can."Wagner thought of the idea after meeting Dylan Greeney, an Army specialist from southern Illinois who is currently stationed at a combat hospital about 90 miles west of Baghdad."He said one time that he really liked jerky," Wagner said.The men are donating their time and costs to season and seal the meat. Since it will take some time to dry the meat, it will probably be shipped out next week, Wagner said. The Northwest Towns Sportsmen's Club has 70 members and meets monthly to talk about outdoor sports like fishing, hunting and archery. The club was founded in 1938 in Arlington Heights.This is the first time the club has decided to donate deer jerky to the troops, Wagner said.