Pastor Keith Heldreth shows Nicole Costa how to skin a Sika deer.
Nicole Costa takes aim in target practice before going hunting.
A large Sika deer buck.
A large Fallow deer rests in the shade behind a rock.
From left, Nicole Costa, Meagan Costa and Erika Vasquez skin a Sika deer.
The practice of having an annual “Beauty and the Beast Feast” seemed all but assured in 2011 following the first female spinoff of the annual men-only event that began in the 1990s.
Nearly 250 tickets were given away, about half as many as Pastor Keith Heldreth said he could have distributed. Soon after the successful event, Heldreth had a stroke and both genders had their Beast Feast dreams put on hold, until now.
Heldreth, now a pastor at Riverwood Baptist Church in Chehalis, is relaunching the women’s Beauty and the Beast Feast on Sept. 29 at the Hotel Washington. Women from as far away as Shelton and Lacey will descend on Chehalis for a meal of wild game and a healthy dose of gospel.
The 250 tickets made available by Heldreth were snapped up within hours. Those lucky enough to snag one did not have to pay a dime for their good fortune.
“Everything there is free that night,” Heldreth said. “My theory is the gospel is free, so I’m not going to charge them to come to our dinner and hear it.”
Heldreth has waited patiently for his strength to return before rebooting the Beast Feast model, but that hasn’t stopped people from bombarding him with questions about its return when he staffs the church’s booth each year at the Southwest Washington Fair.
He held the first Beast Feast more than two decades ago as a way to mesh his two passions: preaching and hunting. Men are tougher to get into church, Heldreth said, but they quickly bought into the concept of a sportsman’s dinner, show and preaching rolled into one evening.
Women clamored for their own Beast Feast for years before finally getting their opportunity. This year’s event is partially funded by Cabela’s and Safari Club International and will feature game meat shot by local women.
Heldreth recently took five women from the community on a hunting trip to Oregon, where they harvested a buffalo and a deer that will be on the menu at the feast. Previous Beast Feasts have featured cougar, bear, zebra and alligator.
“We were kind of tentative the first time we did it, but Lewis County is definitely the right place for this,” Heldreth said. “We do gear the message a little bit differently for the women compared to the men, but the gospel is the same for both men and women. Our speaker this year is a 29-year-old local woman who is one of the best elk hunters I know, and she’s going to have her message geared towards bringing the hunting aspect around to the Bible.”
Heldreth anticipates the return of a male-centric Beast Feast sometime in the near future. He expects both events to continue growing to the point that he needs to find a larger facility to hold them in.
