Karlee Winkelman, photo courtesy of The GazetteBy: Orlan Love
The Gazette

Karlee Winkelman, the 12-year-old daughter of outdoor television personality Babe Winkelman, completes a long-distance retrieve of a pheasant Saturday during the Aiming for A Cure benefit at Highland Hideaway Hunting near Riverside. The pheasant crashed to earth several hundred yards beyond the group of hunters and dogs with whom Babe Winkelman was hunting. When it appeared that the dead rooster would be overlooked, Karlee jogged a quarter mile to the exact spot where the bird lay in dense brush and jogged back with it.

RIVERSIDE — A smiling birddog-loving boy who succumbed to cancer three years ago continues to inspire an astonishingly successful hunting-related benefit.

Following last weekend's annual pheasant hunt and banquet, the Aiming for a Cure Foundation will present a check for $200,000 to support the Children's Hospital of Iowa, the University of Iowa institution that cared for Ben Ries during the illness that claimed his life at age 12 in 2006.

"I'm just humbled by the support for this cause," said Steve Ries, Ben's dad and the founder and coordinator of the annual event that brings together pheasant hunters, sports and outdoor personalities and children's health advocates for a weekend of fun and fundraising.

"It will always be a legacy of Ben, but it is expanding and fulfilling our hopes that it would put a much-needed spotlight on sick children and the help they need," said Ries of rural Alburnett.

Outdoor personality Ron Schara, a first-time participant last weekend, said he was impressed with "the caring spirit and camaraderie that pervaded the event."

Schara, a Postville native, said he was also impressed with Ries' ability to function in a situation that brings his emotions so close to the surface.

Schara — who filmed part of the event for a segment on an upcoming "Pheasants Forever" television program, one of eight shows produced by his Minneapolis-based Ron Schara Productions — said he toured the Children's Hospital during the weekend.

"If you're feeling bad about the economy or that your corn won't grow, a trip through there will put your problems in perspective," Schara said.

Steve and Jodie Ries, facing the prospect that their son would likely die of cancer, started the effort six years ago as a way to give something to Ben's caregivers.

Ries, who raises and trains German short-haired pointers, organized the event around an activity he and Ben greatly enjoyed — pheasant hunting — and each year about 80 hunters pay to participate in guided pheasant hunts and sporting clay shoots at Highland Hideaway Hunting near Riverside.

Each group of four hunters is teamed with a celebrity such as outdoor television personalities Schara and Babe Winkelman.

During Saturday's hunt, Winkelman's 12-year-old daughter Karlee, along as a spectator, impressed other hunters with her long-distance retrieve of a rooster that crashed to earth several hundred yards beyond her dad's hunting party. Convinced she knew where the dead bird lay and concerned it might be overlooked, she jogged a quarter mile through tall switch grass into a dense thicket, where she picked up the bird and jogged back with it.

Donated raffle items, such as works of art and guided hunting trips, account for much of the event's proceeds, as do donations from corporate partners such as the Bob Dostal Memorial Golf Outing, Highland Hideaway Hunting, Hunter's Specialties, Kent Feed Native Dog Food, Mossy Oak Brand Camo, Overhead Door of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Proliant Health & Biologicals, Van Meter Industrial, BG Products/Specialized Petroleum Services, MVP Visual Media Solutions, Mid-American Glazing Systems and Wal-Mart Stores.

Learn more about Ben Ries