Syracuse.com - Health department official: Church's wild game dinner was "blatant violation"

[HuntingNY-News]

Despite the lack of food, the Baptist church in New Woodstock continued with its scheduled program for those who stayed. It included a seminar on waterfowl and turkey hunting tips, along with a Christian message.

The Madison County Health Department health department official who stopped by the annual 28th annual Wild Game Dinner at the Open Door Baptist Church Saturday had no choice but to shut it down, her boss said today.

More than 200 people turned out for the free event at the New Woodstock church. Persons who brought food were told to take it out of the church, put it in their vehicles and to bring it home.

Despite the lack of food, the church continued with its scheduled program for those who stayed. It included a seminar on waterfowl and turkey hunting tips, along with a Christian message.

Geoffrey Snyder, director of environmental health for Madison County, said today that the dinner, which offered a wide variety of wild game dishes and more than 50 home-made pies, was a “blatant violation” of the state’s Sanitary Health Code. The church lacked the proper permit to hold such a function, he said, adding it would have been liable for any health problems that might have resulted.

“A number of those dishes came from unapproved sources,” said Geoffrey Snyder, director of environmental health for the Madison County Health Department. He noted that the wild game dishes in particular were problematic, citing a wild game dinner in Oneida County several years ago where venison infected with Chronic Wasting Disease was served.

In addition, the number and wide variety of pies made it difficult to determine which pies would be acceptable and which contained potentially hazardous ingredients, Snyder said. Our sanitarian and the pastor simply agreed that none of the pies would be served.

“This wasn’t just limited to members of the congregation, a club or some fraternal group, which the law allows. It was a public event,” Snyder said, adding he and staff were unaware of it for the past 27 years. They found out about it, he said, reading an advertisement in the Cazenovia Republican just last week.

A call was made, and an email was also sent Friday to the church, outlining the problem. No reply came, Snyder said.

A message was left at the church’ s office early this afternoon by this reporter for the church’s pastor, the Rev. David DeLeon. As of 4:30 p.m., DeLeon had not called back.

According to a story on the Cazenovia Republican’s website, Leon told a reporter said the church received an email from the health department last Friday, but after reading the department’s information brochure, which stated, “Some events do not require a permit. These include bake sales or covered dish suppers where people bring a dish to share with each other,” the church did not believe they were violating the health code.

Jennifer Hyatt, the health department sanitarian who was on weekend duty for the county Health Department Saturday, stopped by the church shortly after the dinner began. Following a “lengthy conversation” she and DeLeon agreed “it wasn’t appropriate,” Snyder said.

During the time the sanitarian was at the church, Snyder said, she received some verbal abuse from several people present. In addition “all sorts of” negative comments about her and the Health Department were posted on Facebook, Snyder said.

Snyder said the pastor called today to apologize, emphasizing those who gave the woman grief Saturday were not members of his church congregation.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog

[mike rossi]

Yeah, and the sick deer from Onieda County was farm-raised, it wasnt wild game per se. That error right there puts a significant dent in Snyder's credibility...