By Susan Thompson | Times Vedette
The 2026 Lake Panorama Fin and Feather fundraising banquet will be Saturday, May 9, the same day as the LPA annual meeting. The event will be held at the Lake Panorama National clubhouse with social hour beginning at 5 p.m. A dinner plus silent and live auctions will follow at 6 p.m. All ages are welcome.
Funds raised at the banquet, plus annual memberships and direct donations, are used to stock fish in Lake Panorama. The group also helps improve fish habitat and sponsors an annual fishing derby for children during Panorama Days.
The cost for fish stocking for 2025 was more than $19,000. On Oct. 28, 2025, 2,000 3-to-5-inch walleye were added to the lake. There also were 3,000 yellow perch and 2,500 largemouth bass of the same size released that day. New this year were 20 muskie that were 12 to 15 inches long. Muskies are meant to be a sporting fish, which will help control the overabundance of panfish in the lake.
Dinner tickets to the May 9 banquet are $50 each, with children 12 and younger $25. Another option is to join the Big Skipper Club at a cost of $150. This covers two dinner tickets, Big Skipper raffle ticket and an annual family membership. The cost of just an annual family membership is $50.
Supporters can either mail a check or register online with a credit card or PayPal account at the group’s website: http://panoramafinandfeather.com/banquet/
If payment is made by check, make it payable to Fin and Feather and mail to Doug Hemphill, Farmers State Bank, P.O. Box 110, Yale, Iowa, 50277, along with a completed membership application, which is available on the website.
Those unable to attend who want to become members or make a donation can do so on the Fin and Feather website or by mail.
Members who pay in advance for the banquet will have their tickets waiting for them when they arrive. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door for walk-ins.