Oregon couple's donated bison a hit at their parish benefit barbeque

Published: 2007-08-09

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Four years ago Dr. Don and Carol Schroeder, who raise bison, offered to provide the main course for their parish's summer benefit barbecue, and it's been a hit ever since. The orthopedic surgeon and rancher has kept as many as 160 head of bison in the hills west of Eugene. After 31 years in the gentleman's trade, he's down to 14 of the wild, burly beasts. He keeps at the work in large part because his church needs the meat. The July dinner at St. Mark Parish, featuring the meat from three of the Schroeders' feisty animals, included Western skits, a saloon, a jail and a sheriff. Raising the beasts isn't without its dangers. Two months ago, while trying to reunite a briefly separated mother and calf, the 68-year-old rancher got into a sticky situation. The mother, who weighs a ton, saw him as a threat and came after him, goring him in the thighs. With holes three or four inches deep in his legs, Schroeder crawled to the car and drove himself to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. He acknowledges that a blow like that to the torso or chest could have landed him six feet deep. Within hours, he felt better and took off on a planned vacation.

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