Disability Resources Incorporated
Celebrity quail hunt owes it
all to humble beginnings, one man
Saturday, February 12, 2000
By Samuel Segrist/ Staff Writer Reporter-News
Expecting to add more than $100,000 to its
coffers, Disability Resources Inc. will say
goodbye today as a group of athletes and actors
return to homes across the United States.
The Big Country Celebrity Quail Hunt has become
such a tradition for the agency, organizers
now must choose from a pool of people each year.
The slots available for hunters sold out well
in advance of this year’s hunt. The cash
generated accounts for 10 percent of DRI’s
annual budget.
And it all started more than a decade ago with
pickled eggs.
More specifically, it started as Norman Dozier,
a physician with a side business of raising
quail, was looking for a workforce to package
the eggs to meet a demand in East Asia. DRI
credits the doctor, an anesthesiologist, as
one of the primary movers and shakers behind
the organization’s growth since the late
1980s.
“If there is an angel in hunting garb,
Dr. Norman Dozier is it,” said Bill Brant,
president and chief executive officer of Disability
Resources.
Brant said the company and Dozier met up at
exactly the right time to help one another out.
When DRI started in 1987, “we had nothing,”
Brant said. The fledgling organization did,
however, have a connection.
Dozier’s office manager had a child who
was one of the four original people served by
DRI.
Disability Resources is an organization that
provides residential care and work training
for people with developmental disabilities.
Today, the company sells food products, along
with soaps and bath salts, and operates a woodworking
shop. The revenues earned from the sales go
back into the organization.
In 1987, however, things were not as developed.
“My office manager mentioned to me that
this new organization was just getting started
and looking for things to do,” Dozier said.
“I said, ‘I don’t know if this’ll
fit or not, but I’d be happy to talk to
you about it.’ “
The people under DRI’s care started working
with quail eggs, which were pickled and sent
to Asia.
“It’s just something that people
eat in bars and other places,” Dozier said.
With the operation a success, Dozier became
more involved with the organization, eventually
finding himself raising cash to keep the charity
going. Once again, timing paid off.
Dozier said the wild quail in the Big Country
had gone through several bountiful hunting seasons.
An avid hunter, he and some friends thought
there might be a way to take advantage of DRI’s
already established connection to quail.
“Me and some buddies were kicking around
the idea one night,” Dozier said. “If
we could get some celebrities to come in, that
would be kind of a hook to get people to pay
money to hunt.”
Calling on friends, the first Celebrity Quail
Hunt was organized in 1988. Dozier said the
group consisted primarily of athletes. Test
pilot Chuck Yeager, who has participated in
every hunt since, was among the first crop of
celebrities.
The idea worked.
“We made about $20,000 the first year,”
he said. “I thought that was wonderful.”
For the event, people pay to hunt in a group
with one of the guests DRI brings in for the
weekend. The teams are spread all over the Big
Country, usually on donated land, to hunt quail.
Word of the hunt got out quickly after the
first year. The list of celebrities grew to
include actors as well as athletes, and organizers
have had to make some adjustments to deal with
the fame some guests bring along with their
rifles.
Dozier remembers the year Bo Jackson was invited.
During the height of the “Bo knows”
campaign, a community dinner was scheduled.
About 1,200 people showed up, mostly children,
and mostly looking for an autograph from Bo.
Knowing that taking the time to sign his name
1,200 times would probably keep him in Abilene
until the next year’s hunt, Jackson left
with the blessings of the organizers.
“We upset a lot of people that day, but
there was nothing we could do,” Dozier
said.
Organizers nixed public dinners after the incident
and have since limited access to the celebrities.
This year, the hunt boasts 35 celebrities,
including Larry Hagman of “Dallas”
television show fame. Eighty-seven people, all
willing to pay at least $1,500 to hunt, will
raise more than $100,000.
“It’s really worth more than that,”
Dozier said. “You have a lot of the celebrities
that become friends with the folks, and a lot
of them not only donate money but also speak
at dinners for DRI across the country. You can’t
measure the benefit out of it just from the
dollars we make on the weekend.”
The waiting list of potential DRI clients tops
100, and some have been on the list for more
than a decade. Since its opening, Disabilities
Resources has doubled the amount of people they
serve to 30, but have replaced only five residents.
Dozier himself has practically brought in his
entire extended family to volunteer for the
center, Brant said. His relations serve on DRI
boards, work with the center and donate land
for the hunt.
“He’s always been operating behind
the scenes, acting as a sparkplug for us,”
Brant said.
The doctor said he will continue combining
his love of hunting with the center. Though
worried about the drought and the heat’s
effect on future quail harvests, the hunts should
continue as a mainstay at DRI. It’s too
much of a tradition.
“The planning for next year’s hunt
begins two weeks after this one,” he said.
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