Hermann — Stone Hill Winery raised $34,193.83 to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society during its 35th annual Great Stone Hill Beast Feast Wild Game Dinner on Dec. 8.

All of the proceeds from the event, including ticket sales, are donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The cause is incredibly personal for winery owner Jon Held and his family and the success of this event humbles them each year, according to a release from the winery.

The Great Stone Hill Beast Feast began as a tribute to Jon Held’s son, James Richard Held, who died in 1988 at age 5 after “a heroic battle with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL).”

When James was diagnosed, the five-year survival rate was only 25 percent and the Held family became committed to helping LLS find a cure for this disease. When Jon’s father was diagnosed with CMML, a rare, chronic leukemia that strikes older adults, the commitment only deepened.

“I wish to thank all the Vintage and Stone Hill employees for the many hours they spent working on the preparations for this great event,” said Jon Held, president and owner of Stone Hill Winery, in a statement. “Also, thanks to everyone who donated wild game, fish, and fowl for the meal and who donated items for the auction and to those who generously bid on the auction items. This is a very personal, emotional, and rewarding event for me and my family, and I am incredibly touched by the generosity on display every year,”

The event features gourmet appetizers and a wild game dinner prepared by Vintage 1847 restaurant’s chef. This year’s entrees consisted of South of the Border Raccoon Birria, Classic Beaver Pot Roast, Turducken, Roasted Half Quail with Apple and Butter Cream Sauce, Squirrel and Andouille Gumbo, Confit Paddlefish with Tomato Relish, Smoked & Pulled Wild Hog, and Wild Seasoned Venison Steak along with farm style sides and a rustic winter salad.

Fundraising for LLS at the Beast Feast comes from ticket sales as well as through silent auction, raffles, and live auctions. Items auctioned off this year included custom-built wine barrel stave Adirondack chairs, St. Louis Blues hockey tickets, all expenses paid weekend getaway to Hermann, a handmade wildlife themed quilt, a pheasant taxidermy mount, a full Christmas turducken meal with silver serving platters, as well as many other items including award-winning wines and spirits.