A sweet treat is in store for those who go to the New Iberia Ducks Unlimited Chapter Banquet on Thursday at the Isle of Iberia RV Resort.

Margaret Burke, the wife of long-time local DU supporter P.R. Burke, called the DU chapter chairman Tuesday to say she planned to prepare “special desserts” for the event that gets underway with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m.

That’s lagniappe and should be well-received by the taste buds on a night that will include the largest assortment of raffle and auction items since 2014, Jason Foster was pleased to announce later Tuesday.

“We’re going to change it up to get more offerings,” said Foster, who as chapter chairman is overseeing his 10th general membership fundraising banquet in New Iberia.

The 45-year-old avid duck hunter can’t wait for the event to get underway. He knows the recent cold snap gets waterfowlers fired up for the fast-approaching duck hunting season as well as raising bucks for ducks.

Foster, assisted by a dedicated fundraising banquet committee, has attended local DU banquets since he was 16, when his mother’s boss invited him to go, he said. The New Iberia native went to more local events while in college and then, after he moved away for about 13 years, attended many banquets around the state in Lafayette, New Orleans and Houma.

So he has more than a good working knowledge of what works in the fundraisers so important to ducks and duck habitat. That’s why he still enjoys being chapter chairman.

“It’s been good. It’s not working when you’re passionate about it. I’m doing my part giving back,” he said about his 10 years in that role. “It’s rewarding, especially when I see physical results in DU’s work, see the actual (conservation) projects under way even in our own state.”

Historically, he has said in the past, Louisiana has had more habitat projects than any other state in the Mississippi Flyway.

There is a common denominator for all DU banquets, big and small, Foster said.

“The thread that binds is people who spent times in the outdoors who see the fruits of conservation,” he said, noting a prime example locally is retired lawyer Gordie White, one of the local DU chapter’s founders in the mid-1970s.

Foster said he believes at least 150 outdoorsmen will show up Thursday at the Isle of Iberia. As of Tuesday, he said, there were 38 confirmed major donors and he expected a final tally of at least 50.

Admission costs for Thursday’s event are $2,500 for a Corporate Table, $600 for a Mallard Table, $350 for a Bronze Sponsor, $50 for a single general membership and $35 for a Green Wing (under 18) membership.

The tentative menu includes jambalaya, green bean casserole, LeJeune’s French bread, cole slaw and, of course, Burke’s special desserts.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.