For many Teche Area duck hunters, the place to be this week is the Isle of Iberia RV Resort.

The New Iberia Ducks Unlimited Chapter Banquet is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24, with doors opening at 6 p.m. Jason Foster and his banquet committee members, who have been planning the annual fundraising event for months, can’t wait.

As chapter chairman, Foster is ushering in his 12th straight New Iberia DU Chapter Banquet. The 37-year-old wealth manager at Cestia Wealth Management is an avid waterfowl hunter who realizes the importance of DU, a nonprofit organization that bills itself as the world’s leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation since it was established in 1937.

Foster is proud to announce this year’s major underwriters for the local chapter’s main fundraiser are Musson Patout Automotive Group, Iberia Outdoor Power and Dugas Auto Repair.

The New Iberia DU Chapter’s main event raised $65,000 in 2023. Foster and the chapter’s hard-working banquet committee hope to exceed that amount before the doors close on the next big fundraiser.

As of Oct. 18, nearly 200 major donors have pre-registered for the fundraising event, according to the 12-year veteran chapter chairman.

“It’s good. I mean, we’ve got about 175 confirmed participants. That’s how many seats we are having filled,” Foster said.

Those who plan to attend the event but haven’t paid still can purchase admission tickets at the door with cash or credit card, he said.

He’s counting his blessings that one of the most experienced DU members has led the way for the umpteenth time in drumming up support from within the community for another year.

“Of course, Gordie White leads the efforts. He beats the streets and makes the phone calls. He’s securing all the major donors to sign up for our banquet,” Foster said, tipping his cap to the local outdoorsman who in the mid-1970s helped start the Ducks Unlimited chapter in New Iberia.

Foster’s also pleased that 21-year-old outdoorsman Robert Minvielle Jr. of New Iberia, who makes True South Custom Calls, an increasingly popular duck call locally and regionally, has joined the banquet committee.

“We’re glad to have him on board” because of the duck call maker’s “youthful energy,” Foster said.

“We need people in that age bracket that are passionate about the outdoors to fuel the conservation movement that’s almost a century old. We’re so glad to have him. That’s the biggest win for our chapter this year,” he said.

In another effort to attract young outdoorsmen to DU, Foster is reaching out to more Green Wings. His 15-year-old son, Jackson Foster, a student/athlete who plays basketball and competes in track and field at Catholic High School, is attending.

“He’ll be there. We’re trying to get a bunch of his friends to come, have some young blood. You know, that’s been my big push trying to get young people involved,” he said.

Foster is just as excited about the lineup of auction items and raffle prizes, including the popular goose bands. And a mouth-watering menu should more than satisfy the banquet-goers.

Foster said the table fare will include smoked pork loin, jambalaya, smothered green beans, cole slaw and fresh-baked desserts and pastries prepared by “Chef” Margaret Burke.

As for the auction items, for starters, there is the 2024 DU Decoy of the Year, an Oldsquaw duck, also known as the long-tailed duck that breeds In Arctic regions of North America, Europe and Asia. “You don’t see them down here,” Foster said.

Other auction items include a “DU version” of the Solo Stove fire pit, a revolutionary backyard smokeless fire pit and for sure a “big ticket” item, according to Foster.

Others are the 2024 Shotgun of the Year, a 12-gauge Browning; a 2024 DU Handgun of the Year, a Kimber 1911, and a 2024 DU Rifle of the Year, a Howa 300.

“Those are the big ones,” Foster said.

Naturally, there are various hunting trips the banquet-goers can bid on, as well as artwork, knickknacks and other items up for auction.

Tickets are being sold online at ducksunlimited.myeventscenter.com. For more information about Thursday’s banquet call Foster at 356-4977.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.