COTEAU – Usually, saying goodbye is such a hard thing to do.

Around here, though, after the conclusion of the duck hunting season, saying goodbye is so easy, exciting and enjoyable. For 49 years, local and regional outdoorsmen, outdoorswomen and youngsters have done what they do best — have fun, enjoy the company and dine on good food in memory of the dearly departed season.

An estimated 150 people attended the 49th annual Duck Wake on Feb. 2 held here at the Francis Romero Memorial Building. The Duck Wake’s founder, Gordie White of New Iberia, said nobody says goodbye like duck hunters.

“I tell you what, this was a great one. This was unbelievable,” the man who started it all said. “It was probably the most fun party we’ve had all these years with so many people active and interested. It was sooooo good to see old friends. It was great to see all my friends.”

The old guard showed up as well as first-time guests, White said, happily.

Two special guests provided poignant moments before the meal was served.

White and his oldest son, Dr. Eric White of New Iberia, a veteran veterinarian, welcomed the retired lawyer’s youngest son, Nicholas White, and his young son, Gordie Theron White. Eric’s younger brother and nephew, whose name is derived from the middle names of his paternal grandfather and uncle, live in Denham Springs.

The local Whites bequeathed a family heirloom, an old 12-gauge Winchester shotgun, to the youngest White, who celebrates his 15th birthday Feb. 6. The shotgun’s first owner was the late Woodrow White, who died in October 2004 at age 92.

“One of the stories told was about my dad’s gun. He wore it out. Older brother wore it out,” the patriarch of the family said about his older brother, the late Frank White. “It’s been handed down through the family. We don’t shoot it.”

Eric White was moved by the occasion, too.

“Oh, it was good, the passing of this treasure. It was a total surprise to daddy. It was good,” he said. “It was a fantastic reunion. Plenty of happy tears.”

He has taken over much of the planning and preparation of the annual event that began in 1975.

“It was a good turnout,” he said.

The men, women and children in the crowd feasted on duck gumbo, okra, potato salad and delicious desserts such as the traditional bread pudding, pecan pie and beaucoup other sweet delights. White’s wife, Penny White, and their daughter, Alexis Delcambre, treated the guests for the umpteenth time to their notoriously sweet pecan pie and bread pudding, respectively.

Many of them left with a cherished locally produced condiment courtesy of Bud Lee, retired 16th District Assistant District Attorney. Lee brought a couple cases of the new size of Tabasco hot sauce bottles produced by the McIlhenny Co.

“It was a hot thing,” the elder White said with a chuckle.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.