NATCHEZ — The Natchez Ducks Unlimited Chapter will host their largest fundraiser of the year Thursday at the Natchez Community Center.

The event will include a steak dinner and also include auctions and a raffle.

“Ducks Unlimited is an organization with a concentration on conservation,” said Key Smith, chairman of the Natchez chapter. “We do different types of conservation projects and all the money raised goes back through the ground.”

Smith said the chapter has hosted other events, but the banquet is their most important of the year, raising money for the chapter.

“We’ve had another sponsored event and a crawfish boil,” Smith said. “In the past, we hosted a youth trap shoot, but it has been a couple of years since we’ve done that.”

Smith said auction prizes will be big this year and that people should enjoy what they have a chance of winning.

“We’ve got about 15 guns that we’ll be auctioning off, grills, a four-wheeler wench and a variety of accessories,” Smith said. “We’ve got a couple different hunting trips and just an assortment of outdoor related activities.”

Smith also said he expects a good crowd at the banquet.

“We usually have around 200 people, and we are expecting around that same number this year,” he said.

Tickets will be available at the door, which opens at 6 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.

“Tickets are $55, and it gives you a membership and steak dinner,” Smith said. “Annual membership includes a monthly magazine, and they have different vendors in there.”

Smith said Ducks Unlimited has been around for 77 years and dates the Natchez chapter back to as early as the 1970s.