VIDALIA — Hundreds of local hunters partied, ate, mingled and participated in auctions for a variety of outdoor prizes Friday night at the Concordia Delta Long Beards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation’s ninth-annual banquet at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center.

What started out as a gathering of 20 to 30 local hunters just a few years ago has turned into an event that hosts approximately 300 people, Chapter President Lisa Smith said.

“This is one of the biggest (NWTF) banquets in Louisiana,” Smith said. “Which is pretty good for Concordia Parish. I think were third last year. I would really like to take us to first in the state.”

Smith said she believes the event keeps growing because much of the money raised at the event goes back into community projects.

“We put the money back into the parish,” she said.

Monterey resident Don Hamilton said he has been coming to the event for years, and he appreciates what the Concordia Delta Long Beards do in the community.

“They are always doing this for good causes,” he said. “They take care of people. To be honest, I don’t even turkey hunt. I just come here to support them, because they do a lot of good stuff.”

Hamilton said the prizes auctioned off at the event are also a major attraction, and he won a gun two years ago.

The Concordia Delta Long Beards also announced their annual scholarship winner at the banquet.

Alphonse Coco, 18, a resident of Tensas Parish, was this year’s winner of the $500 scholarship.

“I was surprised,” Coco said about winning the award. “I wasn’t sure I would get it, but I’m glad I got it. I was very happy.”

Coco said he only recently joined the NWTF.

“I talked to a lot of my friends that do turkey hunting, and they told me to try it,” he said.

To be a scholarship contestant, applicants had to submit an essay, and Coco’s essay about sportsmanship and the importance of hunting ended up on top.

“We have to protect nature,” he said. “And hunting helps bring families closer together.”

Coco said he has been hunting several times with friends but has yet to kill a turkey. He is still a novice hunter, and he said he started within the past year.

“It just seemed like fun, and a lot of very influential people in my life are avid turkey hunters,” he said.

Coco’s essay and scholarship application will now move on to be considered for the Louisiana State NWTF. If he wins that he will be awarded an additional $1,500 in scholarship money and also advance to be considered for the national scholarship worth $10,000.

Coco is a senior at Tensas Academy, and he wants to attend Louisiana Tech University and study genetics, he said.

In addition to the food and auction items, the banquet is also a time for long-time hunting buddies to come together and share stories, banquet attendee Delane Burnette said.

“It’s also the fellowship (that brings us back),” he said. “It’s the type of thing where we can visit with friends and talk about new (hunting) items.”

Smith said most of the money raised at the banquet goes to projects and events for disabled and youth hunters. Some money also goes to the National NWTF.

Among the projects the Concordia Delta Long Beards are responsible for are: The Wheelin’ Sportsman Hunt, youth education and shoot programs and skeet shooting competitions.

The chapter also worked with Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge to build a shelter on the refuge for disabled hunters to use during their hunts and food plots to help the Wheelin’ hunters’ success rate.