Dear Editor,

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors and volunteers for making the 13th Annual Carnaval de Mardi Gras Gumbo Cook-off a tremendous success! Special thanks to our sponsors: Riverwalk Casino, Waterview Casino, International Paper, Capital City Beverage, the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation, Bally’s Casino, Eagle Ridge Development LLC, Newbreak, Visit Vicksburg, Delta Bank, Cadence Bank, Waste Management, The Liquor Store, Big Fun Balloons by Debbie, and McDaniel Jumperoo. We would also like to thank our great Cajun Gumbo Cook-off teams! The competition was stiff and the gumbo was delicious! We sincerely appreciate the difficult task that our gumbo judges Josh Welch, Jay Parmegiani, Matthew Campbell, and Corey Jones had and we thank them for their time and expertise! This year we welcomed a separate set of judges who determined the best-decorated booth and most spirited! Thanks also go to Keys vs. Strings Band for providing the great party music. 

Events such as this take a tremendous number of volunteer hours before, during, and after the event. We are particularly grateful for the leadership of our Carnaval de Mardi Gras committee members who put their hearts and souls into this event every year, with special thanks to Stacey Mahoney for chairing the event! Thank you to our other members, including Tammy Allen, Brynn Morgan, Mike Calnan, Nikki Cardwell, Evy Robertson, and Cindy Fowler. We would also like to thank those who volunteered during the day of the event and the necessary cleanup afterward, including Ronnie Bounds, Lenore Barkley, Minor Ferris, Anna Booth, Karen Calnan, Alex Meyers, Sydney Brown, Nikki Steele, Hannah Claire Steele, Jenny and Drew Bottemiller, Celeste Constancio, Cindy Constancio, Reed Lambert, Jeff Merritt, John and Lisa Martin and their crew of beer pourers, Cian Miller, Jim Chaney, Ashley and Frank Dawson, Kimberly Smith, Blake and Stacey Teller, Makayla Shows, and the hardworking group of young people from Americorps. We would also like to thank the City of Vicksburg, The Vicksburg Post, the Vicksburg Police Department, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, and the Vicksburg Fire Department for their overwhelming support, this year and every year.

Once again, thank you to all those who participated in making this not only a great celebration of Mardi Gras, but a great fundraiser for the foundation and its effort to identify, preserve, protect, and interpret Vicksburg’s unique architectural heritage. We look forward to the 14^th Annual Gumbo Cook-Off during Mardi Gras 2026!

Sincerely,

Nancy H. Bell

Executive Director

Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation