To the 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 Sixth Annual Carnaval de Mardi Gras a tremendous success.

Special thanks to our sponsors: Riverwalk Casino, Gumbo Pot, Dorethea “Charlie” Gholson, Trustmark National Bank, Capital City Beverage, the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation, Lady Luck Casino, RiverView Casino, Slipin Slidin Water Slides, Corner Market, Southern Sweets by Carla, Super Junior on 61 North, Kroger, Waste Management, Ameristar, County Market, Martin’s at Midtown, and Richard McComas.

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 had and we thank them for their time and expertise!

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 chairperson, Margaret Thames, who put together a hardworking and talented committee.

We would not have had such a successful event without committee members Stacey Massey, Amy Scott, Casie Combs, Tammy Allen, Holly Chewning, and Janice Darby.

We would also like to thank those who volunteered during the day of the event and the necessary cleanup afterward: Ronnie Bounds, Denise and Dennis Garner, Lenore Barkley, Beth Whitehead, Norma Massey, Abbie Bell, Koury Eargle, Minor Ferris, Kevin Mahoney, Tayor Chewning, Evelyn Pannell, Leah McMahon, and the hardest working group of young people from AmeriCorps.

Special thanks to the Vicksburg Fire Department, the Vicksburg Police Department and the Warren County Sheriff’s Department for their assistance, we appreciate you all!

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, in its efforts to identify, preserve, and protect Vicksburg’s unique architectural heritage.  We look forward to Mardi Gras 2018!

Nancy H. Bell

executive director

Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation