The picture on the top of Page 1 of Monday’s Daily Iberian dramatically illustrated the popularity of this great community event, showing people literally jammed shoulder-to-shoulder while awaiting the announcement of the winners of Sunday’s World Championship Gumbo Cookoff.

During the busiest couple of hours Sunday, it seemed as if the pathways between the booths were almost that crowded, as even with a threat of a bit more rain, a huge number of people turned out to sample the gumbos offered that day.

You couldn’t help but run into dozens of people you know from all around the Teche Area. And I ran into a good number of people from outside our community, from other parts of the state, as well as from out of state.

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Congratulations to the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce for a great 20th annual event. And special thanks to the sponsors: Tabasco; the Louisiana Seafood Promotion Board; the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

For sure congratulations to the winners in each category. There were a lot of good gumbos served so being named one of the best is certainly a terrific honor.

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Daily Iberian photographer Lee Ball does a great job bringing back interesting pictures from events like the Gumbo Cookoff. We try to use as many as space permits in the paper, but frequently Lee takes more pics than we can print.

You can still see more pictures from events like the Gumbo Cookoff or from recent high school football games or other community events by checking out the Photos section of our Web site at www.iberianet.com. You can access the complete assortment of photos by clicking on “Photos” in the green navigation bar at the top of our homepage, then click on albums.

There are 159 photos from the Gumbo Cookoff posted in one album and I saw more than 300 from the recent Sugar Cane Festival in another. Your picture or that of a friend or family member might be included, so be sure to check these albums today and then in the future to see what’s been added.

This is also the place to order reprints of pictures we’ve taken. It’s pretty simple, the prices are reasonable and the service is relatively quick that sees your order delivered to you. Check it out.

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We’ve had some big football matchups already this season, with LSU playing ULL, the big LSU versus Florida game this past weekend, and now this weekend, another huge matchup when New Iberia Senior High plays Westgate Friday at Lloyd G. Porter Stadium.

Both teams are having good seasons thus far, but season records don’t matter as this is for bragging rights for the next year. I read in Chris Landry’s column in Monday’s paper how the game has alternated winners since 2003, with the Tigers winning in the odd-numbered seasons and the Yellow Jackets winning in even-number years.

Based on numerology, that would seem to suggest Westgate has an advantage, but we know NISH will have other ideas.

Congratulations to both for their great records thus far. Hope it’s good weather and a good injury-free, competitive game.

Will Chapman is publisher of The Daily Iberian.