For more than 30 years, Hiram "Uncle Don" McConnell Jr., D.D.S., has been supplying Ducks Unlimited chapters in Lafayette, Louisiana, and surrounding cities with a special auction item known as Uncle Don's Cherry Bounce. This handcrafted libation always gets the first bid at local DU events and sets the pace for the rest of the auction. On average, a bottle of Cherry Bounce will bring in $2,500, but at the 2013 Oran Richard tribute event, one went for $10,000.

McConnell has been a strong DU advocate for more than 25 years, and his ongoing support was recognized last fall with a Silver Teal Award, presented at the Lafayette Sponsor Event. In addition to the estimated $150,000 his Cherry Bounce has made for the ducks, McConnell is a Silver Sponsor and an active member of the DU committee in Carencro, Louisiana.

"I've invested some good bourbon, flasks, sugar, storage containers, and the labor of picking and cleaning the cherries and mixing the batches of Cherry Bounce," McConnell says. "It has been my pleasure, and I'm happy that I can help such an important cause that is so dear to me."