Crawfish Fest Coming to Park Square

A taste of Cajun is coming to FishHawk Ranch in May.

The Rotary Club of FishHawk/Bloomingdale is planning its first Crawfish Festival at Park Square in FishHawk Ranch Saturday, May 14 from noon to 3 p.m.

According to club president, Elijah Heath, the club is hoping to make this its signature event.

"There is nothing else like this in our part of town," he said. "We thought it would be an ideal event to gather the community together and raise some funds for charity.

The event will benefit the FishHawk Sports Complex, the Brandon area YMCAs, the Emergency Care Help Organization, the Women's Resource Center at Bay Life Church and A Kid's Place, an emergency shelter for abused and neglected children, said Heath.

In addition, the festival will feature a food drive. Any family donating nonperishable food for ECHO will get free hot dogs for the kids.

The event is being spearheaded by club member Michael Broussard who once ran a Cajun catering business. He will have the crawfish for the crawfish boil driven straight from Louisiana.

"We're hoping this will be the first of an annual event," said Heath. "We're copying a few ideas from the Brandon '86 Rotary Club's successful Denizens of the Deep. But this festival will be unique to this area."

The club is in the process of soliciting sponsors ranging from majors sponsors to individual sponsorships. Sponsorships range from $100 to $1,000.

"We'll also have booths so any business or club that wants to get involved can," said Heath. Booth sponsorships are $50.

Boiled crawfish and side items along with soft drinks and beer will be on the menu. The club may have other food vendors on site as well. A band will provide Cajun-style music for the event.

"We think we can raise $10,000 from the event," said Heath.

Advance tickets are $10 and can be purchased online at www.fishhawkrotary.com. Tickets the day of the event are $15.

Visit the club's Website for sponsorship information as well.

The Rotary Club of FishHawk/Bloomingdale meets every Monday at noon at Beef O' Brady's, 4330 Bell Shoals Road, Valrico.