Do you Smell Crawfish??

Posted by Steven Walden 
 
It's only a matter of days before we start boiling water and pouring in the little mud bugs. This will be the thirteenth year we have assembled the Killeen Heights Crawfish Boil. It is our main fundraiser and how most people in our area know us. To make this year's Boil a successful event, everyone needs to play a role - do you know what your role is this year?
 
There are at least a dozen Crawfish Boil committees that are looking for volunteers; anything from setting up the event, cooking crawfish, serving food, organizing the silent auction, bake sale, selling and serving drinks, etc, etc. Make sure you are plugged into one of these committees to better use your talents on the 6th and 7th of May. Serving on a committee is also a great way to get to know Rotarians that you do not normally get to interact with. What better way to mingle with other Rotarians than while wearing latex serving gloves and an apron that smells of crawfish and French fries? See Dave Hall this Friday if you are not already on a committee.

The most important thing we can ask of you for the Boil is just to be there. By "be there" I mean being present and interacting with other Rotarians, the children that attend, the exhibitors with the Healthy Kids Expo, and folks in our community. For some attendees, this will be their first exposure to Rotary. A lasting impression may lead to future Rotarians. At the boil, each one of us will be educators and recruiters for Rotary.

By being there, I also mean supporting our fundraising efforts. You can do this prior to the event by donating to the silent auction (see Debbie Stevenson - she will give you details.) You can also support the fundraising efforts by bidding on items and encouraging others to do the same. Let's remember that the auction is not for bargain-hunting, it's about giving toward some really great projects and relief efforts in our local and international communities. There are going to be some fantastic items at the auction this year, so bring your wallet!

Supporting the Boil also means getting people there. In the short amount of time we have left before the event, make sure you tell as many people as you can about the event. You have tickets: Sell them, give them away, or have contests in your office where you award them as prizes. When you run out, get some more from Jim Bondi and do it again! The bigger our event is, the more funds we raise and the more fun we have!

What will make our Crawfish Boil successful? I believe it is a success if we walk out of the Special Events Center late on Saturday and feel good about how we educated others on Rotary, our efforts to raise funds for worthy projects, and that we fed our community some really good food. Oh yeah, and that we all HAD FUN!!

I am looking forward to this year's boil. For me, it starts early on Friday, May 6 when we begin to set up the Special Events Center right after the meeting. We have a committee that has been setting up for years and have it down to an exact science - but we gladly welcome new faces. This year, consider starting early and staying late - you will be glad you did.

I look forward to seeing you all there!!

Have a fruitful week.

Yours in Rotary,

Steve Walden