10,000 lbs. wasn’t enough

Twenty-six teams, over 2600 people, over 14,000 lbs. of crawfish cooked. The St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marksville crawfish boiling competition fundraiser was back after two years of COVID cancellations and it was a smashing success on Saturday (April 30).
According to Rhett Desselle, event coordinator, an estimated 14,550 lbs. of crawfish were cooked and close to 2700 visitors came through the gates during the event.
“The weather was great, the crawfish were huge and everybody that participated had a great time,” he said. “We are thankful to everyone who came out and we are looking forward to doing it again next year.”
The committee originally ordered 10,000 lbs. of crawfish for the day which was delivered by Bernard’s Seafood Company in Cottonport early Saturday morning. By Saturday afternoon, Bernard’s truck was loaded down for a second run as an additional 5,000 lbs. had to be boiled on site by teams to feed all those in attendance.
And who were the grand champions? The ladies of course. For the second year, the five member all female Avoyelles Hospital team were chosen overall winners of the competition. People’s Choice winners were the men of Echo Powerlines boiling team.
The winning teams won back their entry fees in the form of free entry into next year’s competition, five customized paddles, five customized fishing “Columbia” style shirts, a 3x7 customized banner and a slate clock with team picture on it.
The Hot Sauce band, The Cartoons and Kelli Roberts band all performed during the day. There were also train rides, bouncy houses, balloon artists, a magician and much more.