Shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp! Trey Spencer, age 10, in the Shrimp Eating Contest

The 31st annual Shrimpfest in Seadrift, Texas was a huge success. The two-day festival had about 3,200 attendees over the age of 6 based on the gross collections from the ticket booth. In addition, an estimated 500 kids attended the event free of charge. This event packed weekend offered something for everyone.

Deacon Al from Our Lady of the Gulf and Deacon Dennis Wittnebert from First Baptist Church Seadrift performed the blessing of the fleet while Odis Lambright delivered the wreath to the bay for the ceremony. Brenda Edwards then kicked off the Shrimpfest pageants. Fifty-three boys and girls participated.

After the pageant, Shrimpfesters enjoyed music by the Ross Brunner Band and strolled down the long line of vendors. In fact, there were so many vendors some of them had to be located right behind the pavilion. Calhoun County Law Enforcement won 1st place in the Vendor Shrimp Dish Cook-Off with their gumbo. Second place went to Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos by David Chavez. This year’s vendors offered just about any type of food, drink or snack you could ask for. There was also an abundance of games for kids including bungee jumps, pony rides, moon walks, carnival games and Laser Tag. JoJo the monkey came to visit Shrimpfest this year. The monkey would sit on visitors’ shoulders, or they could have their picture taken with him for a small fee. Shrimpfesters had to be aware of their beer, though. JoJo might just try to steal it.

Saturday’s events started strong with 71 kids arriving for the kids’ fishing tournament.

The 5K Fun Run / Walk brought contestants from all over. 28 females and 16 males ranging in age from 10 to 70 years old entered the contest.

Other tournaments held included Volleyball, Horseshoes and Washers.

The legendary Miss Bayrat competition only had two contestants this year, but these boys dressed up as Hot Lips and Luscious Lips. Real names will not be used to protect their family members. Hot Lips stole the show dancing for the judges and posing on the judges table. Don’t miss this part of the show next year! It is worth the price of admission!

New to Shrimpfest this year was the Battle of the Bands which was a huge hit. A special thanks to Carlos from Rhythm of the Road for running the production and sound board for all seven bands. The audience voted and 24-7 stole the show with their style of modern rockin bluesy funk. Broke 60 and the Po-Boys took second and third. We finished off the party with Rhythm of the Road and a packed house for the majority of the night.

Thank you to all who gave their time to help make this event a success especially the Port Lavaca Evening Lions who kept the grounds clean, the Seadrift Lions and Lakeside 4-H for working the admission gate, The Friends of the Seadrift Library for working the chamber booth, First National Bank employees for helping with the ticket booth, Chamber members Nan Burnett, Helon Loep, Nancy Alford, Jasmine Gordon, Brenda Edwards, Becky Gray, Sandy Moncrief, Walter (Skip) Ellis, Patricia Fielder and Peggy Gains for their countless hours and for their family members help and support. I especially thank my wife Lesley for putting up with me while planning, prepping and working this event as well as for her help during Shrimpfest.

We were able to award scholarships to 2011 graduates James Hunter Reed Cady, Trevor Finster, Jeffrey Garza, Caitlynn Davenport and Heather Jennings. The success of Shrimpfest 2011 will enable us to continue to award scholarships to local students, promote tourism and businesses in Seadrift, assist in community projects and aid those clubs and organizations listed above. Our sponsors have also helped to make this event one worth attending. Hats off to First National Bank in Port Lavaca, Seadrift Coke, City of Seadrift, GBRA, PL Evening Lions Club, Falcon Lease Operating, Tigrett Real Estate, Perfection Lawn Service, Bay Heritage (Seadrifter Inn), GSM Insurance Port Lavaca, Cliff and Ann Masarik, Marek, Griffin & Knaupp, Quality Control Testing, Inc., Formosa Plastics Corporation, Texas, Dow Seadrift Operations, PL Auto Group, AEP, Texas Title, Diebel Oil Co., Inc., San Antonio Bay Foundation and Del Papa Distributing.

Thank you again to everyone listed as well as everyone else who played a part in this event. We appreciate all who attended and hope to see you back next year to rock the bayfront. Remember “Eat More Shrimp” in Seadrift, Texas. If you have not visited our restaurants, gift shops or specialty stores you need to plan a trip and bring some friends. Visit www.seadriftchamber.com or catch us on Facebook to keep up on what’s happening.

Jason Jones, President, Seadrift Chamber of Commerce

Miss Shrimpfest
left to right: 1st Place winner, Chelsea Wooldridge; Hailey Kendrick 2nd runner up; Tara Goodman 3rd runner up; and Shannara Welch 1st runner up and Photogenic

Jr. Miss Shrimpfest
left to right: Callie Wright Photogenic and 1st place winner; Taylor Carter 1st runner up

Miss Pre-Teen
left to right: Jasmine Wooldridge; Alyssa Reyna 1st runner up; Gillian Vasquez 2nd runner up; Amber Rodriquez; and Madison Maldonado Photogenic and 1st place winner

Little Miss Shrimpfest
left to right: McKenna Guevara 1st place; Viviana Morales 1st runner up; Destiny Garza 2rd runner up; Photogenic Trinity Victory

Little Master Shrimpfest

1st place:
Layton Davenport

1st runner up: Keton Cady

2nd runner up: Hayden Gillespie

Photogenic: Ashton Whittaker

Sorry, no photo available.

Pretty Baby Girl
left to right: Photogenic and 1st place Madison Cossey; Bellah Stokes 1st runner up

Beach Boy
left to right: 1st place Nicholas Ragusin; 1st runner up and Photogenic winner Deegan Resendez; and 2nd runner up Talen Henson

Beach Baby
left to right: Cadynce Gonzalez 2nd runner up; Saige Carter 1st runner up; and Kylee Gray 1st place; Amaya Stringo Photogenic (not pictured)

Shrimpfest Kids Fishing Tournament

Seventy-four children participated in the tournament. Event organizer Sandy Moncrief wishing to thank Game Warden Mike Mitchell for all his hard work and Colton Braun for helping again this year.
Winners were:

2-4 Years: Largest Fsih: Kaylee Grey
Smallest Fish: Kaylee Grey

5-8 Years: Largest Fish: Skylar Rodriguez
Smallest Fish: Mia Salazar

9-12 Years: Largest Fish: Kelly Blevins
Smallest Fish: Trey Allen

Hard Luck Fisherman: Trey Allen

Volleyball Tournament
Eight teams participated in the Volleyball Tournament. The winners were:

First Place: “The Fighting Chim”

Johnny Nguyen, Cindy Nguyen, Steven Nguyen, Peter Tran, Van Tran, Doug Tran, Rey Perez and Sarah Smalley

Second Place: “Scrubs”

Dustin Hahn, Heather Stubbs, Shelby Schlinke, Brian Benavides, Megan Durham, Adam Aguirree and Whitney Motley

Horseshoes:

2nd Place: Ricky Carter and Rhonda Braun

Washers:

2nd Place: Jane Daniel and partner


5K Run/Walk Winners

Age Groups Males Females
10-14 Stetson Dierlam Katherine Dent
15-20 McCullen Stafford Lee Ann Desmuke
21-30 No Entry Allison Hahn
31-40 Nacho Trevino Kiera Quiring
41-50 Vance Flosenzier Michelle Flosenzier
51-60 Luis DeLaGarza Micko Mahi
61-70 Reese Stalcup Muriel Costello
Barefoot Winner – Reese Wachel

Kids Frozen T-Shirt Winner Nathan Edwards

Karoake Winner Joyce Height

Shrimp Eating Contest Winner Devin Spencer

Vendor Shrimp Cookoff Winner Vickie Cormier of Port Lavaca Won $100 for her Shrimp Gumbo

“Bungee Jumping!”

Morris and JoJo

Vendors and Guests

View from the water

Battle of the Bands

1st Place: 24-7 ($2,000)
2nd Place: Broke 60 ($1,000)
3rd Place: Po Boys ($500)

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this year’s Shrimpfest a success.

Special thanks to Peggy Gaines for photos and contest results.