By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Members of the Rotary Club of FishHawk-Riverview are gearing up for the milestone return of their annual crawfish festival, which raises thousands of dollars annually in the fight against poverty, illiteracy, hunger and disease.
Credit Rotarian Michael Broussard, a one-time restaurateur, who as a member of the local Rotary club stepped up with the idea to use his connections and talents to acquire and cook fresh crawfish from the bayous of Louisiana, to raise funds for local nonprofits, as well as for college scholarships and Rotary International initiatives.
Linda Chion Kenney photo
Michael Broussard, left, stands with fellow FishHawk-Riverview Rotarians, at JF Kicks Restaurant and Patio Bar in Riverview, at Monday’s monthly meeting, where they promoted the club’s 15th Annual Crawfish Festival, at Winthrop on April 26.
It’s an idea Broussard shared with Rotarian Elijah Heath, who years ago befriended the newly minted Rotarian Broussard after the Louisiana native moved to Florida. “Elijah invited me to join the club and had the idea that he wanted to raise money for some local projects that had run out of money,” Broussard said. “We came up with the idea for a crawfish festival, which we wouldn’t be able to pull off without our volunteers that day, including high school and University of South Florida college students.”
The 15th annual Crawfish Festival, presented by the Rotary Club of FishHawk Riverview, is set to kick off its five-hour run, rain or shine, 11 a.m., Saturday, April 26, at Winthrop Founder’s Square Park in Riverview, off the southeast corner of Bloomingdale Avenue and Providence Road. Last year’s event raised more than $35,000 for local and global initiatives.
Menu prices have held steady for the annual festival, including $25 for two pounds of crawfish, with corn and potatoes, and $8 for crawfish etouffee. Also available, chicken and sausage gumbo, pulled pork sandwiches, hamburgers, hotdogs, red beans and rice, and Broussard’s dirty rice, which features ground meat, onions, bell peppers, celery, parsley, chicken broth and, as a thickening agent, “a little bit of dark roux, a comination of flour and oil cooked down to where it’s almost burnt,” Broussard said.
As for the crawfish, Broussard said for years it’s been obtained from D and T Crawfish in Abbeville, Louisiana, owned by a high school friend. “They pull the crawfish out of the pond Thursday, load them on the truck Friday, drive over Friday night and we cook them Saturday morning,” Broussard said.
“I choose to steam the crawfish because it makes them easier to peel and they’re juicy and I can cook through a lot more sacks faster,” added Broussard, who grew up in a home with an active kitchen, learning to cook from his parents and grandparents. “When I moved out, I was 19 years old. My friend owned a bar in the town I grew up in, and I cooked there for Monday night football. I loved it. Cooking is my passion.”
So, too, is supporting the community, Rotary International initiatives and the employees who support his small business initiative, Flying Locksmiths. Broussard thanked as well crawfish festival supporters, including attorney Christopher Ligori, who through his firm, Chris Ligori & Associates, has been the festival’s title sponsor, and Winthrop town founders John and Kay Sullivan, for the space provided.
The festival is a tribute to Broussard’s cooking heritage, and a testament to the heart of his Rotary club, which Broussard said is a family of people with servant hearts.
“That’s the best part for sure, when the charities come in to our meetings to pick up their checks and to tell us about their work,” Broussard said. Last year’s checks, detailed on the club’s Facebook page, included donations to YMCA Camp Cristina, Waterset Oilers Youth Sport, Firehouse Cultural Center in Ruskin, the Hillsborough County Public Schools Migrant Education Program, Seeds of Hope, Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) and the Senior Connection Center. Proceeds help to support as well other Rotary beneficiaries, including Rotary’s Camp Florida, college scholarships for graduating high school seniors and Rotary International’s Polio Plus initiative, driven to end polio now.
For more, visit www.fishhawkriverviewrotary.org/. The club meets Mondays in Lithia at JF Kicks Restaurant & Patio Bar, at 3345 Lithia Pinecrest Road.