Beach Lions gear up for upcoming Shrimp Festival
The 53rd annual Fort Myers Beach Lions Shrimp Festival will be here before you know it. The actual festival is during the weekend of March 12-13, but events such as the Princess Ball and Shrimp Run precede the parade and festivities.
Officials from the 53rd annual Queen Pageant of the Shrimp Festival are looking for contestants! Estero Island’s largest annual event is seeking girls 16-20 years old who would like to become this year’s Shrimp Festival Queen.
Contestants must be able to appear at all the events for judging and in the Festival Parade and at the Festival. The great history of this event has many former participants returning to and involved in the event today.
Each contestant will receive a savings bond. Trophies and/or prizes will be awarded to the winner of each of the following categories: Queen, First runner-up, Second runner-up, Miss Personality, Miss Congeniality (voted on by participants), online voting for Peoples Choice and Miss Photogenic (judged on official photos).
All participants are already winners by helping the Fort Myers Beach Lions Club and local Sight and Cancer projects with their participation. Details about the festival and the contest application are found at www.fortmyersbeachshrimpfestival.com
For further information and details, contact Lion Sheila Kelley at 233-8250?during evenings or email queenpagent@fortmyersbeachshrimpfestival.com
Schedule of events
– Friday, March 4, 7 p.m.
Festival Princess Ball: Fun, food, dance and entertainment. Meet all the Shrimp Festival Princesses in the running for this year’s 53rd Festival Queen! Tickets are on sale for $10. Contact Lion Sheila Kelley at 233-8250. It is held at 5601 Williams Drive.
“It’s such a great event. It attracts people from all over the area. The girls are judged on character and personality,” said Kelley, who is the chairperson of the this year’s Shrimp Festival Queen Pageant and Queen’s Ball. “We are looking for princesses. Once we have all the applications, we’ll get all the girls together to get to know them as individuals. Whoever becomes queen, we want to make sure she is a great representative of the Beach Lions.”
Kelley is the director of development for the Visually Impaired Persons of Southwest Florida, a nonprofit organization.
The application can be found online at www.fortmyersbeachshrimpfestival.com.
“We encourage any girl who is interested in participating to fill out the form as soon as possible,” said Kelley. “We’d like the girls to get to know each other as well. It such a fun weekend.”
– Saturday, March 5, 8:30 a.m.
Shrimp Run: Children from Kindergarten through grade 5 race for the Lions trophy. The event will take place on the beach at Gulf Beach Road. Call Lion Joellyn at 463-6986.
“The girls get involved and help the kids in this event too,” said Kelley.
– Saturday, March 12
Shrimp Festival Parade: 10 a.m. Saturday. This two-mile long parade runs down the main street of town (Estero Blvd) from the beach school to the Lynn Hall Park where the festival grounds are located. Call Lion Diane at 454-0043 for information.
53rd Annual Shrimp Festival Food Fun & Crafts Expo: More than 100 great vendors hit the Beach from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. For information, call Lion Ted at 454-0043.
Remember: Official Festival T-shirts, tank tops and hats will be sold along with the World Famous Lions Shrimp Dinners, food, cold drinks and more at the festival grounds. For more information, call Lion Patsy at 463-1027.
53rd Shrimp Festival Queen Pageant: The crowning will take place at the beach pavilion at Lynn Hall Park at 1 p.m. It’s an old fashioned family event with scholarships and trophies. Free. Call Lion Sheila Kelley at 233-8250 for more information.
– Sunday, March 13
53rd Annual Shrimp Festival Food Fun & Crafts Expo: More than 100 great vendors hit the beach! It runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the beach. For information call Lion Ted at 454-0043.
If interested