Mullet Madness attracts mullet throwers, Joe Dirt lookalikes
What’s Up FMB, a new business group, was looking for a way to bring some summer traffic onto Fort Myers Beach and found it.
“Mullet Madness,” which was organized by Dawn and Mike Miller (owners of The Whale and Sandy Bottom’s), brought out mullet throwers, Joe Dirt lookalike contestants and some very happy raffle winners who went home with some generous gifts and prizes from the local business community.
Mrs. Miller said Saturday’s event brought out about 150 people who took part in the mullet throwing at local businesses, as well as the Joe Dirt contest and raffles.
Sunday’s mullet-throwing event for children at Moss Marina brought a smaller group though one which was showered in prizes and gifts, amid a barbecue and snow cones.
“In five short weeks (of planning), we made this a knockout,” Mrs. Miller said.
Miller credited Marcel Chartier, DiamondHead Beach Resort Director of Food and Beverage, with envisioning the need for a summer event to draw people to the island in what is the slowest months of the year for business as snowbirds head back up north and tourism slows down.
A group of businesses got together and formed a nonprofit to start making plans for events and advertising to reach out to the rest of Lee County and beyond.
“We’re off and running,” Miller said.
“In such a short amount of time to put the team together it worked out really well,” Mr. Miller said.
Miller said the plan for next year is to combine the event into one day and reach out to the community for what kind of event they would like to see on the beach.
He said the plan was for the group to work with the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce on events.
“We’re really getting the business community together. We are all in this together,” he said. “In season we are good but we need people here in the offseason. We want to make it where there are no seasons.”
The Millers are finishing work on rebuilding The Whale and Sandy Bottom’s. The Whale could open as early as October.
Miller says he sees a lot of progress on Fort Myers Beach since Hurricane Ian devastated the community and destroyed the businesses he had bought just months before the storm. “Every week I see change,” he said.