Photo by Jon Anderson
Volunteers put crawfish in containers at the 2023 Hope for Autumn Crawfish Boil in the Ross Bridge community in Hoover, Alabama, on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
What do 4,500 pounds of crawfish have to do with pediatric cancer?
A Hoover-based foundation hopes this weekend to use the former to help destroy the latter.
The Hope for Autumn Foundation this Saturday, April 26, is having its annual crawfish boil on the Main Green at Ross Bridge, with proceeds going to aid families battling pediatric cancer and to aid in research to find a cure.
Louisiana native John Hein, who is serving as the head chef for the event, made the trip to Louisiana this week to pick up the crawfish and will be cooking those mudbugs in a giant vat before they’re served with other staples in a crawfish boil — potatoes and corn, said Amanda Knerr, executive director of the Hope for Autumn Foundation.
Some University of Alabama football players will be coming to help grill hamburgers and hot dogs for those who want something to eat other than the big red critters, Knerr said.
But there’s more to the day than just eating. The Pioneer Chicken Stand band is scheduled to provide music from 3 to 6 p.m., followed by The Divines from 6 to 9 p.m. There also will be a kids’ zone with face painting, hula hoops, balloon artist and inflatable bounce houses, Knerr said.
About 2,000 people typically turn out for the boil and spread out across the Main Green to eat and listen to the music. Parking can be a challenge, so people are invited to park at the Shades Creek pool in the James Hill sector of Ross Bridge or the pool at the Hamptons sector of Ross Bridge and take a free shuttle to the Main Green.
Ticket sales are going strong, with all the reserved tents already sold out, Knerr said. Tickets cost $50 for ages 13 and older and $20 for ages 5-12. Admission is free for ages 4 and younger. The ticket covers admission, all the food you can eat as long as it’s still available, Pepsi products provided by Buffalo Rock, the music and activities.
While reserved tents are sold out, people are invited to bring chairs to set up on the green, and people can bring their own coolers with drinks, Knerr said.
Last year’s Hope for Autumn Crawfish Boil raised about $200,000, she said.
The boil started in 2006 with a couple of hundred people when a group of friends gathered in Ross Bridge for a backyard crawfish boil to raise money for the family of a young girl named Autumn who was battling cancer. It was such a success that the organizer, Travis Diggs, decided to keep doing it each year, and the foundation later was formed as a nonprofit vehicle to champion the cause.
Knerr’s daughter, Emily, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2009, and Emily was the honoree for the crawfish boil in 2010.
To order tickets for this year’s Hope For Autumn Crawfish Boil, go to hopeforautumnfoundation.org/the-boil.
