Bayou Industrial Group is hosting its first Crawfish Crawl for higher education in hopes to raise money for their scholarship program on April 27, 2013 at Peltier Park from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“The fundraiser benefits the scholarship program for Bayou Industrial Group,” Jennifer Armand, executive director, said. “All the money that we raise goes toward expanding the scholarships that we give to students attending Nicholls State University, Fletcher Technical Community College and South Central Louisiana Technical College Lafourche campus.”
For the past couple of years Bayou Industrial group has been trying to find ways to expand their scholarship program, one of the proudest achievements and biggest efforts of the non-profit, Armand said.
“As we were exploring different ideas, our vice president Ricky Melancon had the fabulous idea of a crawfish boil-off and then other people suggested that it be coupled with a run, thus the fundraiser came to be,” Armand said.  
The crawfish crawl includes a 5K race, a Family Fun run/walk and a crawfish boil-off.
Early registration is available for the 5K and Family Fun run/walk through tomorrow. It is $20 during the early registration, which comes with an order of 3 pounds of crawfish. After tomorrow, registration for the race and crawfish will go up to $25. There is also an option to just register for the race or fun run/walk without receiving crawfish for $10. The form to sign up can be found on the Bayou Industrial Group’s website.
Check in for the Family Fun run/ walk and the 5K begins at 3:00 p.m. at the Pavilion in Peltier Park. The Family Fun run/walk will begin at 4 p.m. and the 5K at 4:30 p.m. There will be awards given out in various groups.
The last day to sign a team up for the crawfish boil-off is tomorrow. The team can consist of two to four people and is $50 per team.
There is also an option to sponsor a boil-off team. There are certain tiers of sponsorship depending on the amount of money. There is “Mudbug” with a sponsorship of $100, “Crawdad” with a sponsorship of $250 and “Crawfish King” with a sponsorship of $500. Each tier also includes different benefits. The registration form and payment for either a boil-off team or a sponsorship has to be returned to the Bayou Industrial Group by tomorrow.
Crawfish boil-off team pre-qualification and inspection begins at 3 p.m., cooking begins at 3:30 p.m. and crawfish must be ready to serve by 5 p.m. Judging will take place at 6 p.m.
A DJ and raffle items will also be at the event.
One of the big raffle items, donated by Southland Dodge, is a Jeep Power Wheels, Armand said. There will also be a lot of other raffle prizes that were donated by other businesses in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.
“Come out and enjoy the day with us at Peltier Park, with all the crawfish that the teams boil being available for sale to the public,” Armand said.
Bayou Industrial Group offers at minimum three different scholarships to high school seniors.
The first scholarship they offer is the Nicholls State University Award. This scholarship includes $250 per semester for up to eight semesters. The high school graduating senior has to maintain a cumulative 2.5 grade point average and remain a full-time student.
The second scholarship Bayou Industrial Group offers is the Fletcher Technical Community College Award. This award is a one-time award of $250 in the fall semester following high school graduation.
The third award is the South Central Louisiana Technical College Lafourche campus award. This award is also a one-time award of $250 in the fall semester following high school graduation.
“This is a minimum standard. We want to make it more standard that we give more scholarships, and we want the scholarships to be more valuable, thus the reason for the fundraiser,” Armand said.  
According to the Bayou Industrial Group website, “we are a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to the growth and sustainability of business and industry in the Bayou Region of southeast Louisiana.”
The group was founded in 1973 and provides and opportunity for its members to help with different issues facings the community that they might not have done on their own.
Members of the group include business, industry, and non-profit organizations as well as individuals from primarily Lafourche, Terrebone, Assumption, and St. Mary Parishes, including the metropolitan areas of Houma and Thibodaux.
For more information regarding the First Annual Crawfish Crawl, Bayou Industrial Group or the scholarships offered, visit bayouindustrialgroup.com.