It's crawdad time again!
By: Angela Burmylo
Yes, spring has sprung and it's almost time for Harrison Arkansas' annual Crawdad Days. May 19th and 20th will be the 16th year for this exciting and much anticipated celebration.
It all started in 1990 when a few friends from the Harrison area were sitting around Crooked Creek. They were trying to think of a way to focus attention on this unique little stream. One topic of conversation was how the creek was overflowing with crawdads, and how much fun it would be for kids to come and catch the little critters.
Crawdad Days has gone through some changes since it's beginning, and is now bigger and better than ever. It is estimated that 15 to 20 thousand people attend the festival, and for all those folks who are hungry for some good crawfish, there will be plenty for everyone. Several thousand pounds of crawfish are cooked and served with boiled potatoes and corn on the cob.
Originally, this event was known as Dogpatch Days because it was held during the opening weekend of the Dogpatch Theme park. After Dogpatch closed in 1992, the name of the festival stayed the same for a couple more years then was changed to Crooked Creek Crawdad Days. In 2003, the festival underwent the final name change to simply Crawdad Days.
The very first year of the festival was held on Crooked Creek, which forms Lake Harrison just blocks from the historic square area. Former Chamber of Commerce member Kay Maris quotes “I remember being concerned about how overgrown the banks of the narrow creek were, and that it was possible a child might become lost in the brush.” Mrs. Maris also said that the crawfish for that first festival came from Louisiana and were boiled in a washtub.
The founding members of Crawdad Days focused much attention on children's activities, and came up with many fun things for kids to do. They held carnivals, crawdad catching contests, crawdad crawling races where the kids would race backwards, and sidewalk chalk drawing contests where local schools would be involved. There were numerous other children's events, many of which are still taking place during the present Crawdad Days. Also, there were many vendors offering arts and crafts, an antique car show, and local music groups that played in the bandstand on the square.
The year Lake Harrison was put in, the location for Crawdad Days was moved to the new lake. Harrison held an extra special celebration that year during Crawdad Days, with park and youth center dedication ceremonies. The popular event of cardboard boat races was started, as well as rides on canoes and paddleboats. The local chapter of Boy Scouts of America, Troop 60, sponsors the canoe and paddleboat rides.
Kay Steffen, who is the executive director of Main Street Harrison, told a very colorful and true story that took place in 1999 about an injured crawdad that was rescued from the banks of Lake Harrison by some local citizens who nursed him back to health. Mrs. Steffen quotes, “ This crawdad was named Claude, and was the mascot of the festival that year. The following year, Claude met a female crawdad named Claudilia. They were instantly smitten. After a short courtship, the two crawdads were married. They rode in a carriage from the Hotel Seville to the bandstand on the Harrison square where the Justice of the Peace performed the ceremony. I was a bridesmaid, along with other friends who were members of the wedding party. Claudilia even had a wedding gown and a plastic ring. The local sheriff was in attendance, and after the ceremony the couple were whisked away to a reception back at the Hotel Seville.” She also noted that unfortunately, there were no offspring from this union.
In 2003, with the month of May being National Heritage Month, the Daughters of the Revolution had many extra educational activities during Crawdad Days, as it was also the bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Louisiana Purchase. Some new flavor that was added in 2003 was the first annual Crawdad Days Cajun Cook-off.
Throughout the history of Crawdad Days, there have always been numerous activities to please everybody. The various contests, carnivals, 5K runs, arts and crafts, wonderful food and a big variety of music have drawn the young and the young at heart from all over the region. Crawdad Days has evolved into one of the most anticipated events in the area, with each year bringing in a bigger and better agenda loaded with unique vendors, countless fun activities, and talented musicians.
The Harrison Chamber of Commerce sponsors the event, with Main Street Harrison being responsible for bringing in vendors and putting on children's activities. The line-up of things to do and musical talent for the 2006 Crawdad Days is nothing short of spectacular. The carnival will be held from Wednesday, May 17 th , through Saturday, May 20th . Friday, May 19th , will be the start of arts, crafts, and delicious food on the square. Friday evening, starting at 7:30 p.m., Pinmonkey, which is a well-known group that has had songs in the country music charts, will be performing. Following Pinmonkey's performance will be former lead singer for the famous band Bad Company, Brian Howe. Both of these concerts will take place at Bill Baker Theatre on the North Arkansas College Campus. Also on Friday night, there will be a Cruise-In for those participating in the auto show. Proceeds from the auto show go to Camp Aldersgate, near Little Rock, which is a camp that accepts children with special medical needs.
Saturday, May 20th , more activities will begin. There will be a horseshoe tournament, cardboard boat race, car show, 5K run, crawdad eating contest, skateboard demonstration, fishing derby, and a tennis tournament along with many other special fun things to do. The kids activities, just to name a few, will include a climbing wall, a small track for Nascar racing, a crawdad catching contest, and a crawdad race, in which children run backwards. Starting at 1:00 p.m., Southpaw will kick off the music, with lots of different groups playing all day until the last band, Hayseed Dixie, takes the stage at 8:15 p.m.
Crawdad Days has come a long way since it's beginning, from that first batch of crawfish boiled in a washtub, to the popular fun filled event it is now. Over the years this festival has been a wonderful memory maker for families and children in the community. Hopefully, you and your family can come out to this years' Crawdad Days and make some priceless memories of your own.