By David Taylor / Managing Editor
For 50 years, the North Shore Rotary Club has raised money and given back to the community after its annual Catfish Fry and Crawfish Boil fundraiser every year. It was a golden year for the Rotarians and incoming president Mini Izaguirre broke out the party noisemakers for Rotarians to sound off their success at their Thursday luncheon meeting.
Through those 50 years, the club has put back nearly $10 million into the community primarily through scholarships, amenities throughout the community in parks, the Rotary Pavilion, the North Shore Baseball Park, and many more projects.
Last Thursday, Izaguirre gave a debriefing, breaking down the numbers, less expenses to the club, and North Shore remains one of the biggest fundraisers locally, state, and nationwide.
The amazing numbers from the fundraiser came from hungry ticket buyers who devoured 2,250 pounds of catfish, 4,618 pounds of boiled crawfish, and 1,700 pounds of potatoes and corn. Other outstanding numbers also featured 78 items sold in the live auction which brought in $139,200 gross, 84 items in the silent auction which grossed $8,932, and 20 prizes were awarded including the top prize of a sport utility vehicle (SUV).
“As I reflect on the success of our 50th fish fry, I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you,” Izaguirre told Rotarians. “This milestone event came to life thanks to the dedication, encouragement and heart of our entire team. Whether you were hands on during the event or cheering us on behind the scenes, from planning and prep to execution, you went above and beyond.”
As fundraising chairman, she gave out small, plastic trophies to her top ticket sales. King of the Rotary Fundraiser this year and in first place was BR Hendrix who brought in $16,950. Second place was Ramon Garza who hustled up $13,000. Dr. Donald Nino scored $9,040 for third place, Izaguirre picked up $8,600 for fourth place, and Kenneth Wimbley placed fifth with $8,500 for a grand total of $56,090. That did not count late turn-ins that came in a couple of days before the fundraiser.
Each year, teams are formed to help sell the tickets and spread the word of the fundraiser.
Just last year, after decades of hosting it on the Saturday after Mother’s Day, current president Danna Nino changed the date a few weeks earlier to accommodate the food ticket buyers. Crawfish in the middle of May were getting smaller than they wanted for customers, so a tough decision was made, and Nino led the Rotary team to a solid fundraiser reigning in $468,338 gross last year.
In her role as director of budget at San Jacinto College North, Izaguirre is gifted at crunching numbers.
After all was said and done, the club netted just under $300,000 coming in at a solid $282,547.26.
Expenses were up slightly, coinciding with grocery prices that have grown up to 16-17 percent.
The club has several income streams that help them raise money including corporate sponsors, live auction, silent auction, meal tickets, raffle donations and late turn-ins.
The biggest line items on the expense side were the live auction, where items are purchased for sale, the vehicle in the raffle, and the crawfish. Those three alone snagged a good bit of the expenses.
They were down about $16,000 on meal tickets or about 1,066 tickets from previous years, something that Izaguirre said the next incoming president could focus on.
“Last week we were invited by Sheldon ISD to award our scholarships and let me tell you, when I read that we were giving away a $10,000 scholarship and two $2,000 scholarships, that crowd went crazy. It still gives me chills. This is what we do. It takes all of us, and through our efforts and dedication, we were able to do this for our students and community.”
Izaguirre also announced a save the date for next year’s fundraiser on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Rotary Pavilion.
She then handed off the Catfish Fry/Crawfish Boil Planning Bible to next year’s fundraising chairman David Proctor.
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