Dorothy: [00:00:00] Today we’re here with Shannon McNair, who is our special events manager, and as she says fundraising manager, and we’re talking about our 36th Shrimp Boil. This is an annual event. We need you there, and she’s gonna tell us all the things that are gonna be happening this year. It’s got a wild and crazy theme.
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Today we are here with Shannon McNair and we’re talking about our annual event, the Shrimp Boil. [00:01:00] So, Shannon, why did you have me wear all this stuff?
Shannon: Why’d you get in theme today?
Dorothy: I’m trying to, yes. A little.
Shannon: A little out of our daily outfits here at The Rose.
Dorothy: Yes.
Shannon: But we are announcing that this year’s theme for Shrimp Boil is Boots and Bling. And a little bit of an urban cowboy flair thrown in there too, for those of us who remember those days of the urban cowboy times. So, um, we had such a great time last year with a theme. It was the first year we really had done a theme in a long time with costume.
Dorothy: Mm-hmm.
Shannon: Encouraging costumes for folks and people had a blast with the eighties theme. So we’re like, oh, let’s do this again.
Dorothy: Mm-hmm.
Shannon: And we had some suggestions on themes and I think, uh, our committee had some themes and we brought you two of them. And then we said, what are you thinking? And boots and bling won out for all of us to have a good time. In honor, kind of that we’re in Pasadena. That’s where the events held and of course, where The Rose found its heart and was founded. So we, we couldn’t do it without having a little Urban Cowboy flare in there too.
Dorothy: Oh, this is gonna be fun.
Shannon: It is gonna be fun.
Dorothy: I, I tell you what, I remember Gilly’s, I remember going there. I remember learning.
Shannon: I do too.
Dorothy: The Cotton [00:02:00] Eye Joe. And all the things that we did.
Shannon: Yeah.
Dorothy: It was the number one tourist traction no matter what. Anytime I had family or friends coming to town, you had to go there.
Shannon: Same when our family came in from Louisiana, that was during the day. And they’re like, where’d you take them? Well, a bar.
Dorothy: Right.
Shannon: During the day, that’s what everyone did. You walked around and, you know, and took pictures and saw the famous mechanical bull and everything that made Gilley so popular. I was telling you earlier, I saw George Strait play at Gilley in high school. Um, the first time I saw him there, he, they, people were still dancing.
They didn’t even clear the dance floor for him. Um, the second time they did clear the dance floor, him put chairs down. But, um, so I think a lot of us have great memories of, of that time period and of the Shrimp Boil, you know? So why not mix both of our favorite things up?
Dorothy: And a lot of folks don’t know this, but Mickey Gilly and his wife, they supported us for quite a while, right?
Shannon: They, yes.
Dorothy: And the boat that started the Shrimp Boil was won in a Mickey Gilley’s golf tournament
Shannon: Right. By your ex-husband.
Dorothy: So, I mean, there is all of these little connections, so.
Shannon: That [00:03:00] ties into it.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Shannon: So we couldn’t, once Western and Boots and bling came up as the top thing, we’re like, but we can’t leap out that part of it too. So, um, and we are gonna have costume contests this year.
Dorothy: And, and who are we going to have as best whatever. I mean, how, how’s that going?
Shannon: We’re gonna look at having a John Volta lookalike contest.
Dorothy: Okay.
Shannon: So we’ll have that and then.
Dorothy: We can, Freddy could do that. Freddy, we could get him all dressed up. Yes, I think so.
He could wear that hat and.
Shannon: I think he’s got it.
Dorothy: Have his, yeah.
Shannon: I do know when we told Bear the theme, he got an early glimpse of it. I happened to see him out and I gave him a hint and he was like, I have the outfit.
Dorothy: Oh, wow.
Shannon: So I think Bear’s all ready to go as well as a lot of other people.
Dorothy: Bear’s been our auctioneer since the very beginning of this Shrimp Boil.
Shannon: Right.
Dorothy: He, he has been there for us.
Shannon: That’s, he’s been a long time supporters. He said his rose, his, his girls at The Rose and he’s so great. Um, I hear from my friends all the time, every time they come to this front boil, they’re like. You just have the best auctioneer. Like just the most fun. I said, oh, ab, you have no idea.
Dorothy: Oh, he is. And he gets the crowd going. [00:04:00] Anybody that noses Bear knows what we’re talking about.
Shannon: Right, right, right. And then we’re also gonna have a Dolly Parton lookalike contest.
Dorothy: Oh my gosh.
Shannon: For fun. So we want everyone to come out and have fun with that too. So.
Dorothy: That would be a hard one.
Shannon: Yeah. And we encourage everyone, and you don’t have to be in those costumes to come out and have fun and wear your boots and bling and and you can always come as you are. That’s the benefit of Shrimp Boil and that’s what makes Shrimp Boil so fun and part of the community is you can also just come in a sundress and shorts and like you always do. But you know, if you want to come, have a little fun with us and bling it out. Yeah.
Dorothy: Heck yeah. Heck yeah. It’s gonna be fun.
Shannon: Yeah.
Dorothy: Alright, now tell us like, what’s the pricing? Where do you get tickets?
Shannon: Pricing, despite what everyone’s going through, but we are not increasing prices. So, um, the ticket price is $30 to get in the door and that’ll get you your shrimp meal. And then we have tables, which is what we really recommend for $400. Secure a table. That’s great. It’s perfect for small businesses.
Dorothy: Oh yeah.
Shannon: Um, you know, your name’s on the table, your name’s on the slideshow, but also for family and friends. Then you have a place, you’re not in general [00:05:00] seating. You don’t have to kind of watch your seat, have someone sit. You’ve got a place that’s yours, your eight seats.
It does include not only the shrimp meal, but also a drink ticket. So you can get beer, wine with that as well, or soda and water and that gives you a home base. So that’s really the, the best bet and probably our biggest sellers is for $400 to be able to go to an event. We Great music, great games. The auctions. All the fun. Stuff, but to come and have a good time for $400. And then of course then we have our sponsorship levels for our corporate partners that are very popular as well. We already have great sponsors lined up, which is wonderful.
Dorothy: Always so good to us. So who cooks?
Shannon: Mark Meeker and the Shrimp Boil team, always out there, have been there forever.
Dorothy: Where does he find these people?
Shannon: I don’t know. ’cause he is, you know, he, he travels in, he is got a great team. Um, they’re.
Dorothy: Tell, tell folks he comes all the way from California.
Shannon: California. He is retired and moved to California, but not retired from us. So, um, and I say retired. I think he, he, he is working out there as well, but he moved out there to be near the grandchildren, but still comes back, books his tickets, and comes back and spends some time with us every June.
Dorothy: That’s, it’s [00:06:00] such a gift. And he’s the one rounds, rounds up this whole.
Shannon: He handles everything. We’re so lucky. This is a great event, but we have a strong committee. But most of those committee people have been here longer than I have, so they know what they’re doing. They love The Rose. Some are survivors or family of survivors. Some just love what we do. Um, but they handle, so they, they know their jobs, they’re in charge of it. Um, you know, our dessert table is famous with all the great homemade desserts.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Shannon: Um, and Sharon runs that and she know she’s got a great team that comes in and helps package those up, cut the cakes, cut, you know, bag up cookies, and also bakes a lot of the popular desserts there. So, and we have Jennifer behind the bar and her crew that volunteer back there, and they also get donations to get a lot of that donated for us so we can keep our costs down. And so we have great teams like that that come in, in addition to Mark and the food that, it makes the event a fun for all of us. But it just runs so smoothly with our group.
Dorothy: Yeah. And, and everybody has fun. Everybody.
Shannon: Everyone has fun. It’s just a good time. Yeah. It’s just a good time. A lot of great music. Um, this year we [00:07:00] will have one of the bulls from Gilly’s, the mechanical bull from Gilly’s will be on display so everyone can come see that.
Dorothy: Really?
Shannon: You can’t ride it. Don’t get excited. No, I don’t. I know that, but we, but you can take a picture with it and come tell you in front of it and come see it, but it will be there as well. So we’re excited about that.
Dorothy: Oh, how neat.
Shannon: Again, one of our partners and supporters knows the owner of that and they’re willing to bring that out for us, so we’re excited about that part.
Dorothy: That is great.
Shannon: That’s gonna be fun.
Dorothy: Yes, it’s gonna fun.
Shannon: It’s gonna be fun again, just. Great spirit, great music, great food.
Dorothy: Date? Where?
Shannon: June 21st. It’s a Saturday from four to eight at the Pasadena Convention Center. Free parking, indoors, indoor, indoors, air conditioned, indoor. So it’s air’s a great time, uh, to come in and again, grab your friends, your family, come in and have some shrimp. Uh, the auctions are also online, so if you can make, bring, make.
Dorothy: Bring your cowboys outfits.
Shannon: Little, little, little bling. A little cowboy. Little, little, maybe your boots, maybe some sparkle boots that I see that you have. So.
Dorothy: Whatever. Yes.
Shannon: Whatever you got, but come as you are too. And have fun.
Dorothy: Yes. And have fun.
Shannon: And have fun.
Dorothy: And raise the [00:08:00] money.
Shannon: Raise a lot of money that, you know, we’ve talked, these events are so important because they’re not restricted. This is not, oh, this has to go to equipment, this has to go to this, and it helps fill in those gaps when we have like last year, more uninsured coming through the door than we kind of planned for and less insured coming through the door. And, and making up those gaps. And that’s what these kind of events can do. And you can do it as simply as a $400 table. We’re not asking you for $10,000.
Dorothy: Right.
Shannon: You know, you can do it and have a good time while you’re doing it.
Dorothy: Mm-hmm.
Shannon: Yeah.
Dorothy: Raising money, having fun.
Shannon: Raising money, and having fun. And part of the community.
And I always say, if you wanna meet someone, we’ve helped. They’re in this room.
Dorothy: Mm-hmm.
Shannon: This is where they come. This is where their families give back to The Rose. With volunteering, we always need volunteers by the way. So all of that, they can come and if they go to the website, therose.org/ShrimpBoil. A, you’ll see a great video from last year, recap video. So if you’ve never been, there’s photos, there’s a video. You can look and see what it’s all about.
Dorothy: Oh yeah. Right.
Shannon: You can also secure your table and your tickets right there too.
Dorothy: Great.
Shannon: Yeah. [00:09:00] Hope to see you there.
Dorothy: Right.
Shannon: Partner.
Dorothy: Partner. Thanks so much, Shannon.
Shannon: Thank you. Appreciate it.
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