Time is running out to get your tickets for the second annual Merrill Lobsterfest, a fundraiser for the Lincoln County Safe Ride Home program. The event will be held on July 30, but the lobsters need to be pre-ordered to arrive alive from Maine so tickets must be purchased by July 15.
Lobsterfest raised $3,500 for the Safe Ride Home program last year and organizers are hoping to double that donation this year. A total of 300 tickets were sold in the inaugural year and 600 are available this year.
Tickets are available for $40 at the Merrill Area Chamber of Commerce, Ballyhoos, Silverman Chiropractic and The Beacon. Tickets can be ordered over the phone from the Chamber and Ballyhoos.
The lobsters are being ordered fresh from the Atlantic Ocean. They will arrive in Merrill alive the day before the event. The lobsters will be boiled immediately before being served, going directly from the pot to the plate. Tents will be set up for dining on Prospect Street in front of Ballyhoos, which is hosting the event. For those who don’t want lobster, Ballyhoos will be taking orders off their menu.
Lobsterfest has received great support from the local business community, noted organizer Mike Fick. Numerous businesses have contributed to the event, cutting the overhead and maximizing the donation to the Safe Ride Home program.
Local law enforcement will be involved in Lobsterfest as officers will be assisting diners with cracking their lobsters. Law enforcement has been supportive of Lobsterfest as it helps decrease the incidence of drunk driving in the community.
State funding, raised through a surcharge on drunk driving fines, is available to Safe Ride Home programs. However, due to a decline in drunk driving arrests, the state funding has dropped.
Fick would like to see Lobsterfest become the major funding source for the Tomahawk-Merrill Tavern League’s Safe Ride Home program, making the program self-sufficient in Lincoln County.