One of the most enjoyable Hamilton Area Chamber of Commerce events for both the chamber members and the public is the organization’s annual Shrimp Boil.
This year marked the 20th anniversary of the fun and tasty event, and everyone was invited out to share in the fun and the delicious shrimp plates and fixings.
The Shrimp Boil is held annually at the Hamilton Fire Department as a way to gather the chamber members, other business professionals and members of the community. It’s also an extremely delightful and likable fundraiser for the chamber.
For the last 20 years, since the Shrimp Boil’s inception, the co-chairs of the event have been chamber treasurer Nicki Harbor, branch manager for Listerhill Credit Union, and Dana Scott, chamber board member and president of First State Bank of the South in Hamilton.
The duo are to be commended on leading such a successful event year-after-year, working so hard behind-the-scenes before and after, and helping nonstop on the day of the event.
Along with Dana and Nicki, chamber members and volunteers prepare plates of freshly-boiled shrimp, corn on the cob and new potatoes, loading each plate individually and adding shrimp sauce and a cookie. A hefty container filled with ice cold soft drinks and water is also on hand.
The atmosphere is casual and comfortable, with many attendees sitting at long tables together in one
of the bays of the Hamilton Fire Department. Lines also form each year for those who wish to grab to-go plates and take their yummy feasts back home.
Dana noted, “We started the Shrimp Boil 20 years ago to do something for our members and have everybody fellowship. Chamber members can come and enjoy shrimp and being together. The Shrimp Boil is something we do to give back for our businesses. And it’s something just for the community to come out and enjoy themselves.”
A big part of the production process includes preparation by the HFD, which moves out all of their fire trucks and rescue vehicles and then cleans and prepares one big bay for attendees and another big bay for those cooking all the food in massive gas-fed cook pots.
“We appreciate the firefighters,” Dana said. “We couldn’t do it without the fire department guys. They work all day long and get everything set up with cooking the shrimp and the corn and potatoes. And David Dickey gets the shrimp fresh from the gulf and helps supervise all the cooking.”
When asked to provide details, David said he brought back 300 pounds of shrimp to go with 200 pounds of potatoes and about 490 ears of corn. Each batch of shrimp takes about 30 minutes to cook, and then they’re placed on ice to cool and halt the cooking process.
Thank you to David and all the other cooks on his crew--you did a great job!
We also give our gratitude and a big thumbs up to the Bevill State Community College-Hamilton Ambassadors who pitched in to help the chamber members in various ways.
Good music is also another staple for the Shrimp Boil, and Dana noted there was one change this year from year’s past.
“We debuted our new sound system with a playlist created by Ryan Knight,” she said. Ryan is an amazing singer himself with the voice of an angel, he plays the keyboard, he’s a chamber board member, a gifted teacher at the middle school and a member of the historical society, and he’s a kind and all-around good guy with a servant’s heart--just to name a few...
Another long tradition for the Shrimp Boil is an appearance by the reigning Miss Hamilton, and 2024 was no exception, with the beautiful Jayla Duncan greeting attendees and holding up a plate right in front of the names of all the sponsors as shown on page 3.
The sponsors of the Shrimp Boil are also to be commended. We thank you all for contributing toward this enjoyable chamber, business and community event. And we thank all our fellow chamber members for being a part of helping to support this amazing city we are blessed to live in.
We can’t forget another fun aspect of the Shrimp Boil, which has always been its colorful and collectible t-shirts. One of our staff members at the Journal Record has several of these shirts going back many, many years.
Something we noticed especially in 2024 was the great number of families who also seemed to be taking advantage of the entertaining venue to gather together for a special meal.
Again, kudos to the chamber and everyone involved for a fantastic 20th anniversary event. We are grateful for the delicious shrimp and for an enjoyable time catching up with everyone in the community we don’t get to see on a regular basis.
We had a blast at the Shrimp Boil! God-willing, we’ll see you all again next year!
See complete story in the Journal Record.
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