How many mudbugs does it take to fill two pavilions with hundreds of happy twisting, sucking, pinching crawdad-dicts shimmying to zydeco and raising a cheer for CARTI?
Answer: 58,739.
Admittedly, that's a rough guesstimate. CARTI press guy Ron Standridge says more than 1,000 people helped consume more than 4,000 pounds of crawfish.
The skies were threatening April 9 and storms hit parts of the state, but the pavilions provided shelter and, truthfully, dozens of folks grabbed their bug boxes and left the shelters to eat.
"I've attended every Ragin' Cajun since it began," said Standridge, who has been with the hospital since 2000, "and I can honestly tell you, we had more people dancing last night in the rain than we usually have in bright, sunny weather."
Despite the heavy clouds, fundraising was sky-high. Standridge said that about $125,000 was raised, a record haul (last year set the mark at about $120,000). Iberia Bank was the lead sponsor. Music was by Fred Rusk and the Zydeco Hi-Steppers.
CARTI is no longer an acronym for the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute. In August 2011, the organization officially changed its name to CARTI. It's a nonprofit cancer center providing medical and surgical oncology, diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology at locations throughout the state: Little Rock, North Little Rock, Benton, Clinton, Conway, El Dorado, Heber Springs, Russellville and Stuttgart. (Radiation therapy is exclusive to Little Rock, North Little Rock, Conway, Mountain Home and Searcy.)
The fundraiser is an effort by the CARTI Foundation.
High Profile on 04/19/2015