FELLSMERE — Anyone who showed up to the Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival late Sunday ran the risk of not getting their frog legs or gator tail – a very real risk given the kitchen ran out of the signature meals as the four-day festival drew to an end.
It was the news kitchen manager Ali Martin and volunteer Carley Hull hoped to hear.
“Personally, I want us to sell out,” Hull said midday Sunday. “But, that’s what I want every year.”
By Noon Sunday, the prep kitchen volunteers were down to the last three tubs of gator meat to hand cut into nuggets. At 40 pounds a tub, there was 120 pounds the three volunteers had to carve up. The frog legs were already ready for the breading and the fryers.
The busiest day for the kitchen was Saturday, according to Martin, who said there were approximately 3,000 meals sold that evening alone.
Lines formed starting at 11 a.m. and didn’t die out until the festival closed for the night, Martin said.
Hull has been a Frog Leg kitchen volunteer for four years, since she was 14.
“I absolutely love it,” she said, pausing to look at the small tubs of frog legs. “If I don’t keep them stocked in frog…the system gets out of whack.”
The assembly line of volunteers packing up the meals would break down, Hull explained, noting that each person has their job, their role to play to keep everything running smoothly.
Hull was quick to point out that the volunteers do get a chance to escape from the kitchen and enjoy the festival for themselves.
But when asked what her favorite part of the festival is, Hull responded, “Frog! Around here, chicken tastes like frog!”
The annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival serves as a fundraiser for the City of Fellsmere’s recreation. Last year’s festival raised enough funds to help the city install a sound system in the Old Fellsmere School’s auditorium, fix up the concession stand and install a new marquee at the Little League Field, and repair the nearby basketball courts.
It will be a while before all the receipts come in from the four-day festival and organizers know how much the event made to help the city.
Frog Leg Festival Board President Bert Ruege said it’s too early to know what the foundation will be able to donate to the city and for what the funds will be used.
