Actions

Catfish extravaganza returns to Greenville this weekend

Biggest fundraiser of the year for the Greenville Lions Club
Greenville Lions Club
Posted at 6:33 PM, Jul 05, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-05 20:13:32-04

GREENVILLE (NBC 26) — A longstanding event in Outagamie County will be soon returning for the first time in two years.

The Catfish Extravaganza hosted by the Greenville Lions Club is taking place Friday and Saturday.

Greenville Lions Club

The event will be at Greenville Lions Park located at N1089 Municipal Dr. The two-day event kicks off Friday with catfish races and with live music both nights.

Catfish extravaganza returns to Greenville this weekend

The big Saturday concert featuring Styx, .38 Special, and Great White is already sold out. Clint Dorn, the Chairman of the catfish races for the Greenville Lions Club said about 10,000 tickets were sold.

Greenville Lions Club

Friday events are still open and free for the public to attend. Dorn said no one will be turned away during Friday’s event.

As this event is expected to bring in thousands of people, it’s the biggest fundraiser event of the year for the Lions Club.

Greenville Lions Club

“I expect we are going to have several thousand people at a minimum,” Dorn said. “What’s crazy is the park is empty today and it’s Monday but starting Friday and especially Saturday night this whole hill is going to be full of people, it’s going to be full of our community our friends, and neighbors.”

He said the Lions Club is really counting on the money that will be raised.

Greenville Lions Club

“Especially when we have a great line up like this year, it definitely is our biggest fundraiser of the year and it allows us to give back more to the community and allows us to get further along our park because last year we didn’t do much in development because we didn’t have a big influx of donated money,” Dorn said.

Greenville Lions Club

The organization’s main mission is to work with the treatment and prevention of blindness.

Dollars go directly into helping people with vision screenings, obtaining a service dog, and help pay for summer camps for youth and adults with disabilities.

Greenville Lions Club

“We also give back to area fire departments, we give out some local scholarships, we give money back to the food pantries in the area, several of them, like I said there’s a whole list of them. They’re all great causes and it really makes us come down here and put in these extra hours in because we know we’re giving back,” Dorn said.

If you purchased tickets to last year’s catfish concert before it got canceled, those are still valid for those wishing to attend this weekend.

To see a full list of events, click here.