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Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

San Antonio Junior Chamber of Commerce

Rattlesnake fest not hiss-tory after all

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New organizers have stepped forward to take over the management of the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run, an event that had appeared to be headed toward extinction.

The Thomas Promise Foundation will be taking over reins of running the festival, that has been a mainstay in the City of San Antonio for a half-century.

A Bay News 9 reporter gets a first-hand feel for this creature at the Croc Encounters’ alligator pen, a popular attraction at the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run.
(File)

The San Antonio Rotary Club had been the festival’s primary organizer and had announced on Feb. 1 that 50th festival, which was held in October, would be its last.

In announcing that decision, Betty Burke, festival chair, said the club decided to step away from the festival because it was too much for the small club to handle.

After that announcement, however, five organizations stepped forward, expressing interest in taking over the event.

Club members talked about those willing to take over the festival during the club’s Feb. 21 meeting, and after discussing the various pros and cons of each of the interested groups, they reached a consensus, deciding that Thomas Promise would be the best fit for the festival’s original mission.

Burke then headed to the San Antonio City Commission meeting to share the news.

This isn’t the first time the festival has had a new organizer.

Burke recapped the festival’s history, in her announcement about the festival’s demise.

The festival originally was conceived by founders Eddie Herrmann and Willy Post, as a rattlesnake roundup — to replace the San Antonio Junior Chamber of Commerce’s Fun Day, which was being discontinued.

The Jaycees presented the first Rattlesnake Roundup on Nov. 4, 1967, in City Park, in San Antonio, according to a history compiled by Burke. Its aim was to entertain and to give funds back to the community.

The event continued for nearly a decade with few changes, until the Jaycees, gave up their chapter. That prompted Herrmann and other members to form the Rattlesnake and Gopher Enthusiasts (R.A.G.E.) group to carry on the tradition.

In 2013, R.A.G.E. announced it could no longer manage the event due to a lack of new volunteers to help.

That’s when the San Antonio, Dade City Sunrise, Wesley Chapel, Wesley Chapel Sunrise, Zephyrhills and Zephyrhills Daybreak Rotary clubs stepped in and assumed leadership, under the banner of the East Pasco Rotary Charities.

After that, the San Antonio Rotary Club took over in 2014, assuming full leadership for the festival.

In choosing to hand the festival off to Thomas Promise Foundation, club members noted that the organization seems in line with the original intent, to help the local community.

Thomas Promise Foundation provides backpacks full of food complete with three meals and snacks for underprivileged children in Pasco County. The meals help feed children through the weekend when they would otherwise go without.

The charity’s Operation Backpack began after Brooke Thomas gave her lunch money to classmates she saw going hungry. When she asked her mom for more lunch money, her mom asked why, and Brooke said she just wanted to help.

Thomas Promise Foundation began with that young girl’s compassion.

Now, the organization will bring new life to the Rattlesnake Festival & Run.

Published March 1, 2017

Festival may slither back to life

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The San Antonio Rotary Club is considering four organizations that are interested in taking over the annual San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run.

The club announced earlier this month that the 50th festival, held in October, would be its last.

Children enjoy riding around in a barrel train during a previous San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival. (File)

“We pulled out all the stops for the 50th annual festival to honor and celebrate this longstanding community fundraiser,” Betty Burke said, in the announcement.

“The sad fact is that it’s just too large of a project for our small club and the declining pool of community volunteers,” Burke added.

Since then, however, the club has heard from four organizations, and it will be discussing their offers to take over the event at its meeting Feb. 21.

Some of the organizations are for-profit organizations and some are not, Burke said, declining to identify them before the club meets.

Burke had a mixed reaction when organizations came forward expressing an interest in taking over the festival.

“On the one hand, we kind of felt that the 50th (festival) was a good one to finish it with,” she said.

On the other hand, after news broke that the club would no longer organize the festival, most people were sad to see it go, she said.

There’s a possibility the festival could move, depending on which organization is selected to take it over, she said. Or, the new organizers would need to work with the City of San Antonio, if the festival stays at the park.

Burke said she’ll present the information to the club, and they’ll discuss which organization would seem to match up with the festival’s original purpose.

Burke recapped the event’s history, when she announced it would be ending.

The festival originally was conceived a half-century ago, by founders Eddie Herrmann and Willy Post, as a rattlesnake roundup — to replace the San Antonio Junior Chamber of Commerce’s Fun Day, which was being discontinued, according to Burke’s recap.

The Jaycees presented the first Rattlesnake Roundup on Nov. 4, 1967, in City Park in San Antonio. Its aim was to entertain and give funds back to the local community.

That event continued for nearly a decade, with few changes, until the Jaycees gave up their chapter.

The gopher tortoise races, as seen during last year’s San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run, use wooden mechanical tortoises, instead of live ones.
(File)

That prompted Herrmann and other members of the community to form the Rattlesnake and Gopher Enthusiasts (R.A.G.E.) group to carry on the tradition, Burke adds. That group incorporated as a nonprofit in 1996.

In 2013, R.A.G.E. announced it could no longer manage the event due to a lack of new volunteers to help.

That’s when the San Antonio, Dade City Sunrise, Wesley Chapel, Wesley Chapel Sunrise, Zephyrhills, and Zephyrhills Daybreak Rotary clubs stepped in and assumed leadership for the festival, under the banner of East Pasco Rotary Charities, the recap added.

“The East Side Rotaries did an outstanding job with the festival in 2013,” San Antonio Rotary president Winnie Burke, said in the club’s announcement.

“In the face of losing the festival entirely that year, it was heartwarming to see

our larger community pull together to keep the tradition alive,” Winnie Burke added.

When that group stepped down, saying they wouldn’t manage the festival in 2014, the San Antonio club took over as the sole organizers.

The celebration marking the event’s half-century mark was a two-day event, featuring a 5-mile and 1-mile run, a family bike ride, musical entertainment, a snake show, a cowboy show, crocodile demonstrations, mechanical gopher tortoise races, food booths, children’s rides and a pumpkin patch.

Now, it appears that a new chapter is about to be written for the San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival & Run.

Published February 22, 2017