Carl Cooper is excited to help spread the word about several new twists to the Guilford Rotary’s annual Lobster Fest. The event arrives at the Guilford Fairgrounds on Sunday, June 30 with a fun, refreshed menu and format which now includes afternoon hours, live entertainment, and family friendly pricing which are sure to make this year’s event a crowd-pleaser.

For starters, the Lobster Fest Shoreline Road Race kicks off this year's Guilford Rotary Lobster Fest with a scenic 5K and 2-mile fitness walk or kids’ fun run. The race takes off at 11 a.m. from the fairgrounds. Immediately after everyone has crossed the finish line, the Lobster Fest gets underway. Rotary volunteers will be serving up a menu which has been revised to provide a lobster-forward picnic featuring a choice of lobster roll or two burgers or two hot dogs, together with sides. Beverages will include beer available from Thimble Island Brewing Company, which is also a main event sponsor, together with Lenny and Joe’s Fish Tale. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The change in the menu and the earlier time for the event is helping Guilford Rotary to offer a family friendly, community gathering with ticket prices which are lower than past years, when the festival served up pricier choices of lobster or steak, Carl says.

“We’ve changed the time and moved on to lobster rolls, hamburgers, and hot dogs, and we’ve dropped the ticket price down because we feel that’s much more approachable for families out there, while still allowing Rotary to raise money for local non-profits,” he says.

Funds raised by the event will help Guilford Rotary support Guilford non-profits and others assisting neighbors in need on the Connecticut shoreline.

As an added incentive this year, everyone who registers for the 5K and 2-mile walk gets a free Lobster Fest picnic ticket. Other guests who want to get in on the Lobster Fest can purchase meal-only tickets ($35 for adults). For the kids, hot dogs or burgers can be purchased separately on the day of the event. For adults, one free beer is included with each picnic ticket. Additional food and drinks can be purchased separately.

With the Guilford Lobster Fest known as one of the best events of the summer on the Connecticut shoreline, Rotarians are hard at work to make this year’s event a memorable afternoon with more of a festival atmosphere than ever before. In addition to the fun of the race and the great food and drink, the festival will feature two live bands, a kids’ bounce house, lawn games for all, and a silent auction, says Carl.

“This is a major event for Guilford Rotary, and it couldn’t take place without people like our festival chairman, Gary Drake, and the rest of our group that’s working on this,” says Carl, who also notes Wayne Staschke, Pat Todd, and John Sengstacken, among others.

Carl’s involvement with Rotary International goes back quite a few years to when he was active with a local Rotary club while living in Pennsylvania. The Cooper family moved to a historic home in Guilford about 18 years ago. John’s wife Sarah is active in Guilford, as well.

“Sarah has been the building secretary at Melissa Jones School for like 18 years, so almost everybody in town knows who she is,” says Carl. “She’s also on the board for the Guilford Keeping Society, which is where a lot of her volunteerism takes place.”

About a year-and-a-half ago, Carl got involved as member of the Guilford Rotary Club.

“Rotary’s changed a lot since I last was involved 15 or so years ago,” Carl says. “We’re getting a lot of folks involved that are interested in helping their community and the broader community. Most of what we do is raising money to help organizations around the Guilford area, but we also do things like raising money to build wells in Uganda and do good things in other places of the world. And as we get younger members, people are bringing a broader perspective, which is great. The more we can take care of our fellow man, the better off we all are.”

Carl enjoys being an active, hands-on member of Guilford Rotary Club, which has a strong leadership foundation and members of all ages.

“It’s a neat club,” says Carl. “We have great leadership. We have some people who have been involved for a long time, like the Bishops, so I’m getting to know a lot about Guilford, which I love, because I am a bit of a history buff. And then we have some people that are new to Guilford and just starting to get their feet wet who have different interests and different things they bring to the table.”

One thing Carl has learned is that Guilford loves its Lobster Fest.

“The Lobster Fest has been a Guilford tradition for 30 years and, now, it’s morphing into something that’s going to be even better,” Carl says.

Guilford Lobster Fest Shoreline Road Race race registration and Guilford Lobster Fest meal-only tickets are available now at guilfordrotaryclubct.com. Race tickets, including post-meal picnic, are $40 for the 5K and two-mile ($45 after Sunday, June 23). Kids’ fun run registration is $10 (picnic ticket not included). Guilford Fairgrounds is located at 111 Lovers Lane.