By Sarah Mahan

The Selma Times-Journal

The annual Billy Atchison Memorial Fish Fry will be held Saturday — coinciding with ArtsRevive’s StreetFest — and once again, the proceeds from the event will go to support Crime Stoppers

The event, which raised $5,200 for Crime Stoppers last year, is held in honor of the late Billy Atchison, who passed away in 2008 and was a member of the Selma-Dallas County Leadership class that helped create the local Crime Stoppers program.

Billy Atchison’s son, local attorney Tommy Atchison, said when his father saw the success of the program in other communities in Alabama, and the need for a Crimestoppers program in Selma, he worked until one was started in the community. The program is completely funded through the fish fry and any donations from the community.

The fish fry has been held on Friday in the past, allowing businesses to pre-order boxes for their employees’ lunches. Concern has been expressed about the number of plates they will we able to sell on a Saturday.

“Most of our orders come from businesses that aren’t open on the weekend, so everything depends on the turnout from StreetFest,” Atchison said.

The $8 tickets are available at the Selma-Dallas County Centre for Commerce, The Lily Pad and Carter Drugs for anyone wishing to pre-order their meal.

Organizers of the fish fry are hoping to sell at least 500 plates from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m during the StreetFest activities, held on Water Avenue.

“Crime Stoppers is vital to the community. [It] gets the ball rolling for cases that may not have had many or any leads. We are hoping the fish fry has a big turnout,” Atchison said.

The sponsors and volunteers for the annual fish fry are instrumental to its success, Atchison said. They include Vaughn Regional, Trustmark, KFC, Jeff Harrison and Charlie Morgan.