Bill Stathakis and the Shepherd’s Guild are no strangers to the world of fundraisers. Each year they are dedicated to the Anderson Greek Festival in September and they held a Ribs and Shrimp Jamboree in November. And since they have their finger on the pulse of what people seem to need to support a good cause, Stathakis and the Shepherd’s Guild find themselves on the cusp of another Ribs and Shrimp Jamboree this weekend.

From noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Civic Center of Anderson, the Shepherd’s Guild will be on hand prepping nearly 150 racks of ribs, pounds upon pounds of fresh shrimp and enough chicken, salmon, baked beans and fries to feed an army. It’s all for the second Ribs and Shrimp Jamboree to raise money for the Shepherd’s Guild to satisfy some financial obligations to past events and to, hopefully, raise money for their many charitable efforts.

“We had great success last time (in November) at the Farmers market, and we want to try to duplicate that,” said Stathakis, Ribs and Shrimp Jamboree coordinator. Duplicate and increase, he admitted.

Although more than 450 people came to the last Ribs and Shrimp Jamboree at the Anderson County Farmer’s Market, Stathakis hopes the larger venue and ease of access to the Civic Center will make this second event even more successful. After all, what better way to show people a good time than through a whole mess of food and plenty of live music and beer?

The Ribs and Shrimp Jamboree will start at noon with nothing but food and a whole lot of it. Last time, the event sold 168 racks of ribs and, by the end of the night they were completely sold out. They also prepared dozens of pounds of fried and boiled shrimp as well as a Greek baked chicken, grilled salmon and vats upon vats of baked beans, slaw and fries.

By the time 4 p.m. rolls around, folks are expected to be full of food and ready for a wine and beer tasting featuring 10 wines and six different beers.

There will also be beer available for sale throughout the event as well as nonalcoholic beverages. Cost of the beer and wine tasting is $5 per person.

---- Once the tasting ends at 5:30 p.m., Stathakis suggests that everyone get ready for live music of the beach, country and classic rock variety from 6 p.m. until the event ends at 9 p.m.

---- “Our main event is and always will be the Greek Festival,” Stathakis said, “but we still want to do something like this once a year that is all about food and music for a few hours.”

---- There is no admission cost for the Ribs and Shrimp Jamboree. The event will be open from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Civic Center of Anderson. And with it being inside, there is no chance that weather will be an issue for folks to get out and have a good time with some good food.

---- All proceeds from the Jamboree will go to paying off previous fundraisers as well as to charitable efforts including the monastery fund and relief for Third World countries.