With a disappointing announcement issued earlier today, the organizers of the wildly popular Tickfaw 200 in Springfield, Louisiana have cancelled the 2022 event due to severe damage from 2021’s Hurricane Ida to the Blood River Marina–the headquarters of which the event is based.

Joey Fontenot, Casey Harrison and the Livingston Parish Tourism, who put on the Bayou’s biggest bash each year, which had been scheduled for May 4 – 7, had to make the difficult decision to pull the plug on Tickfaw 2022.

Hurricane Ida was a highly destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that hit Louisiana late last August, lasting over a week, and was recorded as the state’s second-most damaging hurricane in its history. With 150 mph sustained winds and rain, Ida decimated the entire area, leaving many without homes or shelter.

“We had hopes of going forward with Tickfaw for 2022 and we were lining up everything to try and make it happen. But the damage to the marina is just too extensive. We’re going to keep rebuilding and focus on our return for 2023,” said Fontenot.

As if repairing the damage to his Blood River Landing property weren’t tasking enough, Fontenot’s personal situation made it near impossible to move forward this year. His wife was diagnosed with cancer last year and is currently undergoing daily treatments of radiation.

“I need to focus on my wife and family right now… that’s where my mind and heart are at,” explained Fontenot.

The Tickfaw 200 was started in 1996 by “Crazy Charlie” Albert, in hopes of supporting the community’s local businesses and entities, while providing a fun poker run for avid speedboaters with minimal restrictions or structure, if any. He overwhelmingly succeeded. Fontenot and Harrison have continued to carry on “Crazy Charlie’s”vision, who died in 2009. The last two years of the event had been forced to cancel due to strict COVID-19 restrictions within the state and local districts.

Look for the long-awaited return of the Tickfaw 200 next year.

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