ATMORE, Ala. — The Randell Gordon Nichols Jr. Memorial Scholarship Seafood Boil returns Sunday, Sept. 20, at The Publican in Atmore, raising money for a scholarship that goes each year to a graduating senior who reflects the character its namesake was known for.
The event begins at 3 p.m. The draw down starts at 5 p.m.
Tickets
$40 — Includes a meal, one drink and live music by Kyle Dorriety.
$100 — Includes a draw down ticket, a meal, one drink and live music by Dorriety.
Tickets are available at The Publican, 105 W. Ridgeley St. in Atmore.
How a Draw Down Works
For anyone unfamiliar with the format, a draw down is a fundraising raffle structured to keep participants engaged for the length of the event rather than announcing a single winner at the end.
A fixed number of tickets is sold. During the drawing, tickets are pulled one at a time and eliminated. As the pool shrinks, remaining ticket holders may be offered the chance to split a prize or continue. The last ticket drawn wins.
The structure works well for community fundraisers because it stretches the suspense across the evening and because the eliminations become a shared experience in the room rather than a moment at the end of the night.
Who Randell Nichols Was
The scholarship was established in 2019 to honor Nichols’ memory. He was a 2009 graduate of Escambia County High School.
He exemplified Blue Devil spirit, compassion and a willingness to help others, and he held a starting position on the football team’s offensive line for four years.
That last detail says something specific about the person being remembered. Four years as a starting offensive lineman is unusual, and the position itself is the least individually recognized on a football field. Offensive linemen do not accumulate statistics. Their work is measured by what happens to other players — whether the quarterback stays upright, whether the running back finds a hole.
A player who holds that job for four years does so because he is reliable and because he is willing to do work that produces someone else’s highlight. It fits the description the scholarship is built around.
What the Scholarship Does
Each year, a $1,500 scholarship is presented to a graduating senior who exhibits the characteristics Nichols possessed. This year, scholarships were awarded at both Escambia County High School and Escambia Academy.
The award criteria are worth noting because they run against how most scholarships work. The great majority of merit awards are keyed to measurable outputs: grade point average, test scores, class rank, athletic performance. Those are straightforward to administer and defensible to anyone who questions a decision.
A scholarship awarded for spirit, compassion and willingness to help others requires people who know the students to make a judgment. It is harder to administer, and it reaches students who may not lead a class ranking but who are the reason a school functions as a community.
For a family memorializing someone remembered for exactly those qualities, the criteria are the point.
What $1,500 Covers
A scholarship of that size will not fund a degree, and it is not meant to. But for a student entering a community college or a public university in Alabama, $1,500 covers real costs — books for an academic year, a semester’s worth of fees, a laptop, transportation.
Those expenses are frequently what determines whether a student who has been admitted actually enrolls and persists. Tuition is the visible number; the surrounding costs are the ones that catch families without margin.
The Annual Boil
The seafood boil is held each year to contribute to the scholarship fund, which means the event does more than raise money once — it sustains the award over time.
Memorial scholarships face a predictable arc. Support is strongest in the first years, when the loss is fresh and the circle of people affected is engaged. Sustaining an award over a decade requires a mechanism that renews itself, and an annual event on the calendar is that mechanism. It gives people a fixed occasion to participate and a reason to gather.
A seafood boil is well suited to the purpose in this region. It is communal by construction — food served in quantity at shared tables — and it draws on Gulf Coast tradition in a way that a formal fundraiser would not.
The Venue and the Music
The Publican, at 105 W. Ridgeley St., serves as both venue and ticket outlet.
Live music by Kyle Dorriety is included with both ticket levels.
Local venues that host fundraisers of this kind absorb real costs — staffing, space, operations — on nights that generate limited direct revenue. It is a form of community support that rarely gets named as such.
Event Details
What: Randell Gordon Nichols Jr. Memorial Scholarship Seafood Boil
When: Sunday, Sept. 20, starting at 3 p.m.; draw down at 5 p.m.
Where: The Publican, 105 W. Ridgeley St., Atmore
Tickets: $40 (meal, drink, music) or $100 (draw down ticket, meal, drink, music)
Available at: The Publican
South Alabama News covers community fundraising events across the region.