Lace-up your running shoes, and warm up your fish pitching arm. It is time for the 37th-annual Mullet Festival.

For 37 years, Lillian residents and the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay have spent their Labor Day welcoming visitors to their small community. The long-standing event is the main fundraiser for the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay.

The Optimist Club of Perdido Bay provides approximately $10,000 in grants to local schools and area organizations that serve the needs of children and teens in the community. Members provide a weekly reading program for kindergarten and first-grade students at Elberta Elementary, participate in the Willie Nell Evans Thanksgiving Lunch for all Baldwin County special needs students and deliver Christmas gifts to special needs students at area schools.

"Other than local churches, the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay is one of the largest funders in our small community of Lillian. Our focus is to improve the lives of young people in the region," Jeff Keener, a member of the Optimist Club of Perdido Bay, has said in the past.

The fun kicks off early Monday, Sept. 4, when American Legion Post 48 presents the colors at 7:15 a.m. to officially start the day. Runners and walkers will line up for the 5K at 7:30 a.m. (or the 1-mile fun run at 8:30 a.m.) while the other early birds sit down and enjoy an Optimist breakfast. The menu includes scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, fruit and drinks. Breakfast is a bargain at $5, and children ages 8 and under eat free.

Big Jake & the Tag-A-Longs will entertain throughout the day, and there are plenty of activities to keep everyone busy. Pitching arms need to be ready to toss mullet at 10 a.m. Prizes will be awarded at 12:30 p.m. in the Main Hall.

If you need a moment to cool down, the silent auction and the Déjà vu Market and Bake Sale provide a leisurely activity inside the air-conditioned Lillian Community Club. Don't miss the $12 fish or ham lunch.

The 37th-annual Mullet Festival takes place surrounding the Lillian Community Club located at 34148 Widell Ave., Lillian. For more information or to register for the race, visit www.optimistclubpb.org.