Crawfish boil to support local firefighter fighting cancer

Update: Crawfish in the Park was postponed because of rain. It has been rescheduled for May 20 from 5-8 p.m. at Circle R Ranch.

Original story: The community will come together Tuesday night for a crawfish boil fundraiser to support a Flower Mound firefighter who is battling cancer.

Wade Cannon — a 31-year-old firefighter/paramedic who has been with the Flower Mound Fire Department for about five years — was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in September 2020. In a Facebook video posted by the Flower Mound Professional Firefighters Association, Cannon said he is undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatment and expects to have surgery on the tumor soon.

“He is the positive, upbeat and vibrant soul you’ll ever meet,” said Flower Mound Town Council member Ben Bumgarner. “He wants everybody to take away from his situation that if you’re not feeling right, go get it checked out. The doctor thought he was too young for a colonoscopy but he pushed for it and they found it.”

Bumgarner said he wanted to do something to help Wade Cannon and his wife, Chelsea.

“Our firefighters do so much for our town and help us when we’re at our lowest,” Bumgarner said. “We need to pick up one of our own in our community.”

He was talking about it with local chef Mike Daigle, who suggested a crawfish boil.

Crawfish in the Park is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11 at Heritage Park,  600 Spinks Road in Flower Mound. $40 a person gets you a big plate of crawfish, shrimp, potatoes, sausage and corn, and a raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets will be available for $10 for one, $35 for five or $100 for 25. Raffle items include a custom-built rifle, a backyard crawfish boil by Daigle, DJ services by David Hodges, four tickets behind home plate at a Texas Rangers game, gift cards to local businesses and more.

The event will also have a DJ and bounce house.

To purchase tickets send the money with your name and description of what you are purchasing to the firefighters association via Venmo  or PayPal — @local3649 on both. All proceeds go to the Cannons.