It’s shrimp time again.

The Junior Auxiliary’s annual Peel ’Em and Eat ’Em Shrimp Dinner is fast approaching, with tickets on sale through Sept. 22.

The shrimp plates will be available for pickup Oct. 17 from 3-7 p.m. at the Lincoln Civic Center.

The decades-old event allows JA to fund several worthy projects, including Wish Tree, Smile Games for special needs students, Reality World for ninth-graders, a suicide prevention program, school health fairs for fifth graders, Crown Club, school clothes closets, community assistance and scholarships.

The event is a Brookhaven/Lincoln County tradition that thousands enjoy each year. But if you’re not careful, you could miss out. Only 5,000 plates will be available to ticket-holders for pickup during the four-hour window. Leftover tickets usually dwindle to just a few dozen on the day of pickup, if they have any at all.

To make sure you get your tickets, see any JA member or call 601-754-9380.

In addition to shrimp, JA members sell desserts in the Sweet Shoppe that a dedicated committee of women set up near the pickup area. Business in the Sweet Shoppe has grown in the past two years since the event moved from Brookhaven Recreation Center on Hwy. 51 to the Lincoln Civic Center.

This effort wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of JA members and K&B Seafood, which donates their cooking services.

We encourage everyone to buy a ticket to support this cause. You’ll be helping a worthy organization —and the shrimp, potato salad and corn are pretty tasty, too.