ROBERTSDALE, Ala. -- A Robertsdale native has combined his love of the outdoors and his love of helping people, in hopes of creating a family-friendly event to foster togetherness.

You could call him a modern-day Tom Sawyer and you would be absolutely correct. His name, in fact, is Tom Sawyer.

“I think the name is awesome,” said the 2008 graduate of Robertsdale High School, the son of Bill and Sandra Sawyer and grandson of Harold and Carol Clendenin of Robertsdale. “It makes me who I am. I love people. I love meeting them and talking with them, finding out who they are. Having a name like Tom Sawyer is definitely a conversation starter that most people don’t have.”

It also doesn’t hurt that he has a younger sister named Sarah Lee, he said.

After graduating from RHS, Sawyer went on to play baseball at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he received his degree in communications and marketing.

After graduating from UAB, he started an outdoor non-profit group in Birmingham called Tom Sawyer Adventures.

“I was a little reluctant to use my name, but it’s a great marketing tool,” he said.

The organization is all about using outdoor activities to foster family relationships.

“I take pride in bringing families together and building family relationships,” Sawyer said. “This is a way to bring together my two passions – the outdoors and people.”

While he organized several events in high school and in college, his first full-scale family event will take place later this month on the Mobile Delta.

The first Lily Pad Invitational Frog Gigging Contest will take place Aug. 31 at Lap's Grocery on the Mobile Delta.

“I’m not really that into gigging frogs, but it’s something unusual that we hope will bring people together,” Sawyer said.

The event will begin at 8 p.m. and go to 6 a.m. the next morning, he said. Adult tickets are being sold through eventbrite.com at a cost of $40 each. Children under 12 can participate for free when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.

Prizes are also being offered as a way to draw people to the event. Based on a minimum of 400 tickets sold, there will be a $2,000 first place prize for the largest number of frogs brought in, with a $500 prize for the biggest frog.

Part of the proceeds from the event, at least 10 percent, Sawyer said, will be donated back to the local community.

“Even though we are based in Birmingham, we want to support the local community here in Baldwin County,” he said. “We’re all about changing lives and I want to do things that attract the most people. If it doesn’t involve people, I don’t want to do it.”