Volunteers shucked 13,682 oysters Sunday, Sept. 26, at the tenth annual Pemaquid Oyster Festival – “all by hand,” Event Director Greg Latimer said.
“It was packed,” Schooner Landing co-owner Charlie Herrick said. “We had lines at the oyster bars from noon to 3:30, 4 o’clock.”
Mike Lagrange, an electrician from Waterville, was among the festival’s enthusiastic patrons. “This is my second dozen,” he said, holding an empty shell in one hand and a beer in the other. “I’m thinking about a third.”
Lagrange has been traveling to Damariscotta for the region’s famous oysters since 1993, and he had a t-shirt from the 1993 Damariscotta River Oyster Festival – a predecessor of the modern event – to prove it.
“I’ve always been omnivorous,” Lagrange said. “I guess it runs in the family.”
Live music, The Maine Oyster Shucking Championship, the Pemaquid Oyster Poetry Contest, and the Monstah Oystah Contest were all part of the afternoon’s entertainment.
Alan Miller of Key West, Fla., won the Maine Oyster Shucking Championship. According to Latimer, Miller will travel to Leonardtown, Md., Oct. 16-17 to compete in the U.S. National Oyster Shucking Competition at the St. Mary’s County Oyster Festival.
Jen Kesner won the first annual Pemaquid Oyster Poetry Contest for “Aw, Shucks,” a lighthearted poem about an oyster coming to terms with their fate.
Shelly Browne of Hallowell bought the winner of the Monstah Oystah Contest in an impromptu auction for $15. “I think I might throw it on the grill,” Browne said, holding up the mammoth, 2 lb. 1 oz. oyster.
Jim Kennally works with his friend, Larry Schneider, the proprietor of Aw, Shucks! to maintain the flow of oysters to the hungry crowd. Schneider bills his business as “A Wicked Good Oyster Shucker,” and Kennally helps him live up to the phrase.
“The oysters are almost gone,” Kennally said in the afternoon, as the rush began to subside and the remaining customers’ interest turned to drinks and dancing with the Jason Spooner Trio. “We’ve gone through a lot of oysters.”
Next to Aw Shucks!, an army of volunteers shucked oysters around a dinghy full of ice. The volunteers offered various motivating factors.
“It’s fun,” Jason Currier said.
“Free beer,” David Seybold said.
While it may be fun, and the beer – free or otherwise – is plentiful, the inspiration for the festival is anything but frivolous. According to Herrick, all profits from the festival go to the Edward A. Myers Marine Conservation Fund.
Myers, who passed away in 2002, was “the godfather of aquaculture,” Herrick said – a pioneer in a now-thriving local industry.
“He’s the first guy who shipped lobsters around the world,” Herrick said. “He’s the inspiration for all the people in aquaculture in the Midcoast region and maybe around the country.”
The fund, in turn, provides grants to schools and local non-profit organizations. Julia Myers, Ed Myers’ widow, with her daughter, Felicity Myers and granddaughter, Anna Myers, presented the checks.
The Carpenter’s Boat Shop, in Bristol, received their third grant this year. “We’re going to be using it for a brand new pole barn,” Robert Ives said.
Ives and his students have used previous funds to help continue their maintenance of a skiff that services Witch Island in South Bristol. “We’ve been caring for that boat for 16 years,” Ives said. “It’s that boat that allows the stewards and caretakers on Witch Island to get back and forth.”
Alison Macmillan, the Enrichment Specialist at Great Salt Bay Community School, accepted a check on behalf of the school’s Junior Oyster Gardening Program.
Jennifer Wright teaches third grade at Great Salt Bay. Her students love the “hands-on” aspect of the program, she said.
“We have a salt-water tank in the classroom,” Wright said. “We actually grow the oysters and put them in the Damariscotta River.”
“We focus a lot on the scientific process,” Wright said. “The school has also matched the [Myers] grant because of the success we had last year.”
Two of Wright’s students from last year’s program, Becca Potter and Jonah Daiute, were on hand to help accept the check and express their thanks.
“I like it,” Potter said. “I like that we got to hold the oysters and grow our own oysters.”
“We actually got to drive the boat, which was pretty fun,” Daiute said. “Dissecting the oysters – that was really fun.”
Herrick, the co-owner of Schooner Landing, said the restaurant has co-hosted the event since 2001. “We came to town and we realized what a great asset [local oysters were], so we hooked up with the Pemaquid Oyster Company,” Herrick said.
Although the day was gray and cool at times, it was an improvement over recent years in terms of weather and sales. “The last three years it rained,” Herrick said. This year, “It was packed.”
