Largest Clam Contest, Better Late Than Never

Calling all lovers of clam chowder, clam rakes, clams on the half shell, and, especially, clam competitions: The East Hampton Town Trustees will hold their 25th annual Largest Clam Contest on Sunday at noon. The event was postponed from Oct. 4 due to Hurricane Joaquin, which at the time was intensifying in the Atlantic Ocean and raising concern that shellfishing areas might be closed.

In a sign of the event’s growing popularity, the venue is new this year. Having outgrown the grounds of the Donald Lamb Building in Amagansett, where the trustees hold their meetings, this year’s contest will be held at the American Legion Post 419, at the corner of Montauk Highway and Abraham’s Path in the same hamlet.

Councilman Fred Overton of the East Hampton Town Board will serve his renowned clam chowder, and those attending can also enjoy clams on the half shell. A clam chowder contest will be judged by a reporter from The Star and Lori Miller-Carr, the trustees’ secretary.

Twelve winners will be selected, including for the largest clam taken by both adults and juniors age 4 to 14 from Lake Montauk, Three Mile Harbor, Napeague Harbor, and Accabonac Harbor. An award will also be given for the largest clam over all. The best red, white, and overall chowders will also be recognized with a prize.

Competing clams can be dug through Saturday and brought to the Amagansett Seafood Store, Stuart’s Fish Market in Amagansett, or the Seafood Shop in Wainscott to be entered in the contest. Clams will not be accepted for entry on Sunday.

All winners will receive a package of prizes donated by sponsoring shops and restaurants. The trustees are still accepting donations, such as gift certificates for merchandise or services, from local merchants that will be presented to those with the largest quahog harvested from one of the above water bodies.

Kate Rossi-Snook of the East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery, and Kimberly Barbour, outreach manager of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Marine Program, will deliver presentations on their work. The East End Classic Boat Society, which meets at the Hartjen-Richardson Community Boat Shop near the trustees’ office on Bluff Road, will display the Pooduck skiff it constructed this year. Members of the society will also sell raffle tickets for the 13-foot skiff, which includes a trailer, lateen sailing rig, and oars.

Prior to its postponement, Deborah Klughers told her colleagues at the trustees’ Sept. 22 meeting that she hoped to continue the “extreme recycling” initiative of last year’s contest, with 100-percent participation including the recycling of shells and beverage containers.

“Local folks show up every year,” Diane McNally, the trustees’ presiding officer, said of the annual event. “I hope we get a few more kids — that’s the intent, to try to get kids involved.” In the past year, trustees gave a presentation at the Amagansett School to explain the trustees’ governing role in the town, and they have discussed expanding that outreach to other schools in the town.