A Mighty Bivalve Contest
The Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of East Hampton, created and granted sole authority over the town by King James II through the Dongan Patent of 1686, will hold the 28th annual Largest Clam Contest on Sunday at noon. The contest will take place on the grounds of the trustees’ offices at the Lamb Building on Bluff Road in Amagansett.
A free clam bar and Bonac clam chowder from Round Swamp Farm will be offered, and all have been invited to enter their own quahog concoction in a clam chowder contest. As in years past, the East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery and the East End Classic Boat Society will exhibit that day.
Hard clams harvested from Lake Montauk, Napeague Harbor, Accabonac Harbor, and Three Mile Harbor are eligible. Entrants bearing a town shellfish permit have been asked to take their clam contestants to Gosman’s Fish Market in Montauk, Stuart’s Seafood Shop in Amagansett, the Amagansett Seafood Market, or the Seafood Shop in Wainscott through Saturday in order to be considered in the competition on Sunday.
Prizes donated by local shops and restaurants will be awarded in several categories: one for the largest overall clam, one for best clam chowder, and the rest for the largest clam harvested in each of the four waterways, with a prize bestowed on both the winning adult and the winning child between 4 and 14 years old.
The annual contest is usually, though not always, a lighthearted affair that provides the trustees an opportunity to explain their role in the town’s governing to residents and visitors. Controversy has swirled, however, sometimes in connection with the clam chowder competition. During the public comment period of the trustees’ Sept. 10 meeting, for example, a former contestant who claimed to have won and lost the competition over the years charged that the judging standards have declined.
Be that as it may, “I always felt that this event was really about the kids and the clams and the gifts that we give for prizes,” Brian Byrnes responded, though he acknowledged that the trustees “welcome any thoughts that you might have.” The trustees pledged to seek qualified professionals to judge the competition in the future.
The Dongan Patent is one of the earliest documents to provide for a representative government by elected officials in North America, and the nine-member trustee board represents the original government of East Hampton. As such, the trustees managed and made allotments of the town’s common lands, and have continuously functioned as an autonomous governing body, maintaining jurisdiction over many such lands in the town, including beaches, bottomlands, and waterways.