The Star Goes To Surfcasting Awards Dinner

The after-dinner skits written mostly by Joe and Sonya Gaviola have become the much anticipated finale to the awards dinner held each year to celebrate the end of the Montauk Locals surfcasting tournament. The antics on Sunday night, which included appearances by several surprise guest celebrities, did not disappoint.

The tournament, in its 11th year, began on a (sorta) friendly bet for dinner between two brothers, Dennis and Joe Gaviola. Joe bought dinner the first year.

The following spring, three others joined in the contest to see who could catch the largest striped bass from the beach. The next year there were 15 entrants, and this year 42 paid $200 each for the privilege of competing with surfcasters who are surely among the most proficient on the Atlantic coast. The money went toward prizes, the finale dinner, and for the savings-bond awards in the tournament's new Youth Division.

The Awards

The after-dinner shows began eight years ago with a few, mostly inside, jokes about the mishaps, bad luck, and idiosyncrasies of the participants.

The skits grew to be more theatrical when organizers realized that fish jokes - funny to those whose idea of fun is to stand on a rock in the cold for hours at a time - were not necessarily funny to the spouses and friends who endure the fishing addiction, and who also attended the annual awards dinner.

On Sunday night, at the Harvest restaurant in Montauk, Bob Jones of East Hampton was handed the $4,182 first prize for a 351/2-pound bass. Fred Kalkstein of Amagansett won $2,091 for the 341/2-pound, second-place striper he'd caught on an eel. Dennis Gaviola caught a 33-pound striped bass worth $697, third place, and Adam Fatigate and Jeremy Gould received $500 and a $200 savings bonds respectively for their accomplishments in the junior surfcaster category.

Three Nor'easters

Tom Bogdan, owner of the Rumrunner shops, was given the annual sportsmanship award for his efforts to clean up Montauk's Fort Pond and stock it with freshwater fish. Dave Marcley was given the "Googin" award, a kind of booby prize, for giving Dennis Gaviola his rock perch, a gesture that was punished minutes later when Mr. Gaviola caught the third-place fish.

The winning fish were caught in late summer and early fall. As a result, the latter part of the tournament had lacked the suspense and marathon casting that usually accompany the late migration of 40 and 50-pound bass throughout November.

Submarine clouds of herring, dived upon day after day by flocks of gannets, kept the bigger bass out of casting range. But what this year's tournament lacked in late-fall fishing drama was made up for by challenging fishing conditions. The wind and surf of three nor'easters made for some precarious moments atop the usual rock perches "up front" under the Montauk Lighthouse.

An Unfortunate Confrontation

Sunday night, the east end of the Harvest was transformed into the set of a "celebrity Jeopardy" contest. The contestants were introduced by Joey (Gaviola) Trebek: Vinnie Bottabing, an Eng lish-language-challenged surfcaster from way Up Island, played by Atilla Ozturk; a feisty Martha Stewart, played by Sonia Gaviola, and Elvis Presley, returned from the dead, played to perfection by Len ny DeFina. Henry Uihlein in drag conjured a believable Vanna White who had agreed to a guest ap pearance on the "Jeopardy" show. Oh, was she sorry.

There were bad vibes between her and Martha Stewart right from the start. They wound up in a vicious fight in the opening seconds of the game when Martha suggested that Vanna had turned more than cards during her career. Vanna's dress was rearranged in a shocking way.

The Categories

She recovered in time, however, to turn the cards to reveal the answers in the categories: "Googins" (local jargon for unpracticed fishermen), "Surfcasting," and "Montauk People." Not surprisingly, Mr. Bottabing was able to provide the correct questions in the fishing category, albeit slowly, and while enduring Ms. Stewart's disapproving jibes about his lifestyle. It seems that during fishing season he lives in a truck on the beach down by Montauk Point with his dog, Thor, subsisting on a bean-rich diet. Martha's looks of disdain helped bring down the house.

Contestant Presley found reason to launch into a gyrating, scarf-throwing rendition of "Viva Las Vegas." Ordinarily this would be funny, because Elvis impersonations have become part of our culture. But Mr. DeFina, host of "The Lenny DeFina Show" on LTV, is a gifted performer with a world-class voice that evoked the King in all of his Vegas glory.

An Emotional Moment

"Local tackle dealer known for his mellow personality and warmth," was an answer posed by Mr. Trebek.

"Who is Bill Addeo?" guessed Mr. Presley.

"Who is Mort Zuckerman?" Martha Stewart said.

"Who is Johnny Kronuch?" Mr. Bottabing answered, correctly identifying the owner of Johnny's Bait and Tackle shop on Main Street in Montauk.

Elvis broke up the questions, many of them a bit bawdy for a community newspaper, and waded into the audience with "It's Now or Never," a song that seemed to loose a flood of emotions in more than one fisherman's date.

"Ferry boat owner bringing the Queen Mary to Montauk in 1998," was Mr. Trebek's next challenge.

"Who is Bill Akin?" Ms. Stewart guessed, referring to a leader in the Montauk-based anti-ferry movement.

"Who is Lisa Grenci?" was Mr. Bottabing's stab. Ms. Grenci was a candidate in last month's Town Board elections who has spoken against new ferries in town.

Elvis Has The Answers

"Who is Paul 'Craps' Forsberg?" Elvis guessed correctly to the great pleasure of Mr. Forsberg himself, a surfcasting contestant and owner of Montauk's Viking Fleet who has been fighting East Hampton Town over his Montauk Harbor-based ferry service.

Elvis also guessed correctly that it was Henry Uihlein and not Ivana Trump, as Ms. Stewart had surmised, and not Miss July, as Mr. Bottabing hoped, who was "known for tight fitting dresses and large cleavage."

And, when Mr. Trebek left it up to the audience to answer: "Last American pummeled in a street fight with Alec Baldwin," the crowd roared "Bill Addeo," knowing about the man's war of letters to The Star with Mr. Baldwin, and proud of the fact that Messrs. Addeo, Kronuch, Akin, and Forsberg were themselves part of the audience of Montauk locals making good sport of each other.

A Legal Problem

The final "Jeopardy" question employed a visual aid. Mr. Trebek raised a striped-bass mount over his head. "The length, in inches, of this bass," he challenged.

Mr. Bottabing, of course, got it right. "Twenty-seven inches," his practiced eye had told him. He added, however, that 27 inches made the fish one inch short of the legal size.

"Legal schmegal," said Mr. Trebek, at which point the red lights of a police car could be seen outside the restaurant.

Harbormasters Pete Anderson and Ed Michels entered the Harvest and arrested Mr. Trebek for violating state conservation law, and Vanna White for obstructing justice in a most scandalous way. It was all over but for the thunderous applause, gales of hometown laughter, and the 50-50 cash prize drawing. And it seemed fitting that the drawing was won by a surfcaster who, unbeknownst to the others, had caught and released a bass weighing 52 pounds after a three-hour battle in Cavett's Cove using a fly rod.