Under a bright early autumn sky, the East Hampton Town Trustees’ 32nd annual Largest Clam Contest drew a large crowd to the grounds of the Lamb Building in Amagansett on Sunday.
While there were winners — for clam chowder and for the largest clams harvested from Lake Montauk and Napeague Harbor — the day also ended with a cliffhanger, courtesy of the “extremely heavy rainfall and extraordinary amounts of stormwater runoff and localized street flooding” from Oct. 2 through Oct. 5, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The heavy rain “may result in conditions causing shellfish to be hazardous for use as food,” according to the D.E.C.’s shellfisheries section.
Affected water bodies included Accabonac Harbor, Three Mile Harbor, and Hog Creek, all part of the trustees’ contest, meaning clams could not be harvested from those waters for the weigh-in on Sunday.
The D.E.C. reopened Three Mile Harbor, Hog Creek, and Accabonac Harbor to shellfishing as of sunrise on Thursday. The trustees announced on Thursday that the weighing of clams from the three waterways will take place on Friday, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m. at the Lamb Building. Clams are to be taken there no later than 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21.
“Pay attention to The East Hampton Star, and we’ll announce the winners of the overall contest,” Mr. Bock told the crowd.
And what a crowd. After the Covid-19 pandemic scuttled the event, except for the clam contest itself, in 2020, last year saw a large and jubilant group return to the grounds of the Lamb Building. This year’s crowd was larger still, with hundreds of residents and visitors enjoying free clams on the half shell from Bennett Shellfish in Montauk; Mrs. Roman’s Bonac chowder, made by Paul Roman; clam pies offered by several cooks; New England chowder from the Clam Bar on Napeague, and samples of the chowder contest entrants.
The clam chowder competition had a whiff of celebrity this year in the person of Florence Fabricant, the food and wine writer for The New York Times, who wrote her first food column — for The Star — in 1972. Ms. Fabricant, Sara Davison of the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, and Marie Valenti of Multi Aquaculture Systems served as judges.
“We judged them blind,” Ms. Fabricant told The Star. “There were several criteria: There was appearance, texture, flavor, balance of ingredients. It was a little complicated, but at the end of the day, the ones I liked, I liked.” She and her colleagues liked Jim Sullivan’s New England concoction, deeming it the best of the entrants.
Seven of the nine trustees were present, and Ann Welker, the first woman to have been elected to the Southampton Town Trustees, joined her counterparts from East Hampton Town.
Barley Dunne, director of the town’s shellfish hatchery, presented a live marine species exhibit, and the East End Classic Boat Society showed and sold tickets for the 2022 raffle boat built by its volunteers, an 11-foot, 4-inch dory skiff, with accompanying oars and trailer. The raffle will happen during the society’s holiday open house on Dec. 3. The Lynn Blue Band performed, Jen Woodason of Liquid Imagination offered face painting for children, and ice cream was served from a Mr. Softee truck. Students from East Hampton High School’s Environmental Awareness Club volunteered at the event.
Janice Badkin’s estimate of the number of seed clams in a beaker was uncannily accurate. Ms. Badkin guessed 2,575; there were 2,592. She was not present when the result was announced, however, and David Hillman’s second-best guess was recognized.
“We have Napeague and Lake Montauk today,” Mr. Bock said of the clam entrants, which were weighed by John Aldred of the trustees and Kim Shaw, director of the town’s Natural Resources Department. “In about two weeks, we’ll accept a clam from Accabonac, Three Mile Harbor, and Hog Creek, and weigh them separately. The overall winner may come from that group, so we’ll be holding back on [announcing] the overall largest clam until that time.”
In the junior category, Davis Tobin’s 1-pound, 4.9-ounce clam took top honors for Lake Montauk, and Elle Tobin’s 1-pound, .71-ounce contestant took the prize for Napeague Harbor.
There were no adult entrants for Lake Montauk, Mr. Bock said, leaving one more winner to be crowned, for Napeague Harbor in the adult category. There, Susan Ceslow was the winner, her 2.71-pound specimen deemed the largest.
Winners in other waterways and the overall winner of the 32nd Annual Largest Clam Contest will be announced in a future issue.
