"Because of the weather, the only day we could go out clamming was Friday. We were out there for five hours," said Michael Fromm of Amagansett, whose efforts paid off when he emerged the overall winner of the East Hampton Town Trustees' 33rd Largest Clam Contest on Sunday.
His winning clam was one of about a half dozen he dug up that day in Napeague Harbor. It weighed in at 2 pounds, 6 ounces and measured just shy of 5-and-a-half inches in length and 4-and-a-half inches in width.
Mr. Fromm was also the overall winner in 2020. His late father-in-law, Gene Cebulski, still holds the contest record, with nearly 3-pound clam he dug about 20 years ago.
Mr. Fromm's clam was not the only serious contender; Frank Ganley's 1 pound, 5.3-ounce clam was the second largest, and was the best of the Three Mile Harbor entries. Dan Mongan won the Accabonac Harbor category and Vicki Lundyn took the Lake Montauk category. Wes Aldred won the junior division with an entry from Three Mile Harbor.
In all, there were 12 contestants -- though many, many more showed up for the lively judging party, held for the first time at the Amagansett Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station, where they got to sample free clams on the half shell and clam pie.
Two chowder champions were also crowned following a blind judging of eight entries: Paul Roman's red Manhattan-style chowder and Jim Sullivan's white New England-style chowder were the favorites.
In the town shellfish hatchery's seed clam guessing game, Max Steckowski was the winner with the closest guess of 700. The correct number was 732.
Mr. Fromm said the contest was enjoyable as always, and credited the trustees' administrative staff, Alyson Folenius and Arlene Tesar, with making it run so smoothly. "They really did a nice job. The trustees have changed it over the years, and it's getting better and better every year."
