In another year, the lawn of the Lamb Building in Amagansett would have been filled with East Hampton Town residents enjoying free clams on the half shell and clam chowder on Sunday, courtesy of the town trustees. But though the 30th Largest Clam Contest could not happen in its typical form this year, the trustees found a creative solution for the annual celebration of the town's maritime heritage and informal seminar on that body's role in town government.
Adults and youth submitted the largest specimen they could find from town waterways in the contest, with entrants asked to submit a video of themselves and their behemoth clams, which will augment video taken at Sunday's weigh-in. A program will air on LTV at a date to be determined.
The meeting room at the Lamb Building was crowded with baskets laden with prizes donated by local businesses, as Ben Dollinger, Jim Grimes, John Aldred, and Susan McGraw Keber presided over the contest, along with Arlene Tesar, the trustees' secretary. Mr. Aldred and Mr. Grimes conducted the weighing of each contestant, Ms. McGraw Keber recorded the video, and Mr. Dollinger, who is serving his first term, was the event's chairman. His children, Tobias and Louisa, were on hand to help.
There were somewhat fewer entrants than in past years, the trustees said, though the competition nonetheless saw several massive contestants, all of which were later returned to their undersea homes. Clamming, a spectator noted, can be performed with ample social distancing.
Michael Fromm's 2-pound, 1.6-ounce quahog from Napeague Harbor was both the largest harvested from that water body and the largest over all.
Dennis Curles took top honors in the adult category for Accabonac Harbor with his 1-pound, 2.5-ounce entrant. Evvy Rattray won in Accabonac Harbor's junior category with a 13-ounce clam.
In Three Mile Harbor, Frank Ganley was the adult winner with a 1-pound, 7.8-ounce entrant. In Three Mile Harbor's junior category, Teddy Rattray was the winner, his 12.4-ounce quahog besting that entered by his cousin, Ellis Rattray, by just two-tenths of an ounce.
Victoria Lundin's 12.4-ounce clam was the largest taken from Lake Montauk. In Hog Creek, Chad Callahan's 10.6-ounce entrant was the largest in the adult category. His son, Miles Callahan, was Hog Creek's junior winner with a 13.3-ounce quahog.
The competition almost didn't happen this year, as the trustees debated if and how to hold a competition in the time of a pandemic. But a safe contest that saw the awarding of prizes donated by many local businesses took place with nary a hiccup.
"I want to thank all the contestants that went out and found some wonderfully large clams for us to weigh," Mr. Dollinger said at the event's conclusion, "and I want to thank all the local businesses that were generous enough to contribute prizes for us to hand out in many different categories."
