And the Golden Clammy Goes To….
The set-up was simple: pay $10, sample 2oz. each of 11 different chowders, vote for your favorites in two categories, Traditional and Non-Traditional.
Entry fees and tasting-tickets fees, as well as t-shirt, hot dogs, and baked goods sales all benefitted the non-profit Ocracoke Child Care, the island's only daycare center.
The OCC board members and fundraising committee members were delighted with the number of people who stopped by, which exceeded their expectations.
"It's a wonderful turnout," sais OCC board president Amy Srail Johnson. "We hope to make it our yearly fundraiser."
The Community Center was packed with Ocracoke residents as well as many visitors. The highlight of the event was a short, but lively, holiday play performed by Ocracoke kids. Directed by Juju Baker, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" was a singing, bunny-hopping extravaganza! It told the story of the Easter Bunny – and spring – arriving on Ocracoke! The kids used costumes and props that they'd created earlier in the day at the Methodist Church while waiting for the Easter Egg Hunt.
At 2pm, the tasting was done, and the leftover clam chowder (what little there was) was sold off in pints. A few lucky people got to take some home!
So who won?
Philip Howard took the trophy for Best Traditional, representing Ocracoke Preservation Society, and Sherry Atkinson won Best Non-Traditional, representing the Anchorage Inn.
Go-N-Postal earned 2nd place in the Traditional category, and WOVV took 2nd place in the Non-Traditional category!
All 11 entries were delicious!
I overheard someone ask Sherry Atkinson if she had expected to win, and she replied that her only expectation was to "raise money for the daycare."
"All of us were talking," she said about her competitors, "And we all said we don't care who wins, we want the turnout. Look around at all these cooks here, there's a lot of love in this room – that's why the chowders taste so good. It's good to put love in your food."
During the clean-up, OCC director Chaeli Moyer smiled and said, "Yay! We did it! This is now our brand-new signature annual event."
The entries were:
Traditional: Gaffers Sports Pub, The Anchorage Inn and Marina, Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, Ocracoke Preservation Society, Ocracoke Post Office
Non-Traditional: Dick Tunnell, Fess Winstead, Ocracoke Oyster Company, Jason's Restaurant, Sharon BRodisch, and WOVV 90.1 Community Radio
Ocracoke Child Care would like to thank the event's sponsors:
1718 Brewing Company
Jason's Restaurant
Jolly Roger Restaurant
Ocracoke Coffee Company
Ocracoke Working Watermen's Association
Ocracoke Oyster Company
Ocracoke Post Office
The Ocracoke Rockers
Captain's Landing
Ocracoke Variety Store
Pony Island Restaurant
WOVV 90.1 Community Radio
The Anchorage Inn and Marina
Gaffers Sports Pub
All the volunteers who helped install acoustic remediation
Ocracoke Child Care board of directors and fundraising committee
Susan Dodd for the beautiful Golden Clammy trophies!
