It was probably fitting that there was so much water in evidence at Sunday’s 25th Annual Westport Fishermen’s Association Clambake. Showers fell from late morning till early afternoon while steam rose from the 5-foot high pyre of hot granite rocks, sizzling rockweed, and crates filled with bake food.
Rather than stand outside in the drizzle to watch Bake Master Raymond Davoll orchestrate his crew in the four-hour traditional clam bake process, scores of ticket holders exercised a temporary rain delay and waited for the weather to clear.
A handful of enthusiasts came early, grabbed mesh “bake bags”, and circulated past WFA members Jack Reynolds, Tom Mello, and Cukie Macomber, who doled out food and wise cracks with equal efficiency. The hundreds of bags were packed in wooden crates, ready to be plunked down on the bake fire at about 1 pm.
Others who arrived at the Sportsmen’s Club in Little Compton before noon entertained themselves by playing cards, talking politics from local to Palin, and speculating about the Patriots. While their views might differ, they all agreed that the Westport Fishermen’s Association Bake is one of the best around.
“Good bakes are hard to come by,” Louise Costa said as she sat with her husband Fred. Born in Westport, the Somerset residents are fixtures at the bake. “I practically drool while I’m waiting for the chowder,” Mrs. Costa said.
Time and tide waits for no one and neither do Bake Masters. At 2 pm on the dot retired Dartmouth fire captain Davoll, no stranger to heat, was itching to pull the canvas tarps off the bake fire and get the food to the serving tables.
“They all showed up,” twenty year WFA member Tom Mello shouted as he began lining up the big crowd that snaked all the way from the food pavilion to John Dyer Road.
For Jennifer Gelinas, recently named WFA Project Coordinator, this was a baptism by bake fire. “I’ve been running around here since 8 this morning and everything seems to be under control.” she said. “This has taken lots of planning but I’m surrounded by people who know what they’re doing.”
Ms. Gelinas, whose husband Stephan is on the board of directors, is fully versed on projects dear to the association. Along with educational programs and annual scholarships, she’s excited about the restoration of the Horseneck Point Life Saving Station.
“This event is the major money-maker for our non-profit organization,” she said. “We’re grateful to the local businesses who donate items to the raffle and the bake.”
Indeed, hardly a soul left the premises before the raffle was complete. About thirty people left with prizes under their arms but Philip Weinstein of River Road hit the jackpot. He won the hand crafted 18’ Hybrid Night Heron Kayak.
The 25th anniversary has given long time members reason to appreciate past accomplishments and look forward to new challenges.
President Jack Reynolds recollected a program that benefited the river. He recalled that in the late 1980s, the upper reaches of the East Branch were closed to shell fishing.
"Arnold Tripp, with assistance from Dale Thomas, set up a laboratory, funded by the WFA, in Town Hall to run water quality tests before and after rainfalls. The data he collected was accepted by the state and used to develop system of conditional closings and openings of the river after rain events in Westport. It was used as a prototype for other towns located in river environments,” Reynolds said. Mr. Tripp, at 89 years of age, is still a member of the WFA.
Howie Gifford and Tom Perkins agree that funding legal action that ended pollution into the East Branch from a cattle feed lot was a big step toward the river’s health.
Mr. Gifford cited the 2006 decision upholding the Rivers Act, confirming the Westport River was a river, not an estuary, gave the river greater protection. "It was an example of cooperation between three like-minded organizations - the WFA, the WRWA, and The Coalition for Buzzards Bay,” he said.
Both men are excited about the restoration of the Horseneck Point Life Saving Station. “It will give the building back to the town in excellent shape and help maintain local maritime history,” Mr. Perkins said.
“I was one of the original members of the association in 1983,” Bruce Letourneau said. “I like the way it gives back to the community with scholarships, quahog seeding, and water testing programs.”
Mr. Letourneau has been bringing his 20-year-old daughter Jamie to the bake for years. She hadn’t been there more than five minutes before she asked him the date of next year’s Clam Bake. Two hundred other people probably want to know the same thing.
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