America’s birthday bake on the Island makes a splash amidst nature’s fireworks show
Thunder, lightning and tremendous downpours couldn’t dampen the spirits of the intrepid revelers who feasted on a traditional clambake Saturday at the Shelter Island History Museum’s Red, White & Blue 250 Gala.
The event was held by the shoreline at the gorgeous gardens that are part of the former Artemas Ward Estate in Shorewood. Ward was the advertising genius of his time and established a farming estate on 200 acres on the Island in the late 19th century.
The 250 Gala was the Museum’s premier summer fund-raising event; proceeds support its operations and the many programs and exhibits it produces, including the current exhibit, “Havens House: Witness to the American Revolution.”
The event was a sellout.
The festivities marking the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding started in the wee hours of Saturday morning when Ray Congdon Jr. and his Clambake Crew began building the fire that would heat large, flat rocks that formed the clambake bed.
As the morning evolved, the fire was fed until it crumbled into a bed of hot coals and ash. The Crew then had little time — about 15 minutes tops — to build the bake of clams, chicken, yams, corn, mussels, lobsters and bass. Just as the last shovelful of sand covered the protective tarp, the skies darkened, the thunder rumbled and the rain came down in sheets. For the next five hours a small tent shielded the mound from the on-and-off showers.
By 6 p.m. the 250 partygoers, while slurping down clams by Shelter Island Shuckers and bites of brie from King Andrew Cheese, were besotted with the bake, eagerly anticipating the big “unveil.”
After Gala Committee Co-chairs Chris Carey and Kathy Dinkel welcomed the crowd, Museum board member Lenore Berner led all in the signing of the National Anthem. Outside, Wesley Congdon, Ray’s son, fired three shotgun rounds in memory of the late Skip Tuttle, the clambake master who taught Ray everything there is to know about putting on a clambake. The first clam to come off the bake was ceremoniously given to Rich Hogan, the Ward estate’s owner and event host.
Formalities concluded, the Crew made quick work of removing sand, tarps and rock weed to expose the baskets of food that had been steaming for hours. And just like that, the skies opened up again, thunder boomed and lightning lit the sky like fireworks.
After devouring slices of patriotically decorated cake from Stars Café, the crowd poured onto the dance floor to swing the night away to music by Erich Carey & the Constituency, featuring Nelson Bogart, Doug Broder and Sara Mundy.
A Happy Birthday, indeed, America, Shelter Island style!
