LEONARDTOWN, MD – True Marylanders used their hands and fingers to enjoy the sweet buttery taste of crab at the 31st annual St. Mary’s County Crab Festival, hosted by the Leonardtown Lions Club at the St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds on June 11.
It was a celebration of the county’s love for all things crab, including crab races, a crab picking contest, and plenty of the cooked crustacean to go around. Even Pinch, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs mascot, stopped by the festival.
Buckets and bags of steamed hard crabs, crab soups, crab cakes, and other delicious seafood dishes were available for festival goers to dine on at the paper-covered picnic tables in the shade. Other treats to be enjoyed at the Crab Fest included kettle corn, snow cones, hand-pressed lemonade, and huge ice cream cones.
People of all ages bashed their cooked crabs with small wooden hammers, or watched them race down a slick track. They could participate in the Crab-Picking contest, with each participant’s ‘pickings’ having all non-meat parts removed and then weighed by the contest judges.
Festival goers had the opportunity to find crab themed wares from jewelry to Christmas ornaments while supporting local artisans at the Craft Show.
There was other entertainment hosted at the event that wasn’t crab related. Local bands such as Driving Muzzy, 25th Hour, and Country Memories filled the air with a variety of music, ranging from country to rock to pop tune covers.
A classic car show was also hosted, with cars ranging from supped up muscle cars to unique creations on four wheels on display.
Community Education and multiple hands-on children’s activities were available for younger event goers, including a petting zoo.
Almost all of the Crab Festival proceeds will be going to local and international Lions Club Community Service Programs such as Leader Dogs, Vision and Hearing Support, Free Vision Screening and other programs. No information was available as to how much money was raised, or what specific program would benefit from this event’s proceeds.
Caterers for the event include Bailey’s Catering, Sandgates Inn, Wayne Copsey Seafood, Belles of St. Maries, Crabby Hig, Lexington Park Lions, Guy Distributing, and Kettle Corn.
Supporters for the event include ADF community Outreach Foundation; Brinsfield Funeral Home; Marrick Homes; Southern Maryland Oil; Christine Ray and John Felicitas; the Saba Group; Toyota of Southern Maryland; A Marine; Paragon Properties; Combs, Drury, Reeves Insurance Agency; Josept Ernest Bell III; Olde Town Insurance; Law Office of Dan Slade; TN Bowes Heating and Air Conditioning; Town Dentistry, Todd Allen DDS; Carruth and son Ready Mix Concrete; The Patuxent Partnership; Timm Twigg- Attorney at Law; Travel Leaders / Action Travel Tours; Quality Built Homes; Cryer’s Backroad Inn; Leonardtown Ace Hardware; Leonardtown Service Center; Winters Heating and Cooling; John and Sharon Brown; Burchoil; Joe and Carolyn Dunn; Don and Theresa Fincham; Hilda Mae and Dickie Gatton; John and Christine Greely; George ‘Budweiser’ Guy; George and Kathy Kirby; Mike and Debbie Mummaugh; Mike and Sandy Payne; Carl and Cinda Raley; Dan and Mary Slade; Charlie and Betsey Breck; Carolyn and Don Weiler with the Dick Russell family; and Barry and Linda Worzak.
Check out the Leonardtown Lions Club website for more information about this event, and what they do for the community.
Contact Jacqui Atkielski at j.atkielski@thebaynet.com.
