November 4, 2006- Maple Shade, NJ

Ham-and-Oyster Dinner: 4 to 7 p.m.
Nov. 4; eat in or take out
Adults -- $14
Children 5 to 12 -- $5.

Maple Shade Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ
45 N. Forklanding Road
Maple Shade, NJ
(856) 779-7739
E-mail msccevents@earthlink.net for information

This is a 50 year tradition for this church. You can read more about it at here.

October 28, 2006- Frederick, MD

Public dinner: noon-5 p.m.; $H Camp and Activities Center, 3702 Basford Road, Frederick. Fried oyster, turkey and country ham. Adults $12, children 5-10 are $6.

From http://www.gazette.net/

November 11, 2006- Bivalve, NJ

Oyster Sail with Raw Oyster Bar
AJ Meerwald Schooner
856-785-2060 x100
www.bayshorediscovery.org

This supports the non-profit AJ Meerwald Schooner- a traditional oyster schooner from Down Jersey (or South Jeresy for all you non-Jerseyans! )

November 7, 2006- Glassboro, NJ

Election Day Ham & Oyster Dinner
St. Thomas Episcopal Church

An oyster and ham Election Day supper will be served 1 to 6:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church Parish House, Delsea Drive and Focer Street, Glassboro. Tickets are $16 for adults, $6 for children.
Call (856) 881-9144.

This is held in my hometown and it is the place to be seen on Election Day!!

Democrats and Republicans gather here to await the election day results while feasting on oysters and ham!

It is a very old tradition!

November 4, 2006- St. Michael's, MD

Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Oyster Fest 2006.

Celebrate the great Bay oyster as you learn shucking, tonging, and nippering techniques. Dine on raw, steamed, and fried oysters while enjoying live music, boat rides, and children's activities. (Food and boat rides additional fee). 10 AM - 4 PM.

October 21, 2006- Lebanon Township, NJ

Church's pork and oyster dinner continues 100-year tradition

Carrying on a tradition more than 100 years old, Spruce Run Lutheran
Church in Lebanon Township will be having its annual pork and oyster
dinner on Saturday.
The church, at 442 West Hill Road, will serve dinner in three
settings, 5, 6 and 7 p.m. The menu includes roast pork and gravy,
oyster dressing, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, cinnamon applesauce,
sweet and sour slaw, freshly baked bread, assorted home-baked desserts
and beverages. Tickets are $10.50 for adults, $5.50 for children 12
and under, and free for children 5 and under if accompanied by an
adult. Reservations are preferred, but if seating is available,
tickets will be sold at the door. Take-out for $10.50 per meal is
available if you call ahead. A bake sale will also be held at the
door. For details, call Pauline Smith at 537-2673.

From www.nj.com

October 21, 2006- East Penn Township, PA

HAM OR OYSTER DINNERS will be served 3-7 p.m. Saturday at Ben Salem Church, 1749 Church Hill Road, East Penn Township. The cost is $9.50 for an oyster dinner, $8.50 for ham dinner, $5 for ages 3 to 12 and free for ages 2 and younger. For details, call 570-386-4877.

My google alerts are not so alert....this was held yesterday! But good to know about if you are traveling up to Jim Thorpe some fall weekend.

www.mcall.com

October 21, 2006- Crash a Reunion in Maryland!

Patterson High Class of 1966 is planning its 40th reunion Bull and Oyster Roast Oct. 21.
Call Milton Krysztofiak at 410-882-6262 or e-mail patterson66reunion@yahoo.com.

From www.northconews.com

November 3, 2006-Maryland Line, Maryland

Turkey & Oyster Supper
11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3
Carryout Only

This was posted without any location or information, but I assume it held by the following:

Maryland Line Volunteer Fire Co.

Post Office Box 20521631

York Road

Maryland Line , Md. 21105

410-887-1932

http://www.angelfire.com/md/mlvfc/page6.html

From www.northconews.com

October 28, 2006- White Hall, Maryland

Ham and Oyster Dinner
3-7 p.m. Oct. 28.
Ayres Chapel, Route 23 Norrisville Road in White Hall
Bake table available.
Call 410-692-2311 or 717-382-4319.

From www.northconews.com

October 28, 2006-Maryland

Bull & Oyster Roast
5 p.m.-midnight Oct. 28
Karaoke with Linda Bishop.
Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the door.
Call Bob Clark at 410-343-0255.

From www.northconews.com

Oyster Shucking Champion

Published October 8 2006
NORWALK -- Patrons at Valencia Luncheria can eat the breakfast -- and lunch and dinner -- of a champion.Chef Luis Chavez won the fourth annual professional oyster-shucking competition last weekend at the Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Manhattan, wresting the title from a three-time winner who works at the historic establishment.

Chavez improved upon his second-place finish last year and prevented a four-peat by besting the defending champion in the final round."It felt really good," Chavez said last week at Valencia. "I was surprised . . . but I guess the best oysters won."Besides quantity -- Chavez estimates he opened oysters at a rate of 10 per minute during the Sept. 30 tilt -- presentation matters on the professional shucking circuit, where he is a veteran.Chavez took home $1,000 for his performance at Grand Central, where competitors had a specified amount of time to open as many oysters as possible, remove the top shell, loosen the flesh and arrange the finished product on a tray.The taste of victory wasn't the first for Chavez, a 31-year-old Norwalk resident whose first shucking contest was several years ago at the Norwalk Seaport Association Oyster Festival.Chavez will soon don his metal chain-link glove and take his oyster knife to face the nation's best shuckers at a Maryland competition he's entered twice before.Chavez's day job is part-owner of Valencia, an award-winning Main Street restaurant featuring Venezuelan cuisine.He is known as "champ" around the eatery since last weekend's win, chef-owner Michael Young said."I feel very good about . . . our company, and I feel good about being his business partner and knowing that when I'm not here, the champ is," Young said.One of the chefs likes to be at the restaurant at all times, so Young didn't attend the Grand Central contest. But he was among a large contingent of supporters who watched Chavez take third place and a $500 purse a month ago at the Mohegan Sun Oyster Open in Mystic.A Cape Cod man known as "The Chopper" won the competition, part of the Taste of Mystic festival, Chavez said.He said he knows everyone in the Northeast on the professional oyster-shucking circuit.The 1993 Brien McMahon High School graduate, a native of El Salvador, started shucking oysters at the now-defunct Chart House restaurant in Greenwich. He used to time himself."Now it's just natural for me to do . . . this type of thing," he said.Chavez took the top spot at Norwalk's Oyster Festival in 2002 and 2003. He went on to compete in 2003 and 2004 at the nationals at the annual St. Mary's County Oyster Festival in Maryland.Chavez said success on the circuit takes strength and a delicate touch, since penalties are assessed for fouls such as presenting an oyster on a broken shell or with grit, blood or another foreign substance on the flesh.He flexes his shucking chops at Valencia's catering events, but oysters aren't always on the menu at the restaurant. And he doesn't prepare for competitions."No, it's just natural. I don't practice," Chavez said with a laugh. "That's the truth."
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

Strong Oyster Season for Maryland!!

10/05/2006

GRASONVILLE, Md. —
Oyster season in the Chesapeake Bay is off to a good start, watermen say.The season, which started Oct. 2 and runs until March 30, is particularly strong in Maryland waters, though some dead oysters are being found in Virginia’s James River.In Maryland, “what they are finding are monster oysters, nice, big oysters. They’re beautiful,” waterman Kevin Marshall told The (Baltimore) Examiner.Right now watermen are tonging and diving for the oysters. In November, they will be allowed to begin power dredging. Prices in the early season were about $30 a bushel, a daily payoff of about $450 for a waterman who catches his full 15 bushel daily limit.“Up the bay around Annapolis and Rock Hall and those places, they had their limits before noon,” Marshall said.Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Waterman’s Association, said early signs point to a strong oyster season.“I have heard the last few days everyone is catching their limit. That’s a good sign this time of year. For them to be medium fat is really good for this time of year,” Simns told the newspaper.However, Simns added that oysters have had a high death rate in the James River this year. The water there is saltier, which creates a more potent breeding ground for parasitic organisms that kill oysters.Tom O’Connell, oyster expert for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, agreed that the oyster season appears healthy compared to recent years.“It looks like we are going to have an OK fishery this year, but its nothing compared to what we had historically,” O’Connell said.O’Connell said watermen may have June rains to thanks for easy catches so far this season. He said the state agency would complete an annual oyster survey by about Thanksgiving.Information from The Baltimore Examiner, www.examiner.com

October 21, 2006-Tilghman Island, MD

The BrothersGentry filled me in on Tilghman Day, an oyster smorgasbord, in Tilghman Island, MD. There is even an oyster shucking contest. I have an oyster knife but no shucking skills! Will anyone teach me??

Thanks Jeffrey and Natalie!!!

See the following link for more details: http://www.tilghmanmd.com/tilghmanday.htm

And on another note, when ever I hear the name Tilghman Island I always think of a nearby island that was used as a cat ranch in the 19th century. Yes, I said cat ranch. They raised black cats for their fur and fattened them with the bounty of the Chesapeake. Here is a link with more information. Apparently, there were many such ranches in the mid-1800s...poor kitties. Meow!