THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020484
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN JOLLY DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHINCOTEAGUE LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
The lines formed early, snaking around the pines and picnic tables at Tom's Cove Campground.
People waiting for steamed clams lined up an hour before the tent opened.
Then a siren sounded and the eating started at Chincoteague's 28th annual Seafood Festival. First-timers were amazed at how quickly the long lines moved.
``If the U.S. government worked like this clam line, the country would be in good shape,'' said one impressed seafood lover.
Some people took their food to the shaded picnic tables to eat and talk. But many balanced food plates on paper cups filled with beer, or in cardboard boxes that had been cut to make trays. Then they joined another line and ate while they were waiting.
Anywhere else, it would be a bummer. But at Wednesday's festival, the party was happening in the lines.
People from all over Virginia and the Eastern Seaboard talked and laughed while waiting for oyster fritters or sweet potato fries.
White-haired women from Chesapeake, who had come on a bus with their seniors' club, mingled with insurance salesmen from Culpeper and politicians from Richmond.
David Caprara, who will face 1st District Rep. Herbert H. Bateman in a Republican primary June 11, worked the lines with his father, ``Cappy.'' He shook as many hands as he could, reminding locals of the millions in grant funding he helped bring to the Eastern Shore while he was director of Virginia's Department of Housing and Community Development under Gov. George F. Allen.
Greatwater, a country western band, played a string of hits, but nobody danced. About 125 local high school students served food, cleaned tables and emptied trash cans. Volunteers included 50 cooks and 25 clam and oyster shuckers.
Organizers of Wednesday's festival estimated that 3,500 people ate 100,000 steamed clams, 10,000 half-shell clams, 70 gallons of clam fritters, 250 cases of clam strips, 110 gallons of oyster fritters, 60 bushels of half-shelled oysters, 1,000 pounds of fresh fish, 1,200 pounds of sweet potato fries, 26,000 hush puppies, 50 gallons of cole slaw and 600 pounds of chicken tenders.
When asked why he came to the Seafood Festival, a visitor from Culpeper said: ``For great food and great fellowship.''
Anything else? ``What else is there?'' he asked, popping a steamed clam in his mouth. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CANDICE C. CUSIC, The Virginian-Pilot
Sue Fish, left, and Eva Savage prepare food at Chincoteague's 28th
annual Seafood Festival Wednesday. About 125 high school students
served food, cleaned tables, and emptied trash cans. Volunteers
included 50 cooks and 25 clam and oyster shuckers.
by CNB