Food & fun at Crab Fest
THOM CHISHOLM, of Ronan, smiles as he boils crab legs for the Ronan Chamber’s annual Crab Fest on Friday, June 22 at Bockman Park. Chisholm cooked about 350 pounds of crab for at least 100 people. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
FINDING SHADE so they could enjoy their crab legs are, left to right, Bill Ross, Coda Ross, Connie Ross, Dorothy Webster, Penny Ross and Jamie Buhr, standing. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
PEGGY ROSS of Ronan shows off her tuxedo bib, made by her daughter Debbie, at the Ronan Crab Fest last Friday at Bockman Park. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
As they enjoyed the sounds of classic rock and chatter from nearby people, the Ross family sat under a tree at Bockman Park in Ronan where they ate a collect five pounds of crab legs last Friday evening.
Decked out in her crab leg-eating attire, which was a tuxedo bib, matriarch Penny Ross said she has attended the Ronan Chamber of Commerce annual Crab Fest since it began, and “hasn’t missed” the event.
“I live (for) lobster and crab,” she said, laughing as she cracked open a crab leg.
The family brought their own pliers and chairs, except Bill, who made himself comfortable on the green, springy grass.
A master at the craft of breaking the shell on crab legs and pulling out one large piece of meat, Ross shared her process.
“You break off the ends, then kind of crack it (the leg), and just pull out (the meat) slowly,” she explained as she demonstrated. “You break the end there, crack it, and then it all comes out.”
Bill added to “pull (the crab meat) out really slowly (from the shell) and eat really fast.”
He estimated that between him and his family, between five and five-and-a-quarter pounds of crab legs would be consumed Friday.
Ronan Chamber of Commerce Secretary Brian Bergquist said during the feast that a final headcount wasn’t done, as people waited to see what the weather was going to do.
“A lot of people called and asked if they could buy tickets at the event, and we’ve sold a lot here,” he added.
Each year a local organization benefits from the money generated by the event, and this year funds raised will benefit the Ronan Beautification Committee.
Bergquist said that about 350 pounds of snow and opilio crab legs were boiled up.
Community businesses also took part in the event by donating items to be raffled in a silent auction.
The winner of the rubber duck race in the nearby creek took half the winnings, while the Beautification Committee received the other half.
For more information on the Ronan Chamber of Commerce, visit facebook.com/RonanChamber.