4 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
KEEP CLAM AND PARTY ON
Long Beach Razor Clam
Festival runs all day April 21
By PATRICK WEBB
FOR COAST WEEKEND
arla Curtis has a specific reason
to explain her enthusiasm for
the Long Beach Razor Clam
Festival.
It signals the coming of spring.
As president of the Long Beach
Merchants Association, she and a hard-
working committee have oversight of
the event, which runs all day Saturday,
April 21.
“This is the event that brings on
spring,” said Curtis, who owns the
North Beach Tavern. “It’s really the
first flood of the summer. We had a
good spring break, but that’s a partic-
ular kind of audience. This event is
fun because it enables us to welcome
back the seasonal locals.
“I think they look to this event as
their ‘coming back’ to the Peninsu-
la — I think that’s why it generates so
much enthusiasm. But it’s also about the
locals on the Peninsula getting out of
their homes.”
Although pirates and mermaids
will be wandering through the crowds
between noon and 3 p.m. providing
entertainment, there is no doubt that
Northwest razor clams — proper name
Siliqua patula — will be the star of the
show.
The Elks Lodge at 110 N. Pacific
Highway will host the chowder con-
tests. There will be one for 12 amateur
contestants 11:30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and
another 2 to 4 p.m. featuring 11 Long
Beach Peninsula restaurants.
The professional cooks will be vying
for a hand-carved clam trophy created
by Raymond artist Doug Knight — plus
yearlong braggin’ rights. Just 350 tickets
to taste will be sold (at $10 each).
Last year, Curtis had taken over the
Pioneer Tavern a few months earlier and
was busy rebranding the business. Her
kitchen manager, David Jacks, took part
in the professional chowder contest.
“We had 350 people tasting chow-
der — people were so friendly and such
fun,” Curtis said. “The restaurants were
wonderful; it didn’t feel like a compe-
tition. It was such a fun environment, I
C
PATRICK WEBB PHOTO
FILE PHOTO
The Long Beach Razor Clam Festival started in 1940, attracting visitors with the tasty prom-
ise of the World’s Largest Clam Fritter, cooked publicly in the World’s Largest Frying Pan.
MORE INFO
For a taste of the philosophy and history of the bivalve mollusk, there’s no
better book than “Razor Clams: Buried Treasure of the Pacific Northwest,” (Uni-
versity of Washington Press, 2017) by former Seattle Times writer David Berger.
It also features recipes.
couldn’t wait to do it again.”
Into the frying pan
Veterans Field will be the center-
piece for much of the action, with music
provided noon to 7 p.m. by a violinist
and bands playing music by the Beach
Boys and the Beatles. Local beer will be
featured in the North Jetty Brewing Co.
beer garden during the same hours, and
all other vendors will all have a fishy
flavor to their wares.
Karla Jensen, who bought the Mer-
maid Inn and RV Park in Long Beach
about a year ago, is the merchants’
liaison to the organizing committee.
“This community festival was one of our
favorite events when we would come to
town,” said Jensen, who moved from the
Portland area.
She said all the events combine to
show off the bounty of the Peninsula.
“There is a lot of work for us to be
able to do this,” she said. “It’s about the
community coming out and celebrat-
ing together and showing people from
outside town the fascination of razor
clams — some people have never seen
one before!”
The Beach Barons, the group that
hosts September’s annual Rod Run to
the End of the World, will take charge of
cooking clam fritter samples in a giant
frying pan — a replica of the historic
landmark on display downtown.
They will be at Veterans Field 3 to
5 p.m., offering four kinds of fritters,
using award-winning recipes from prior
All visitors to Long Beach are required to
have their photo taken by the giant clam
downtown or adjoining “World’s Largest
Frying Pan.” Left to right are Castle Rock vis-
itors Jen Crayne, daughter Stephanie, 17,
Ron Crayne, and their niece Kathryn Mar-
cil, also 17. Scores of similar shots will be
snapped during the Razor Clam Festival.
years. Some of the group’s vintage cars
will be parked to create an impromptu
display nearby.
Once again, the Dennis Co. store at
201 Pacific Avenue North will host a
clam contest for the biggest, smallest
and best-looking limit, as well as guess-
ing the number of clams in the guessing
tank. People can bring in their entries for
judging between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Clam
gear vendors will also be there.
In addition, there will be clam dig-
ging lessons, with groups forming up
with their guides on the Bolstad Avenue
Approach at 10 a.m. “They’ll be taken
to the ocean edge and they will demon-
strate how to dig a clam with a gun or a
shovel,” Jensen said.
And there will be an opportunity
from 11 a.m. to noon at the Bolstad Pa-
vilion to learn how to best clean clams,
blanch, cut and rinse them properly.
In short, bring on Saturday!
“It’s family friendly — you just can-
not be bored during the day with all the
fun things to do.” CW