WCRC Crab Feast in pictures and text

I realize this is Labor Day weekend, but thanks to Hurricane Irene the Wicomico County Republican Club was forced to reschedule its annual Crab Feast from last weekend to yesterday. It worked out for me because I had plans last weekend, but these guys – well, they weren’t going to interrupt their fishing.

Still, we had a pretty good crowd.

Those that did attend were feted with crabs (of course), hamburgers, hotdogs, sweet corn, watermelon, and a little bit of political talk.

AFter being welcomed by both WCRC president Larry Dodd (top photo) and county GOP Chair Dave Parker (bottom photo) the gathering got to hear the impassioned words of Delegate Mike McDermott.

McDermott portrayed himself as “one of the governor’s poster children for everything that’s right about the Eastern Shore” and noted that every liberal policy in Annapolis “begins and ends with tears…they cry to get what they want and then you cry when they pass the legislation.” He went on to discuss the fight against same-sex marriage in the General Assembly and called those assembled “game changers” because there were six more Republicans in the House of Delegates this term – one for each committee.

Much more brief was fellow Delegate Charles Otto, who thanked McDermott for saying a lot of what he would have had to say and those attending for their support.

Local liaison Mark McIver made an appearance on behalf of Congressman Andy Harris and spoke about Harris’s vote on the recent debt ceiling bill.

Now I understand that our date was switched so I can give Harris a pass this year. But one criticism of Wayne Gilchrest was that he didn’t do a lot to build the Republican Party and rarely appeared at local party events like this one. (In our case, though, the Crab Feast had long been held on the same day as the former First District Bull Roast up the Shore.) Still, let’s hope that the absence of Andy was simply due to our change and not because he’s gone Washington on us. I think the former is the case.

It wasn’t all political gab, though. Part of the Crab Feast’s purpose is to fundraise for the Wicomico County Republican Club, so there’s a silent auction.

Many of the items sold were gift certificates, decorative items, and such, but there were some books included too.

I hope the two young people who Dad bought the guitars for will be gracing our local musical scene in a few years!

And you can’t forget the sponsors and donors, either.

Because of the change it may not have been as successful as past Crab Feasts were insofar as fundraising goes, but it was a nice break in the weekend for those who showed. It was commented to me that there were quite a few new faces in the crowd, which is a good turn of events. Whether they thought the price was right or wanted to be more politically informed, this was the place to be yesterday.