Clambake 2008

This year we attended (as usual) the annual "Old Home Day" for the town of Carver, Massachusetts. In addition to music, arts and crafts, the 5-mile Cranberry Run, and the book sale at the Library, the centerpiece of Old Home Day is the clambake.

This picture shows the site of the clambake. The bandstand is visible, where a band plays nostalgic and patriotic songs. Click any picture for a larger image.

Most clambakes occur on beaches, or in your company's parking lot. Carver's clambake is held in a pine grove near the center of town. More than 600 people attended the clambake this year.

In this picture, steam is rising from the clambake pit. The pit has just been opened, but the food hasn't been served yet. The tables, and the diners, are still clean.

This is the pit after it has been opened and the food removed. On the morning of the clambake, a large pit is dug, large rocks are placed at the bottom, and a roaring fire is built on top of the rocks. After the fire burns down, the logs are removed, and fresh seaweed is placed over the hot rocks. The food is placed in wood trays, and the trays are stacked on top of the seaweed. The entire pile is then covered with cornhusks and then multiple tarps. The food steams and cooks inside the pile, while the cornhusks and tarps keep in the heat and moisture. The food consists mainly of clams, but also "side dishes" of hot dogs, sausages, white fish, white and sweet potatoes, stuffing, onions, and corn. It all cooks together, and everything acquires the faint taste of burned seaweed. The pit will continue to smoke for several hours after the clambake is over.

Here are the leftover logs from the morning's fire in the clambake pit. The police/fire department is visible across the street in the background. Earlier in the day, the fire department demonstrated the rapid disassembly of a wrecked car using the Jaws Of Life. All of the kids loved this one.

Here, most of the wood food trays have been emptied and placed back on the truck. Big steel buckets are used to ferry the clams to the tables. This is not a "fancy" clambake, i.e. lobster is not served. Something you will hear at the clambake every year is, "For what they charge, they should include lobstah".

Diane and Ginny (Virginia). This was Carver's 107th Old Home Day. To put this in perspective, at the 1st Old Home Day, the start of World War I was still more than 10 years away! Diane and Ginny's grandfather (Preston McKay) and his two brothers (Harold McKay and Arthur McKay) helped organize the early Old Home Days.

Brett and Jeff. In this picture, the clambake is over. The tables and diners are a mess. Notice the cars parked right inside the forest. Massachusetts drivers will park anywhere.

Jeff and his pile of shells. Yes he really did eat all of these clams.

Diane, Jeff, and Ginny. Another thing you hear every year is "It never rains on Old Home Day". It's true. Really.

Brett, Diane and Jeff.

Diane. This is how the site of the clambake looks a few hours after the clambake is over.

A vintage Chevrolet truck is parked in front of Carver Town Hall. Our grandparents likely came to the clambake in a vehicle like this.

This beauty still runs. Note the flip-up windshield.

Here is Brett planning his next career. Carver is in the middle of cranberry country (and not much else).

This is a view of a cranberry bog beside Carver's main road. Cranberries are a major agricultural crop for little Massachusetts, which is the second-largest producer of cranberries in the United States (Wisconsin is the first).

You will see cranberry bogs like this one all over coastal Massachusetts. It looks like a simple field, until you notice that it is very flat and level, it is surrounded by a ditch, and the main surface is well below the level of the road. The bog looks like this for most of the year, while the low vines are growing and the fruit is maturing. In the Fall, the bog is flooded, and a special machine is used to shake the vines underwater. The cranberries break free and float to the surface where they are collected. The vines survive the process and will bear fruit again next year.

Most New England cranberry growers belong to the Ocean Spray cooperative.

This is a relatively rare sight. This is brand new cranberry bog, or an old bog that is being rejuvenated. The soil has been leveled, several inches of sand have been prepared, and the young vines have been planted in the sandy soil.

The vines will grow undisturbed for 7 years (!) before this bog produces its first profitable harvest. It takes great patience to grow cranberries.

Thanks for visiting -- see you next year!