The Beach Haven area was bustling with thousands of people who came out to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chowderfest weekend at the Taylor Avenue ball field, just days before most traffic signals on Long Beach Island were turned off, signaling what many people believe is the real end of summer and the true beginning of the off-season.
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| Photo by Ryan Morrill The Chowderfest Cook-Off on Sunday was mobbed with hungry participants. |
Though the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, which hosts the event, has not yet received the final attendance number for the festival, officials believe it will be close to record-breaking.
“It definitely feels like this is going to be one of the largest we’ve had. We went full force with this,” said Lori Pepenella, the chamber’s destination marketing and communications director. “We had a lot of different opportunities to get the word out all year. We were promoting in December that we were open, and that was the first thing on the slate right after the storm. People wanted to know, are we going to have it (Chowderfest). We fulfilled every commitment that we had as far as events and marketing campaigns and just moved forward to make it happen. We know how important it is to the area and to our members. From what I’m seeing, we were able to draw a lot of new people for a first-time experience, and they were thrilled with it.”
Pepenella said people traveled from as far as Kentucky, Indiana and even Guyana, Africa to experience Chowderfest firsthand.
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| Photo by Ryan Morrill Volunteers help Howard's Restaurant chef owner Kevin Sparks spoon out cups of its winning New England clam chowder. |
This year’s installment included a number of new participants, including The Arlington and Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club on the white side and Shore Fire Grille and M&M Seafood Shack on the red side.
Guy and Patti Ann Mazzeo, owners of M&M Seafood Shack, said they decided to enter the Chowderfest competition to promote their homemade Manhattan clam chowder recipe as well as their new business, which they started after Guy’s mother decided not to reopen the M&M Steam Bar in Beach Haven Terrace due to Sandy damage. The couple chose to use a similar name for the local wholesale, retail fish market and takeout restaurant, but have not yet purchased a building for the business.
“We make a good soup, and the response today has been promising. People seem to like it,” said Patti Ann. “It’s hard to be recognized after summer without a business, so Chowderfest is the perfect place to do this.”
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| Photo by Ryan Morrill Chamber members Dan Taylor and Ellen Dondero Meyer remember the late Frank Panzone, former Chowderfest chairman, by retiring his Jersey. |
The owners rented space at the First United Methodist Church of Beach Haven Terrace to prepare approximately 220 gallons of chowder for the cook-off. They shucked 2,500 fresh clams and pulled fresh herbs from their home garden to create the recipe. Meltdown Ice Cream and The Chicken or the Egg allowed the couple to use their refrigeration to store the soup prior to the festival.
“You can’t just make the soup at home. It needs to be made in a kitchen authorized by the health department. The other local business owners have been nothing but encouraging,” said Patti Ann.
J.B. Maschal, whose father started Chowderfest on the Island in 1989, was competing on the other side of the stage for the best New England clam chowder on behalf of Country Kettle Chowda. Though the restaurant had won the competition many times for its 1960s family recipe, Maschal said it had been a long time since the last victory and was hoping to take home the grand prize this year.
Country Kettle took third runner-up in the New England clam chowder competition and took home an award for its decked-out booth complete with a ship and other nautical flair, for the best shore motif.
The VIP best booth winner awards also went out to Buckalew’s for most enthusiastic, whose booth featured clamming baymen, and Lefty’s Tavern for most creative, whose booth sported a football game played by a group of clams. The Black Whale Bar and Fish House, whose booth featured a “Souper” bowl of chowder, took home the award for best interpretation of the Chowderfest theme. The Super Bowl theme was chosen to celebrate the location of the 2014 Super Bowl in New Jersey.
Shore Fire Grille, which brought LED TVs for people to watch the Eagles-Giants game while sampling their spicy chowder, took home the rookie of the year award and placed third runner-up in the Manhattan clam chowder competition.
Lefty’s Tavern took home critics’ choice and first runner-up for the red chowder competition. Second runner-up went to Black Whale.
Critics’ choice for the New England chowder was awarded to Phillips Seafood. Buckalew’s took first runner-up, and the Chicken or the Egg took second runner-up.
The awards were given out by Beach Haven Mayor Robert Keeler and 9th District Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Gove.
Before the awards ceremony, former president of the chamber, Frank Panzone, who chaired the Chowderfest committee for the past 24 years before passing away from cancer last year, was recognized with a special dedication. The chamber retired Panzone’s Chowderfest Jersey, which will be framed and hung on stage at every Chowderfest.
“Just to have that little moment of dedication in the park, I think, was very important for everyone,” said Pepenella. “To head a committee is a lot of responsibility, a lot of details, and he (Frank) grew this event with the help of the volunteers to be what it is today.”
According to Pepenella, more than 400 volunteers helped out during this year’s festival.
“We thank our members and the volunteers and the restaurants because it made a huge impact on the area. Businesses did very well all around Southern Ocean County. It was definitely a high-traffic weekend, and we’re proud of that,” she said.
Planning for next year’s Chowderfest, which will also honor the chamber's 100th anniversary, will begin within the next couple of weeks after cleanup from this year’s event is completed.
–Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
–Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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