Twain Harte Crab Feed: Soroptimists’ Recipe for a Delicious Winter Tradition
From left to right Gary Aldrich, Eric Carlson and Ken Koral help prepare dozens of buckets of crab during last year’s event.
Story and photos by Amy Nilson, Soroptimist member
Start with warm bowls of chowder, crusty garlic bread, Caesar salad and creamy fettuccini. Bring out all the fresh crab you can eat and finish up with an irresistible brownie sundae dished up by your friends and neighbors.
That’s the winning menu for one of the Twain Harte community’s most popular winter traditions: the annual Twain Harte Crab Feed hosted by Twain Harte Soroptimists, coming up Saturday, January 17 at 4:30 p.m. at the Tuolumne Memorial Hall.
Tickets are on sale now, $35 per person for this all-you-can-eat feast, a benefit for the Twain Harte Soroptimists’ many community projects, including scholarships for women and youth, support for the Mountain Women’s Resource Center, local shelters and breast health services, new theater seats at Summerville High School and more.
Twain Harte’s winter crab feed is a tradition started by the Twain Harte Rotary club more than 40 years ago. The combination of a great menu, a reasonable price and a fun, friendly atmosphere have kept it a sell-out.
Summerville High S-Club students helping at last year’s event.
All the right ingredients
So just how do you pull off a fresh seafood dinner for 400 guests and make sure it’s a money-maker for community causes? When you’re talking 1,400 pounds of iced crab, huge pans of pasta, vats of chowder and a few square yards of brownies, all pulled together by volunteers, how does it work?
Here’s the recipe, from a community group that has been hosting successful community benefits for decades:
Start with a great cause – While food and fun are the featured attraction, the purpose for an event like the Crab Feed is to raise funds for the community – and that’s what motivates so many people to attend year after year. Every cent raised by Soroptimists will go right back into the community for the club’s many local service projects that benefit women and children.
Assemble the right team – “The key to success is simple, really,” said Soroptimist member Stephanie McCaffrey, who’s chairing this year’s event along with Club President Patt Koral. “You need to have every member of your club involved and enthusiastic. If we have that, we have 35-40 women – and a lot of husbands – out there working to sell tickets, get the word out, collect raffle prizes, help with all the preparations and be there during the event as helping hands. That’s really what makes an event successful. The rest is just good planning and great community support.”
Soroptimists are quick to pitch in, McCaffrey said, and bring a variety of skills and contacts to club projects. This year’s event is in excellent shape, she said, and she expects everything to come together smoothly in the final two weeks.
“We’re ready,” she said. “From here, we just keep the costs down as much as we can, stay optimistic and sell those tickets. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”
Make a game plan – Planning ideally starts a year to six months ahead: setting the date, securing the location, assigning leaders and contracting for essential services such as reserving tables and chairs and signing up student groups to help serve and entertain. The club committee starts meeting monthly with volunteers assigned to tasks such as securing permits for food and alcohol, rounding up raffle prizes, placing food and beverage orders, planning publicity and signing up sponsors and donors. Two months out, tickets and posters are printed and distributed, press releases and photos go out and members start selling tickets. A month out, the committee starts to meet weekly to report progress, review check lists and talk through procedures for set-up, check-in and kitchen assignments. Two weeks out, all publicity is in full swing, all raffle prizes must be collected and kitchen equipment gathered. A few days out, teams can start early food preparations. The day before the event, tables and chairs are delivered and set up and supplies brought in. The day of the event, the kitchen team assembles early in the morning, tables are set, and volunteers arrive early to go over procedures for check-in, serving, beverages, raffle procedures and clean-up.
The massive crowd at last year’s event.
One item McCaffrey recommends for a volunteer event is to hire a little bit of help for set-up and clean up on the day of the event. A small crew led by Kelly Sherlock hauls and sets up tables, chairs and borrowed equipment, and a crew from PJ’s leads the clean-up at the end. “It’s a small investment, really, and it makes the event so much more workable for our volunteers,” McCaffrey said. We don’t burn out, and we can focus more on the details that make an event run smoothly and give it a great atmosphere.”
Offer an appealing menu – When an event includes a meal prepared by an all-volunteer crew in tight quarters, success again depends on good planning, a simple menu and attention to details, McCaffrey says. Fresh crab is a good choice, she says, because it’s a delicious seasonal item that can be delivered right to the kitchen the day of the event. Volunteers just have to parcel it out in serving containers. Other items – the soup, pasta, bread, mixed salad and brownies – can be prepared easily and mostly in advance, with a few final touches at serving time. Extra hands help a lot too. “A lot of our husbands are Rotarians and have a lot of experience with this event,” McCaffrey said. “They’re a great help and a lot of fun to have in the kitchen.”
Pay attention to presentation – Guests are at a benefit to support the community, but they’ll come back year after year if they have great food and a fun time. For the crab feed, Soroptimists last year switched to family-style service to keep a casual, friendly atmosphere. Tables were sprinkled with crayons and candy, and more than 20 students from the Summerville High’s S Club and resource class helped serve people at their tables. To keep things lively, a raffle and door prize drawing goes on throughout the evening. “People like to see that you’ve thought about what they like, what works and what they might enjoy,” McCaffrey said.
Mind the bottom line – In the end, the club wants its event to be a money-maker for some great community projects. Ticket sales are most important, the raffle boosts the bottom line, and organizers look for every way possible to keep expenses down.
“The main expense is always going to be the food, but this community is so generous when it comes to donations and discounts,” McCaffrey said, “and our club members do so much every year.” Club member Judy Stoltenberg donates the graphic design work, Sierra Instant Printing gives a significant discount on printing, the Twain Harte Rotary Club loans its tables and chairs, Kentucky Fried Chicken donates dozens of buckets for the crab, as a non-profit the club pays no fee for the community hall and no fee for the health permit. Club member Diane Dunnigan, the owner of The Rock Pub and Restaurant, orders food and supplies at a discount from her supplier and bakes all the brownies, the McCaffrey House orders wine at a discount.
Club members all collect or donate the raffle and auction prizes, and Black Oak Casino is the event’s major sponsor. “All of this support brings our costs way down, so we expect to net at least $10,000.”
Include a wrap up – Every good event that has developed into a tradition includes good follow-through. That means prompt thank yous to volunteers and donors, and scheduling a debriefing session with the team a week or two after the event. “You need to celebrate your hard work and take notes on what worked and what needs improvement,” McCaffrey said. “That’s your head start for next year.”
Tickets are $35 and may be purchased in Twain Harte at El Dorado Savings, US Bank and The Rock; in Tuolumne at Burns Refuse or by calling Patt Koral at 928-1616 or Jan Moncrieff at 532-5312.
