Get ready for a cracking event

Thanks to the Newport Chamber of Commerce, Newport is once again the official Dungeness Crab Capital of the World. So, it stands to reason that the town is also the crab dinner capital of the world. Kick off the crab-cracking season at the Crab Krack Fundraising Dinner and Auction, taking place at Newport’s Best Western Agate Beach Inn on Sunday, Feb. 18.

The event is a fund-raiser for the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center.

“The local fishermen and Pacific Seafood get us incredible crab meat,” Director Susan Tissot said. “At last year’s dinner it was the best I've ever had.”

The menu is Dungeness crab, red potatoes, Caesar salad, green beans, bread rolls and fruit cobbler. For participants who do not eat seafood or have dietary restrictions but still want to party with other museum supporters, the kitchen will create a separate entrée.

“We will also have live music, silent and live auctions and a no-host bar,” Tissot said. “We have some incredible auction items this year, including a framed original Gyotaku print by Bruce Koike, who will be teaching a printmaking workshop at our upcoming Prosperity of the Sea exhibit. We also have a beautiful mid-sized quilt from Jean Amundson, a very well-known quilter. We’ll have something from Local Ocean and some excursions like fishing trips. We basically will have a variety of items to fit all budgets.”

Last year’s event sold out, so don’t wait to purchase your tickets.

“This dinner goes a long way to helping to support our robust programs so we can keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Tissot said.

Tickets are $75 per person or $65 for Lincoln County Historical Society members, and can be purchased in person at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center, located at 333 SE Bay Blvd. in Newport and open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm, by phone at 541-265-7509 or online at oregoncoasthistory.org.