The Yachats Crab Feed shell go on
By Barbara B. Covell
For the TODAY
There’s no doubt about it, times have changed. Life during the pandemic means mask-wearing, social distancing and avoiding crowded spaces. Creative thinking abounds, however, like within the Yachats Lions Club, which will be holding its annual Crab Feed on Saturday, Jan. 30 — with a bit of a twist.
“Things are different this year,” said Kevin Yorks, co-chair of the Yachats Crab Feed. “It won’t be a large-scale event, as it has been in the past. But, at least we are maintaining the tradition and moving forward.”
This year’s feed has the same great food but without the group dining experience. Online reservations are currently being taken at yachatslionsclub.org for options from a “shop” page, where you can purchase crab dinners for drive-by pickup. Dinners include one whole crab, coleslaw, garlic bread and a pat of butter for $25. Pickups will be from 3 to 6 pm at the Yachats Lions Hall, 344 4th Street.
“We have three different time slots to avoid people showing up at the same time,” Yorks said. “The dinners are the same as usual, with the exception of baked beans and the all-you-can-eat crab. The crab comes from the South Beach Market, cooked and cleaned. The coleslaw is from Reser’s and the bread is locally made at Breadworks. The day of the event, we will have an assembly line of 15 volunteers preparing everything so the dinners are ready to go by 3 pm. If we need more volunteers, the Yachats Ladies Club has offered to help.”
Ticket sales have been going well since the club began advertising. The website features new graphics for this year’s feed, designed by Bruce Rawles of Intent Design Studio, a local business. With its new product-purchasing features, Yorks and his co-chair Phil Wells anticipate a good turnout for this year’s event.
It is a big change from the 40 volunteers serving 1,500 crabs to 450 people in three different seatings at the Yachats Commons and the Lions Club Hall. In fact, the past few years were sellout crowds with 80 percent of the ticket holders coming from out of town, benefitting local hotels, motels and restaurants.
“When it first began, Lions Club members would cook and clean the crab themselves,” Yorks said. “They would also make all the other food, but the event grew so big that we could no longer do that.”
The feed started in 1992 and grew to be Yachats’ largest benefit event, with all profits donated back to the community. The past two years each netted $25,000 and benefitted the fire department, the food bank, the Yachats Youth and Family Activities Program and the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and funded scholarships, community eye care and hearing tests. Yorks says the Yachats Lions Club donates more money than any other Lions Club in the state.
Today, the biggest money maker for the club is its thrift store, located at 236 W 4th Street.
“It’s an amazing all-volunteer operation,” Yorks said. “It pays all the bills for our Lions Club Hall. We are the exception, rather than the rule, by having such a nice facility. It was built by the members themselves.”
Membership in the Yachats Lions Club is now about 25.
“We need new members, but service organizations in general are dwindling,” Yorks said. “The word service has people afraid of getting involved and making commitments. But you can choose what you want to do and participate in only those things you are interested in. We tell people they don’t have to do everything.”
Most new members come by word of mouth. They might be new to the area, come into the thrift store or attend a Lions Club event. Many people who join have been involved in a Lions Club elsewhere.
For more information about the Yachats Crab Feed or the Yachats Lions Club, go to yachatslionsclub.org or call 541-760-3489.