By R/C Graeme Lowe
The 50th Annual Rollo Wheeler Memorial Regatta is in the books, and wow, was it a blast!
Friday afternoon, the traditional oysters and shrimp were prepared by what can only be described as a fleet of volunteers, led by Maria Wallace and her delicious Oysters Rockefeller. Alongside raw oysters on the half shell and freshly boiled jumbo shrimp, seafood was the theme of the weekend. It was so popular on Friday, that only the fastest of the Friday night beercan racers returned in time to get in on the action, though Chef Richard and Club Manager Suliana had an impressive dinner feast prepared for them as well.
Saturday, we cleaned, shucked, boiled, baked, peeled, and sold the rest of the oysters and shrimp. We were also treated to a fantastic performance by Shipwrecked Shanty, who played a first set in the foyer while we waited for the racers to return and then continued with another set during our monthly member dinner.
On Sunday, we had a jazz quartet take over the bar, setting the tone for a beautiful laid-back Sunday afternoon. All 800 oysters and 16 pounds of jumbo shrimp were long gone by Sunday, but we did have some great appetizers and finger food available all afternoon.
Wheeler relies on a lot of club members stepping in to help, and this year was no exception. In addition to those pictured, we are grateful for the hard work of our volunteers. Mari Bird sourced 800 of the cleanest and most delicious oysters. Mark Salmon, Robin Crawford, Antoine Wright, Aaron Lee, Evan McDonald, Franklin Shoffner and Leslie Aguilar shucked oysters and helped prep for dinner. Gun Landwehr, Kevin Mullally, and Maria Danielson assisted with the oysters and helped ensure all the seafood (and then the dinner) went smoothly. Delfina & Brooks Geiken graciously stayed afterward to help make sure things were cleaned up and organized. The dedication and hard work of our volunteers helped make the regatta a huge success.
Our club manager, Suliana, and our assistant club manager, Lisa, also deserve a special shout-out for making sure everything ran smoothly throughout the weekend. We simply couldn't do it without you both! Thank you!
Lastly, Staff Commodores Bob and Betty Gray helped with virtually every role all weekend. You two are true rockstars. Thank you so much for all of your contributions to the club, and for continuing to volunteer your time and energy to make events like this possible.
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