Ready to Roast

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By Raleigh Kitchen, St. Simons Land Trust

“Excuse us! Do you mind if we get in here?” This sudden cheery voice catches your attention. As you look to your left, two smiling faces are looking back at you. These faces, and the bright red aprons worn just below them, belong to dedicated volunteers with the St. Simons Land Trust. Tonight, they are oyster runners. You look down and each volunteer is holding the handle of a large basket filled with nearly 100 freshly steamed South Georgia oysters. One of the volunteers continues, “We have a fresh batch to deliver and there are so many more coming!” You quickly move aside, and SPLAT. Roughly 50 pounds of heavenly goodness now sits in front of you on a red and white checkered tablecloth.

You’ve been waiting 365 days for this experience. Since January 2022, you’ve been waiting to be back at the Land Trust’s annual Oyster Roast. Now, once again, it’s you against the bivalve. As steam rises from the pile of oysters, you hold a sharp-edged oyster with one gloved hand and the other holds a shucking knife. You press the blade into the oyster’s hinge, twist the knife, and CRACK.

In a feeling of utter success, that perfectly steamed (or fire-roasted, if you prefer) oyster opens in your hand. Something about opening an oyster feels a bit empowering, regardless of how you do it. (Amazing that a local shorebird, the American Oystercatcher, can do this with its beak!) Without hesitation, the fleshy morsel is dipped into melted butter or cocktail sauce, placed on a cracker, and consumed. One after another, these coastal delights are eaten, and their shells tossed into buckets beneath the table for later use in a living shoreline or other conservation project.

For the oyster lovers out there, this is a scene you are sure to experience at the Land Trust’s 2023 Oyster Roast. Taking place on January 21, 2023, at Gascoigne Bluff Park on St. Simons Island, this annual event is one the Golden Isles community looks forward to every year. And while local oysters are a main attraction, the event is about far more than eating. The Land Trust hosts this annual fundraiser to gather the community in the name of coastal conservation. It brings awareness to the organization’s important work and helps raise money to preserve the natural and scenic character of St. Simons – a cause that anyone who knows and loves the island can get behind.

“The Land Trust’s Oyster Roast is always a top priority for us every year,” says Greer Brown, the Land Trust’s board chair. “It’s a homegrown event that is the perfect culmination of location, food, music, and people all supporting and celebrating an organization dedicated to preserving the attributes that make St. Simons Island such a special place to both residents and visitors.”

The first SSLT Oyster Roast was held at Village Creek Landing in 2000 (the same year the organization was founded) with 70 guests in attendance – far more than had been expected. The oysters were soon gone and had to be supplemented with hotdogs and other quickly purchased food. As the event grew, so did the size of the venue and amount of food required. When it moved to Fort Frederica, a lovely array of buffet items such as fried chicken and Low Country boil was added. Finally, after reaching ticket sales of more than 600, it relocated permanently to Gascoigne Bluff Park where more than 1,000 tickets are sold every year and nearly 50 local restaurants provide delicious coastal cuisine.

The exciting growth continues with the 2023 Oyster Roast. This year, the Land Trust’s Pennies for Preservation partner Maggie Hughes Events has taken over the planning and execution of the Roast. Maggie, who is also a Land Trust Ambassador, was excited about the opportunity to experience the Roast in a professional capacity. “The Land Trust and its mission are so important to me and my businesses. We’ve partnered in many ways already, but I am honored to support the organization further by planning its annual fundraiser. This year’s event is going to be unforgettable!”

The Land Trust’s staff is quick to say that they wouldn’t be able to host the event without the help of the nearly 100 other businesses that support the organization. “It absolutely would not be possible without the many restaurants and businesses who give so generously,” says Emily Ellison, the Land Trust’s Executive Director. “These partners provide us with special menu items, with staff time, and with financial support. And if we didn’t have community leaders like Charlie Williams, owner of Crabdaddy’s and Fiddlers at 410 Arnold, and Steve and Sandy Schoettle at Sea Island Forge, steaming and roasting the oysters every year, if we didn’t have Bob Thompson spending the night on the grounds, or Chef Dave Carrier cooking hundreds of pounds of Low Country boil, if we didn’t have a happy band of dedicated, hard-working volunteers, there is no way we could pull off such an event.”

In fact, that corps of volunteers, who do far more than run oysters from the steamer to the table, has tripled over the last few years. Nearly 150 people begin helping months before the event and lead efforts to set up the day of the Oyster Roast, serve food and drinks, and break down afterwards. On January 21, they will be there once again in their red volunteer aprons. And with the growing number of guests and food booths at the event, their help will be needed more than ever.

In addition to oysters and Low Country boil from Certified Burgers & Beverage, there will be barbeque, soups and chowders, salads, fried chicken, mac-and-cheese, and desserts. In 2022, the Land Trust Oyster Roast had nearly 20 restaurant booths that included food such as crab cakes from Barbara Jean’s, smoked sausage chili and foie gras crostini from ECHO, caramelized sweet potatoes from Ember, the famous Bananas Foster from Halyard Restaurant Group, and other specialty items from the chefs at Nazzaro’s, Striplings General Store, Sea Island, Sea Salt, Chile Peppers, The Westin, and more.

While the food is certainly a good reason to attend, the live music will keep you there! We always suggest you wear comfortable shoes and be ready for your toes to be tapping to some familiar tunes. Award-winning singer/songwriter Dallas Davidson and his band will once again fill Gascoigne Bluff the sweet sounds of many of the Nashville hits that he helped send up the charts. It’s quite a treat!

So, after you’ve eaten your fill of oysters, made rounds through the many different restaurant booths, purchased a raffle ticket or two, and boot-scoot boogied to a few country songs, what next? We hope you leave the event with a desire to invest in land preservation on St. Simons by becoming an annual member of the Land Trust, receiving training to volunteer or become a docent at Cannon’s Point Preserve, or get plugged in to the organization’s ambassador groups.

For those of you who are already a part of the Land Trust’s family of supporters, we genuinely thank you. Your generosity means more than you’ll ever know and is making real impact on St. Simons Island. Now, let’s get ready to have some FUN!

Tickets for the 2023 St. Simons Land Trust Oyster Roast on Saturday, January 21, 2023 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Gascoigne Bluff Park are $95. Current Land Trust members receive a special discounted rate of $75. Call 912.638.9109 to order or buy online beginning December 1, 2022. Ticket sales end January 14, unless sold out beforehand. To purchase online and for more information, visit sslt.org. See you in January!

**12/30 UPDATE — EVENT IS SOLD OUT**