Crab Feed huge success for civic center

Marsha Hart, KP News

About 224 people packed the civic center for the annual Crab Feed on Feb. 20. Photo: Danna Webster, KP News

It wasn’t the same old Crab Feed this year at the Key Peninsula Civic Center’s annual Crab Feed event. Festive decorations, a DJ and video were just a few of the improvements. More than 200 came through the doors for the crab and spaghetti dinner.

“It went quite well and we had plenty of crab,” said Lloyd Miller, first member at large.

Next to the fireworks stand the civic center has during the July 4 holiday each year, the Crab Feed brings in much-needed funds for the center, Miller said. Totals were $3,000 from Crab Feed, he said.

Fresh crab was purchased from Winks Boat Fresh Seafood in Purdy. A video of Winks on his crabbing trip was edited by Dan Toby, and played on a big screen during the dinner, Miller said. The crab that was cooked for the dinner was caught on Monday.

“We bought 700 pounds of crab, because last year we had 500 pounds and ran out of crab,” he said.

To add to the ambiance, Winks provided some decorations for the occasion.

“Winks brought crab pots that sat out front, and hung netting on the wall,” Miller said.

There was crab left over, and Miller said they sold it for $5 per crab as people left the event, and were able to sell all of it.

The DJ played music for the dinner crowd, Pat Medvecas cooked up some spaghetti sauce that was a big hit, and the setup was a little different this time around.

“We served on the lower balcony,” he said. “It went better, and we moved people through quicker.”

Some 30 or so volunteers worked to make it all happen, from selling tickets at the front door, kitchen workers who prepared the spaghetti meal, to a Cub Scout Troop acting as bus boys, Miller said.