 |
| OCT photo of a happy 2007 crab racer, and other photos on this page, by Niki Price. |
|
2010 Garibaldi Crab Races
[Watch video from the 2010 races!]
If you go
What: The Garibaldi Crab Races
Where: Old Mill Marina, Third and American Way, Garibaldi
When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 13 — racing starts at 11 a.m.
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 14 — racing begins at noon
How much: Entrance buttons are $3. Races range from $1 to $4 each.
Details: 503-322-0322
Fists never solve anything — not even at the Garibaldi Crab Races. Although you may be tempted to use them, as you’re looking down your wooden lane and wishing your crab would move, it’s best to refrain. You’ll achieve more, said longtime Garibaldi Lion and local historian Jack Graves, if you pound on the track with your palms instead.
“Hold your hands flat, and make noise with the heel of your hand,” Graves advised. “If you use the backs of your hands, or your fists, you might hurt yourself.”
Sound advice from Graves, who has lived in Garibaldi for 70 years and attended nearly all of the Garibaldi Crab Races. This 48-year member of the Lions Club will be on hand for this weekend’s running of the crabs, the 25th annual, which will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 13. The main hall of the Old Mill Event Center and RV Park will be filled with people from around the Northwest, with all eyes on a six-lane, tilted wooden track.
Every 10 minutes or so, a new group of people will pay their fee — between $1 and $4 per race — and pick a lane. Dungeness crabs will be plucked from their holding pen and placed behind the starting gate. When the gun sounds, the gate will rise and … the crabs will be motionless. The humans will be called upon to encourage them to the finish line, without touching the crabs in any way. That’s where your palms will come in handy, Graves said.
“The winners are those who can pound the hardest and the longest. It makes a hell of a lot of racket,” he said. “Little kids really get into it. Mid-size kids, and big kids, too.”
The Lions give out a prize in every race. These vary from small toys to large gift certificates, for everything from charter fishing and lodging to meals and services. Competitors who win the Saturday heats advance to the finals, held on Sunday at the same location.
Some people are in it for the grand prizes — and bragging rights, of course— and stick around all weekend. But you don’t have to commit to both days in order to win at the Garibaldi Crab Races. There are one-time sweepstakes races, open to the first six people to reach the caller with the entrance fee, with prizes like stuffed toys and gift certificates.
Meanwhile, the hall will be filled with people eating, talking and enjoying the spectacle. The Lions will be selling crab dinners (full and half) along with hot dogs, chowder, shrimp and crab melts, seafood salad and shrimp cocktails, plus beer and wine. All proceeds go to the Garibaldi Lions, which funds a variety of community projects in this small bayside town.
“It’s just a good time, a time that is enjoyed by families. I’ve met families that come every year, from as far away as Wyoming or British Columbia, and plan their annual vacations around the crab races,” Graves said. “I’ve even seen families who have team uniforms, seven or eight of them dressed alike. They say they wouldn’t miss it for anything.”
According to most accounts, the first crab races were held around 1985 at Ghost Hole Tavern, using a circle drawn in the parking lot. In 1987, the event became more structured (to use the term lightly) and was held at the port, near the present-day Troller’s Restaurant. For many years, the races were sponsored by the Garibaldi Chamber of Commerce; since that group’s dissolution, it has been a Lions affair.
Last year, said organizer Kelly Barnett, the races brought in about $7,000. This year, thanks to the generosity of the Garibaldi crabbing fleet, the Lions should do even better. The local crabbers have donated about $2,000 worth of Dungeness to the cause. Barnett, who also owns The Garibaldi Cannery, will be taking care of these fishermen’s community investment.
“I’m the crab wrangler. I stay back at the plant, at the stables, making sure that they’re all well rested and ready to race,” Barnett said. “There’s no testing for these athletes, so there’s no way of knowing which ones are all beefed up on steroids. It’s going to be a wild time.”
|
 |
| Crab Race organizer, and KTIL owner, Van Moe, starting a race at the 2007 event. OCT photo by Niki Price. |
|
|
|
