13th Annual Kid’s Crabbing Tournament
WORDS BY JULIE SECKINGER PHOTOS BY REFLECTIONS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
Our waterways carve our customs and salt our souls. Crabbing along our banks can be traced back to the Guale tribe of Native Americans. The method has not modernized much, if any—a line tied to a stick and bait. There is nothing like gliding up a winding, Spartina-lined creek to get to your secret honey hole, throwing in the lines, waiting with anticipation for the slight tug, then slowly and steadily pulling up the line until a blue figure emerges—the Callinectes sapidus, which means “beautiful, savory swimmer,” otherwise known as the blue crab.
Salt Cured Foundation held the 13th Annual Kids’ Crabbing Tourney, benefiting Pay It Forward Foundation of Bryan County, this past Saturday. Equal parts competition, camaraderie, and coastal community combined as approximately 80 kids vied to weigh in the heaviest catch. Each participant received a medal and was entered into the raffle for prizes including a paddle board, two-person ski tube, kneeboard, skateboard, fishing poles, cast nets, and more. Winners were team Spur Crew: Will Seagraves, Stella Seagraves, Collin Seagraves, and Noah Holly.
They would not share their secret crabbing spot; however, they did share their winnings—giving the entire $500 prize to Pay It Forward Foundation, exemplifying the heart of the foundation’s purpose. The founder, Dana Lewis, provides an avenue for the people of this community who have been blessed to be a blessing to others, and strives to help those who have fallen through the cracks.
The day culminated with hermit crab races, snow cones, a traditional crab boil by Robert Anderson and Jay Osteen, some smack talk and tall tales as people reminisced over the past 13 years, in disbelief of the once crabbing toddlers that now have their own teams and boats, and in celebration of all the new salty souls that just learned to tell the difference between a sally and jimmy by her painted fingernails.
