The 35th annual Stumpy Point Oyster Feast will go on after all

Courtesy Stumpy Point Life Facebook page

After an outcry over the end of the beloved tradition, the 35th annual Stumpy Point Oyster Feast is back on, thanks to the Stumpy Point Civic Club.

The club met Friday and voted to continue the tradition, held for the last 34 years by the Bayview Chapel on the Dare County mainland. Last weekend, the church announced it had decided to end the event, which consistently drew crowds from across the region and state on the second Saturday in February to the isolated sound front community of around 250 residents.

According to a post on the Stumpy Point Life Facebook page, the Stumpy Point Civic Club and Stumpy Point Volunteer Fire Department will benefit from the feast, to be held Saturday, Feb. 8 from noon until 5 p.m. at the Stumpy Point Community Center.

The menu includes all-you-can-eat oysters — both in the shell to be shucked and fried. Fried fish, coleslaw, baked beans, potatoes, and hush puppies round out the menu.

“Calls and emails flooded into the village after the earlier cancellation was announced,” Sandy Semans Ross said, according to the Facebook post. “Callers said that they planned their trips to the Outer Banks based on the date of the feast. It had become a tradition with many families from both near and far.

“Civic Club members decided the annual event not only served to bring people to the village tucked into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, but also was a way to bring the village together by offering a way that both newcomers and generational residents could work together providing a peek at a unique commercial fishing village.”

The feast is $30 for adults and $12 for children 12 and under. Bring cash and an appetite!

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