Clambake Grounds,      empty, silent,           asleep, waiting…

Bake House       closed, shuttered,           asleep, waiting...

Clambake Memories

Allen's Neck Clambake, after being at rest for almost a year is beginning to stir: phone lines are humming, job assignments are confirmed. “Same as last year!” is the motto. The first Clambake was held in the dunes next to Reed Road in Westport.  The tickets cost 50 cents. Later it was moved to the land across from the Meeting House until 1959 when it was moved to the present site at the corner of Allen’s Neck road and Horseneck Road.
Allen’s Neck Clambake holds a lot of memories for all members.

Virginia Morrison remembers:
Years ago when the Clambake was held across the street from the Meeting House, the Bake was held in the “grove” on the left side of the lane that is now there. We always had to clear a spot on the right side of the lane for the Candy Tent. The Candy Tent was a fund raiser for the W. C. T. U.  They sold things like "Orange Slices" and "Green Leaves" for a penny.

A few days before Clambake, the ladies from the W. C. T. U. who also happened to be members of the Meeting, would come to our house. They would sit around our big table and make the candy for the Candy Tent. They couldn't make the candy too early because it wouldn't be fresh and they couldn't make it the day before, because they were all at home baking pies and bread for the Bake.

While they sat around the table it was my job to hand them the materials. If they were making marshmallow snow men, I would give them the marshmallows for the body, gum drops for the hat, cloves for eyes, and tooth picks for the arms. (People in those days were smart enough not to eat the tooth picks, you can't do that now) They also made "clowns" and "elephants".

The day of the Clambake my father gave me 5 nickels to spend at the Candy Tent.  I always wondered why I had to pay for the candy when I helped make it, until my mother explained that the money was for the W.C.T.U.

Billy Wood remembers:
My son, Ben was born on Clambake day. I took Shelly to the hospital the night before and by midnight he still hadn't come. I had to go home and do some chores. I didn’t get back until 8 am the next day. By then, he had already been born. I stayed at the hospital for a while and things were ok, and I was a proud father, so I left and went to Clambake.

Benjamin Wood was born August 17, 1977. He now works at the Texas Roadhouse in Dartmouth.