It started with beer and mollusks and a lot of men, regarding 50 in all.
Led by Charles W. Meyer, these guys held a St. Mary’s University graduates fulfilling on the financial institutions of the San Antonio River and chosen policemans. The 4th Illinois Band from Camp Wilson gave songs.
No person understood at the time, however the residues of that conference in 1916– vacant coverings spread around a fire pit– foreshadowed a yearly celebration with 70,000 individuals, 100,000 oysters and 32,000 chicken-on-a-stick with a jalapeño.
Today we call it Oyster Bake.
A trademark Feast occasion because 1974, Oyster Bake has actually expanded from a tiny event on the river financial institution to a sprawl of individuals, suppliers and live bands in the Pecan Grove at St. Mary’s College.
Referred to as a “celebration with a function,” Oyster Bake sustains pupil scholarships.
” I review its background, Oyster Bake has actually increased in the ball park of $11 million for pupils,” claimed Sean Strater, previous St. Mary’s Alumni Organization head of state and Feast Oyster Bake Chair for 2025. “We offer around 80 scholarships a year, completing around half a million bucks. It’s a 4 year dedication we provide to pupils.”
This year’s occasion, the 109th, will certainly include 2 days of food, beverage and live songs on 3 “main” phases, beginning Friday. Oysters will certainly be offered baked, deep-fried and raw, a practice no person from the very first graduates conference can have visualized.
Climate allowing, Oyster Bake will certainly create brand-new memories and mix old ones, some virtually neglected in the sluggish crawl of background.
According to college archives and old news article, Meyer acted as the very first cook and chairman of Oyster Bake in 1916, a year in which Dwight Eisenhower acted as St. Mary’s football train. (Yes, Head Of State Eisenhower.) In 1972, the San Antonio Express-News reported the very first oysters were “freely tied with warm sauce and offered with biscuits. Later on, by preferred need, shrimp was included in the price.”
Curiously, the paper uses various days for the very first event. On March 31, 1963, the paper reported, “” The special event, which has actually attracted thousands of graduates and their households back to the university every year because 1919 functions fresh oysters baked in their coverings over a barbeque pit.”
Two years later on, the Express-News reported that Meyer acted as the very first chairman “from the very first Oyster Bake in 1918 with 1946.”
Four years later on, the paper created, “The 1969 oyster bake births little similarity to the very first occasion, kept in 1917. …”
Conflicting days apart, remarkable information arise from college documents and paper archives. A little trench acted as the very first bbq pit near the front gateway of the university. Oyster Bake relocated to a cinema at St. Mary’s up until a flooding in 1921 pressed the occasion to an insufficient health club on university.
On Feb. 16, 1928, Meyer assembled Oyster Bake outdoors after a political election of graduates organization policemans in the Francis Memorial Collection. The Rattler, the institution paper, reported, “Everybody existing did complete justice to the drinks that were offered, particularly to both barrels of lucious Port Lavaca oysters baked to a turn by the knowledgeable cook.”
In 1929, St. Mary’s transferred from the river financial institution to its existing area on the West Side and brought Oyster Bake with it. 2 years later on, a keg of beer and a barrel and a fifty percent of oysters were bought, in addition to charcoal and horseradish, for $26.95.
Attendance and costs expanded gradually, also after the occasion relocated to the Pecan Grove in 1937. Oyster Bake set you back virtually $70 to generate in 1942 and virtually $290 by 1957. Oyster Bake attracted an approximated group of 500 in 1952 and 1,500 in 1965.
The pupil scholarship program started decently. In 1965, the St. Mary’s Alumni Organization granted its very first scholarship, worth $540 for one year of tuition, from a swimming pool of 47 senior high school candidates. In 1968, the scholarship raised to $800 for one year.
As Oyster Bake developed from an alumni-and-friends event to a fundraising occasion in the 1960s, brand-new customs arised. An oyster opening competition (because terminated) stood out in 1963 with rewards. An Express-News short article suggested, “A screwdriver, a set of pliers or solid blade is suggested. …”
Fiesta occasion standing in 1974 raised Oyster Bake’s account, producing better media insurance coverage and swelling public presence.
A document group of greater than 50,000 merged on university for the 75th wedding anniversary event in 1991. According to report, 2 miles of wire mesh fence and 5 amusement phases were put up. An approximated 3,700 volunteers offered 2,500 extra pounds of fajita meat and an unreported variety of oysters.
” I put on the Oyster Bake outfit in 1991 as a trainee,” claimed Steve Rosenauer, Feast San Antonio Compensation exec supervisor and previous Oyster Bake supervisor. “I was ‘Shuckie.’ That was when Oyster Bake was just one day. It mosted likely to 2 days in 1993.”
Oyster Bake commemorated its 75th wedding anniversary 2 years after the present Oyster Bake Chair, Sean Strater, was birthed. He attended his very first occasion as an university fresher in 2008.
” I extensively appreciated it,” claimed Strater, a Dallas local. “My moms and dads concerned community and we invested the weekend break with each other, walking, consuming food. I clearly bear in mind remaining on a little wall surface, talking with my mommy, consuming a chicken-on-a-stick with a jalapeno and paying attention to songs.”
With greater than a century of Oyster Bake background behind him, Strater intends to place his very own mark on the occasion.
” There are mosting likely to be some brand-new points, brand-new bands, brand-new food,” he claimed. “One I’m thrilled around are the churro attacks. They’re fried with lotion dental fillings. We attempted these out at a homecoming oyster cook for graduates and they were a success.”
Strater has actually scheduled Oyster Bake to companion with the Network for Youthful Artists to offer a location for neighborhood skill to execute. “The musicians will certainly utilize this experience, expand from it, and, with any luck, end up being the following huge point,” he claimed.
Oyster Bake, one can state, has actually ended up being a rather huge point. What started with a barrel of oysters and a keg of beer has actually become an occasion that sets you back $2 million to generate. From a shore to a Pecan Grove, a lengthy ago event has actually developed right into a two-day Feast phenomenon.
A single-day basic admission ticket sets you back $30. Examine the occasion site for the complete Oyster Bake songs line-up on the rock, nation and Tejano phases.
