The Virginia Oyster Shucking Contest, sponsored by Rappahannock Oyster Company, will start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 6, behind the Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department firehouse at 335 Virginia St.
Since Urbanna is the home of Virginia’s “official” Oyster Festival, it is only appropriate that some of the best oyster shuckers in the world practice their trade near the town. The top professional shucker in the contest wins $300. The first place prize in each of the men’s and women’s divisions is $100; second, $50; and third, $25.
The winner is declared state champion and advances to compete in the National Oyster Shucking Contest in St. Mary’s County, Md., in October 2022.
Expected to compete are former national women’s oyster shucking champions Clementine Macon and Deborah Pratt of Jamaica in upper Middlesex. Pratt, the current state champion, is a six-time national oyster shucking champion.
There will be an amateur shucking competition with a plaque for the winner, and an official Oyster Festival poster for second and third place finishers. Registration begins at 9 a.m. behind the firehouse.
Shucking sensation Pratt won last year, expected back
Deborah Pratt of Jamaica won yet another Virginia State Oyster Shucking Championship last year. Pratt prevailed against men’s division winner Robert Minor of Mathews in the Oct. 31, 2020 competition in Urbanna.
Pratt claimed the title by shucking 24 oysters with a time of 3:34 minutes to Minor’s 4:04.
Pratt has won numerous Virginia State Oyster Shucking Championships and been featured in tourism media posters. She also once finished second in the world oyster shucking competition in Ireland.
Carla Rudolph of Hayes was only other shucker competing in the women’s division in Urbanna last year and she finished four seconds behind Pratt with a “corrected” time of 4:41 to Pratt’s 4:37. The corrected time is determined by evaluating how cleanly the oysters are shucked. For example, there are time penalties added if an oyster is not free from the shell, or there is a piece of shell in it. The judges were Keith Clark and Larry Shores Jr.
Five shuckers competed in the men’s division in 2020. The finishing order, with corrected times, is as follows:
- First, Robert Minor, Mathews, 3:57.
- Second, Davila Redmond, Jamaica, Va., 4:24.
- Third, Joe McComas, Topping, 4:39.
- Fourth, Kasay Smith, Deltaville, 4:42.
- Fifth, Sam Davis, Urbanna, 5:09.
