Oyster Roast

Oyster Roast

By David R. Corder

Associate Editor

Ray Peacock was losing ground. Almost as soon as the Clearwater attorney shucked an oyster, his wife, Clare, would dip into the roasted delicacy and nibble away. They giggled as he worked even faster to crack enough shells to whet their appetites.

It was a scene repeated frequently throughout the evening of March 18 at BJ's Oyster Bar, one of more than a dozen food and beverage stations at the Clearwater Bar Association's 59th annual Oyster Roast.

The oyster bar is a favorite for many of the 500 association members and guests who attended the festivities on the grounds of Palm Harbor's Florin Roebig PA. Working almost non-stop, Clearwater attorney Felix Hill, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Karl Grube and Pinellas County Judge Shawn Crane made sure they roasted enough oysters.

The evening featured old and new participants. There was the Old Florida Country Bar-B-Crew, a new station sponsored by Tinny Meyer & Piccarreto PA and a group of investments bankers from Wachovia Securities.

Then there are the event's old favorites: Largo's Larson & Larson PA, for instance, once again satisfied even the most discriminating taste with fine liqueurs, wines and cigars. Brothers Jim and Bill Larson joined their dad, Herb, as in years past.

The Larsons tended to the novice with the same care and treatment offered to the most experienced cigar smoker.

Those who staffed a food or beverage station this year included Bill Vinson, Bayou Bill's Maker's Mark; deVlaming and Wally Pope, Hooter's Wings; Johnson Pope Bokor Ruppel & Burns LLP, Barney Masterson Shrimp Inn; George Tragos and Peter Sartes, Mykonos Greek Lamb; Boyer & Schiltz PA and Koch Smith & Hoffman PA, Margarita Madness; West Pasco Bar Association, Felony Chili; Pinellas County Trial Lawyers, Coffee & Liqueurs; the association's Young Lawyers Division, 75th Anniversary Desserts; Figurski & Harrill PA, Island Way Grill; and Pejot Law PA, Res Fruiticata.

The Oyster Roast committee this year included Chairman Herb Langford and members Kim Campbell, Elise Winters, Jewell White Cole, Rep DeLoach, John Davis Fernandez, Scott Schiltz, Connie Stephens, Andy Spetz, Jim Johnson, Felix Hill, Don Crowell, Don Kirby, Bill Vinson and Mike Faehner.

Event sponsors this year included D&D Reporting, Fortress Investigations, Gulf Coast Business Review, Synovus, Ultra Open MRI and Westlaw.

The association will present the prize for best food and beverage station May 6 at the group's annual Law Day luncheon.