Just as the whole world has had to adjust due to the novel coronavirus, so did the 57th annual crab cooking contest, a vital part of Crisfield’s Hard Crab Derby.
According to Mary Anne Atkins, one of the contest’s directors, “It was just one week prior to contest time when we met with Jim Washington, retired Culinary Arts Teacher at the Technical High School [in Somerset County, Maryland] and discussed whether or not we would proceed. What would the contest look like if we did? Jim was adamant that we should go forward. And we felt that we had a good plan to deal with COVID-19.”
Major changes had to be made to the previous protocols. First a new location was obtained at the Technical High School where the cooking ranges were much farther apart. Of course spectators were not allowed this year and that was “one of the biggest changes we had to make.” To encourage contestants to enter the money awards were bumped up to $1,500 for first place, $1,250 for second, $100 for third and $50 for ...