Brothers of Phi Delta Theta host 30th annual Crab Feast

By Heather Fabritze
Elm Staff Writer

The brothers of Phi Delta Theta Maryland Gamma spiced up Fall Family Weekend with their 30th annual Crab Feast, which was held from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Hodson Boathouse.

Event-goers, who could buy tickets ahead of time or at the door for $40, feasted on an unlimited supply of crabs, burgers, corn, hot dogs, and various refreshments. Attendees over the age of 21 could also purchase beer and wine at the event.

The proceeds of the event, like every year, are donated in their entirety to the Packard Center for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. As Phi Delta Theta’s primary philanthropic focus, it’s important to the brothers that Crab Feast helps contribute to the fight against ALS.

“The Packard Center will invite us to their facilities, give us a tour, show us what our proceeds are going to, and what they’re helping fund,” Mason Drummey, a senior and member of the Crab Feast planning committee said. “I think the chapter here has just had a really good connection with the people at the Packard Center. We want to reignite that connection because it’s a very neat, very humbling experience to be able to go and see how our funds that we raised help them.”

Due to the uncertainty involving Washington College’s vaccination rate, which dictated whether the event would be held or not, planning for the event didn’t formally begin till July. According to Drummey, there are “a lot of little, tiny things” that contribute to the planning of Crab Feast.

Sophomore Dyllan Bishop, who is the philanthropy chair of Phi Delta Theta and the head organizer of Crab Feast, feels that he’s “grown a lot” through the hard work and new experiences that came with planning the event.

“I’ve liked working with some people in the community,” Bishop said. “I really like talking to the guy who’s a seafood wholesaler out at Rock Hall. It’s kind of nice getting to talk to people and source from stuff locally. I kind of like that we’re pulling crabs from a nearby resource.”

During the event, as visiting families and students enjoyed their unlimited meals, the Phi Delta Theta brothers had to refill crab buckets and work together to ensure that the feast ran smoothly.

Phi Delta Theta president and junior Jastin Garcia-Mendoza is proud of the work they put into the Crab Feast and remembers it fondly as one of his largest motivators for joining the fraternity.

“It just shows how much hard work and dedication we can put into one event to earn so much money, just to donate for a really good cause,” Garcia-Mendoza said. “When I was a freshman, attending the event…seeing all these brothers come together to just distribute crabs — because it’s unlimited crabs, so they have to refill the buckets every time, they have to go around, and clean tables, and whatnot — I was really appreciative of that, which might be a reason why I decided to join a fraternity in the first place.”

He also feels that it’s the perfect event to attend for Fall Family Weekend, as it helps to bond families together. “I remember when I was going here as a freshman, my family didn’t come, but my friends’ families came,” Garcia-Mendoza said. “So, I got to meet them and enjoy the crabs, burgers, hot dogs, and corn … and I got my t-shirt, which is pretty cool. So, for that, I feel like it brings a lot of family and friends closer together since they get to enjoy a messy experience.”

Photo by Izze Rios

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