Port St. Joe man wins shucking title

By a mere three seconds, a Port St. Joe man on Saturday afternoon captured the oyster shucking title at the Florida Seafood Festival.

Joey Shearer, a shucker at the Shipwreck Raw Bar and sponsored by the St. Joe Shrimp Company, finished with a point total of 156 seconds, three seconds ahead of Panama City Beach’s Joshua Woodworth, a shucker at Dat Cajun Place, who won the title last year.

Hunter Duval, a member of the Franklin County High School Class of 2022, who now works part time at The Station as he pursues his degree at Gulf Coast State College finished third, with a time of 212 seconds.

Aly Beach’s Lisa Kamrowski, a former manager of the now-shuttered Dockside Restaurant, was a distant fourth, but clearly the crowd favorite as they cheered her on as she completed her tray of 18 oysters.

She had last competed two years ago, and this time she did better. “This was my best time, and that’s all that matters,” said Kamrowski.

The two top finishers battled it out, each one dropping and then picking up an oyster along the way, with Shearer posting the best raw time.

Woodworth was more than a little miffed when he reviewed the sheets filled out by the three judges – Kirk Lynch, Sara Ward and Bobby Hill – and saw that while he had the best-looking tray, the judges had penalized him for only having 17 oysters, thereby costing him the winning trophy. Woodworth said when he looked at the tray on the judging table, he counted 18. 

Event emcee Michael Shuler, who for the first time in many years was without his longtime announcer sidekick Dan Garlick, who passed away since the last festival, said he planned to meet with Woodworth later this week to discuss the matter.

“Good competition, a lot of good competitors,” said Shearer, who finished fourth at the recent U.S. Oyster Festival in St. Marys County, Maryland, just behind Woodworth, who was third. Panama City’s Honor Allen, a longtime winner at the Apalachicola festival, once again was national champ.

“I dropped an oyster but it hit the deck and didn’t go all the way to the ground, so I was able to save it,” he said.

Shearer had a flat time of 118 seconds, but also was penalized.

“There was definitely 18 on his trey,” he said, in a nod to Woodworth’s complaint. “I’ve been in the same spot. I’ve come over here and beat everybody on speed and then had the same penalty.”

Shearer will now have a $500 check to help pay his way to St. Mary’s next fall.