A Crab Feed Feast for All
– Even Those Allergic
Walter Margetich tied the plastic bib around his neck, smiled at me and said he was allergic to shellfish – then dug into the bowls of jumbo shrimp and cracked crab like it was his last meal Saturday night at the Morgan Hill Buddhist Temple.
Margetich is an avid supporter of the Live Oak Emerald Regime and crazy about crustaceans, so he wasn’t about to miss the annual crab fundraiser. I was worried I’d have to stop eating my own pile of crab and stab Margetich with an epinephrine pen. When I voiced my concern to Margetich and his son Jordan, who sat next to him with a look of nonchalance, Margetich just gave me another grin and shrugged his shoulders saying, “if it happens, what a great way to go !” This man loves shellfish.
Richard Lepera, another avid supporter of the Emerald Regime, sat in the kitchen directing the feast preparations by swiveling around on a bar stool. As Dave Johanson, father of keyboardist and band member Mark Johanson, pointed out, “authority is taken, not given.”
Lepera and his wife, Gloria, have been the leading authorities on fundraising for the band filling the hall with over 250 crab lovers. The Lepera’s began life with the band more than 30 years ago and they haven’t missed a crab feed since.
While Lepera worked the kitchen inside, Dave Agaliotis, Frand Cordova and David Wall worked the pasta and shrimp preparations outside, slipping shrimp to me as I gathered important columnist information.
Inside the joint was swinging to the jazz ensemble from the band directed by Greg Bergantz. This was the ensemble’s second performance of the day, returning earlier from the San Jose Jazz Festival where the group received a Unanimous Superior Rating.
All outstanding musicians, the group took turns with solo bits including Rebecca Webb on sax, Mark Williams on keyboards, Paul Anderson on grooving drums and Andy Mains doing an awesome job of sightreading the music! There can’t be enough said for all the practice hours and dedication these musicians invest in their music.
A visit to the alumni section of the Emerald Regime’s Web site and you sense music has greatly affected the lives of all those that have passed through the organization. Thank you, new band mom Melissa Pompa for the invite to my first crab feed. I plan on attending again mostly to monitor Margetich. I’ll bring the Benedryl!
Duty calls to my McCarthy Clan to mention the upcoming St. Paddy’s day celebration and what better way to do that than to attend the South Valley Symphony’s Family Fanfare concert Saturday afternoon starting at 4pm at Gavilan College. The concert will conclude just in time to head to the Claddagh for a bagpipe dessert.
Ciao for now.
