Oyster eating

Section:Gallery

Sun., Dec. 17, 2017

Mike Barnard, a retired surgeon who emcees the annual West Coast Oyster Shucking Competition, briefs the crowd gathered to watch the speed shucking contest Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 at Oysterfest in Shelton, Wash.

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Dan Underwood furiously shucks oysters during the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championships on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 at Oysterfest in Shelton, Wash. Most of the competitors in the speed shucking contest work in the local oyster processing plants.

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Contestants line up for the oyster-shucking contest Oct. 7 at the Oyster Festival in Shelton, Wash on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. The annual festival hosts the shucking contest, cook-offs and a variety of food offerings and entertainment.

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Brolin Boeltz, 8, happily slurps down a raw oyster left from the annual shucking contest at the Oysterfest 2017 in Shelton, Wash. His mother said he’s been happily eating raw oysters for several years.

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Thousand attend Oysterfest 2017 in Shelton, Wash., on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. The annual festival is held at the Shelton Airport. Photo by Mike Barnard/shared with the Spokesman-Review

Photo Courtesy Of Mike Barnard Sr
Host Jerry Farmer, left, talks about the meals prepared by chef Jon Eggenberger, right, and Schuyler Campbell and Caitlin Kincaid, center, at the Oysterfest cook-off contest Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 at the festival in Shelton. Southwest Washington offers many products from the sea that the cooks could try their hand at, including scallops, salmon and other fish, plus oysters, clams and geoducks.

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The crowd watches as contestants throw up their hands when they finish in the West Coast Oyster Shucking Competition Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 at the Oysterfest in Shelton, Wash. Each contestant must cleanly shuck 24 oysters and some can do it in less than two minutes.

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Mike Barnard, a retired surgeon and volunteer at Oysterfest, slurps a raw oyster leftover after the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championships on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 in Shelton, Wash. The audience can step up and grab a oyster meat after the contest is over.

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