The Island Creek Oyster Festival, a popular end-of-summer function that draws Bostonians to Duxbury for a day of sustainable seafood, took place on Saturday. The night before, the Island Creek Oysters Foundation teamed up with the Caribbean Harvest to host the first-time Friends for Haiti fund-raiser, which supported the Harvest's mission to provide fish-farm starter kits to Haitian villagers.
The idea for the event came about when reps for the oyster foundation traveled to Haiti this past spring to meet with Dr. Valentin Abe, founder of the Caribbean Harvest. "As soon as we returned to Duxury, we knew we had to do something to help," said Shore Gregory, executive vice president of the foundation. "We started to think and talk about planning the Friends for Haiti event shortly thereafter."
The benefit took place under the oyster festival's tent, just off the Duxbury beach. "The greatest challenge of planning this event was creating an upscale event out of a beach parking lot," Gregory said. "With no infrastructure in place, it all had to be brought in." Organizers tapped Encore Events, which also provided the tent, to supply staging and sound. PBD Events created a Caribbean-inspired decor scheme and brought in lounge furniture, fairy lights, and thematic props.
High-end food also contributed to the vibe. The goal of the event "was, of course, to raise funds for this incredible organization, but also to celebrate the end of summer bounty that Duxbury and New England have to offer, from oysters to delectable creations by some of New England's, Chicago's, and New York City's best chefs," Gregory said.
The evening kicked off with a sunset cocktail reception offering passed appetizers from Au Soleil Catering. At twelve interactive stations, notable chefs such as Michael Scholw and Jody Adams doled out Caribbean-inspired dishes. Adams, for example, served spicy Sardinian pulled goat with roasted corn, charred tomatoes, and grilled flat bread; Blue Ginger chef Ming Tsai served grilled oysters with lime-leaf-caramelized-shallot cream and pearls.
The event ultimately attracted more than 450 guests through "a variety of marketing strategies, from straightforward public relations to relying on our social networking circles, to contacting circles of artists who may be interested in a one-of-a-kind piece of Haitian artwork" from the live auction, Gregory said.
