Pleasanton Lion's Club Crab Feed: A Feast and Fun for All

Greetings hang in the air as people file into the Young California building at the Alameda County Fairgrounds on January 28. A paper machete life size lion stands guard at the door as the guests enter. Every January the Pleasanton Lion’s Club hosts a Crab Feed for over one thousand people.  This event has been going on for over thirty years.

In the morning of the event, many friends and family come together to prep the building for the evening. Foothill and Amador Valley High School’s band students have volunteered for the past three years to work at the event setting up and serving food.

Thirty-eight hundred pounds of crab is delivered to be eaten in the evening.  Fresh bread rolls, crab, and Frankie, Johnny and Luigi’s pasta and bay shrimp salad are on the menu for dinner.

Tables and chairs are set up in a large rectangle stretching down the center of the hall where people are to be seated and eat. Around the tables, there are a variety of booths and activities to participate in throughout the night. There is a cake wheel loaded with hundreds of different frosty and sweet prizes. You simply purchase a raffle ticket, take a spin, and hope to win. There is a casino section where people can enjoy blackjack or craps.

Throughout the night, a DJ puts on some good tunes to get the crowd moving. A memorabilia collector, Mike Brazil, brings interesting pieces of memorabilia to auction off and a local jewelry designer, Paula Carvalho, has bracelets, necklaces and more to sell at her booth. This year, a booth for The Pleasanton Military Families was added to raise funds for care packages and give thanks to our troops serving at war. Two Hooter’s girls walk around the event during dinner time to sell tickets for a fifty-fifty drawing that takes place at nine o’clock that night. Fifty percent of the money made from selling the tickets is donated to charity and the other half is auctioned back off to a lucky ticket holder picked in the drawing.

The delicious dinner and entertainment are not the only things that keep the guests coming back for more each year; it’s the social scene. People run into many friends they’ve had over the years and are able to have an evening to catch up on each other’s lives. By the time the event concludes at eleven ‘o clock that evening, the guests have certainly had their fill of food, drink, and friends for the evening.

The Crab Feed is the main fundraiser for the Pleasanton Lion’s club and provides most of the year’s funding for charities and community projects. The Crab Feed is a hit each year in thanks to all of its volunteers and sponsors that help to organize and host the event.