It started with beer and mollusks and a bunch of fellows, about 50 in all.
Led by Charles W. Meyer, these males held a St. Mary’s School alumni assembly on the banks of the San Antonio River and elected officers. The Fourth Illinois Band from Camp Wilson offered music.
Nobody knew on the time, however the remnants of that assembly in 1916 — empty shells scattered round a hearth pit — foreshadowed an annual occasion with 70,000 folks, 100,000 oysters and 32,000 chicken-on-a-stick with a jalapeño.
At this time we name it Oyster Bake.
A signature Fiesta occasion since 1974, Oyster Bake has grown from a small gathering on the river financial institution to a sprawl of individuals, distributors and reside bands within the Pecan Grove at St. Mary’s College.
Often called a “occasion with a objective,” Oyster Bake helps pupil scholarships.
“I feel over its historical past, Oyster Bake has raised within the ballpark of $11 million for college kids,” stated Sean Strater, former St. Mary’s Alumni Affiliation president and Fiesta Oyster Bake Chair for 2025. “We give round 80 scholarships a 12 months, totaling round half 1,000,000 {dollars}. It’s a 4 12 months dedication we give to college students.”
This 12 months’s occasion, the 109th, will characteristic two days of meals, drink and reside music on three “official” levels, beginning Friday. Oysters might be served baked, fried and uncooked, a practice nobody from the primary alumni assembly may have imagined.
Climate allowing, Oyster Bake will forge new recollections and stir previous ones, some practically forgotten within the gradual crawl of historical past.
Based on college archives and previous newspaper articles, Meyer served as the primary chef and chairman of Oyster Bake in 1916, a 12 months by which Dwight Eisenhower served as St. Mary’s soccer coach. (Sure, President Eisenhower.) In 1972, the San Antonio Categorical-Information reported the primary oysters have been “liberally laced with scorching sauce and served with crackers. Later, by in style demand, shrimp was added to the fare.”
Curiously, the newspaper provides completely different dates for the primary gathering. On March 31, 1963, the paper reported, ““The distinctive celebration, which has drawn a whole bunch of alumni and their households again to the campus every year since 1919 options recent oysters roasted of their shells over a barbecue pit.”
Two years later, the Categorical-Information reported that Meyer served as the primary chairman “from the primary Oyster Bake in 1918 by 1946.”
4 years later, the paper wrote, “The 1969 oyster bake bears little resemblance to the primary occasion, held in 1917. …”
Conflicting dates apart, fascinating particulars emerge from college data and newspaper archives. A small trench served as the primary barbecue pit close to the entrance gate of the school. Oyster Bake moved to a theater at St. Mary’s till a flood in 1921 pushed the occasion to an incomplete gymnasium on campus.
On Feb. 16, 1928, Meyer convened Oyster Bake outdoor after an election of alumni affiliation officers within the Francis Memorial Library. The Rattler, the college newspaper, reported, “Everybody current did full justice to the refreshments that have been served, particularly to the 2 barrels of lucious Port Lavaca oysters roasted to a flip by the expert chef.”
In 1929, St. Mary’s relocated from the river financial institution to its current location on the West Facet and introduced Oyster Bake with it. Two years later, a keg of beer and a barrel and a half of oysters have been bought, together with charcoal and horseradish, for $26.95.
Attendance and bills grew slowly, even after the occasion moved to the Pecan Grove in 1937. Oyster Bake value nearly $70 to supply in 1942 and practically $290 by 1957. Oyster Bake drew an estimated crowd of 500 in 1952 and 1,500 in 1965.
The coed scholarship program started modestly. In 1965, the St. Mary’s Alumni Affiliation awarded its first scholarship, price $540 for one 12 months of tuition, from a pool of 47 highschool candidates. In 1968, the scholarship elevated to $800 for one 12 months.
As Oyster Bake advanced from an alumni-and-friends gathering to a fundraising occasion within the Nineteen Sixties, new traditions emerged. An oyster opening contest (since discontinued) attracted consideration in 1963 with prizes. An Categorical-Information article suggested, “A screwdriver, a pair of pliers or robust knife is beneficial. ….”
Fiesta occasion standing in 1974 elevated Oyster Bake’s profile, producing larger media protection and swelling public attendance.
A document crowd of greater than 50,000 converged on campus for the seventy fifth anniversary celebration in 1991. Based on information reviews, two miles of chain hyperlink fence and 5 leisure levels have been erected. An estimated 3,700 volunteers served 2,500 kilos of fajita meat and an unreported variety of oysters.
“I wore the Oyster Bake costume in 1991 as a pupil,” stated Steve Rosenauer, Fiesta San Antonio Fee govt director and former Oyster Bake director. “I used to be ‘Shuckie.’ That was again when Oyster Bake was solely at some point. It went to 2 days in 1993.”
Oyster Bake celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary two years after the present Oyster Bake Chair, Sean Strater, was born. He attended his first occasion as a university freshman in 2008.
“I totally loved it,” stated Strater, a Dallas native. “My mother and father got here to city and we spent the weekend collectively, strolling round, consuming meals. I vividly bear in mind sitting on a little bit wall, speaking to my mother, consuming a chicken-on-a-stick with a jalapeno and listening to music.”
With greater than a century of Oyster Bake historical past behind him, Strater hopes to place his personal mark on the occasion.
“There are going to be some new issues, new bands, new meals,” he stated. “One I’m enthusiastic about are the churro bites. They’re fried with cream fillings. We tried these out at a homecoming oyster bake for alumni and so they have been a giant hit.”
Strater has organized for Oyster Bake to companion with the Community for Younger Artists to supply a spot for native expertise to carry out. “The artists will use this expertise, develop from it, and, hopefully, change into the following huge factor,” he stated.
Oyster Bake, one may say, has change into a reasonably large factor. What started with a barrel of oysters and a keg of beer has grown into an occasion that prices $2 million to supply. From a riverbank to a Pecan Grove, a way back gathering has advanced right into a two-day Fiesta spectacle.
A single-day normal admission ticket prices $30. Test the occasion web site for the total Oyster Bake music line-up on the rock, nation and Tejano levels.
