Appeasing the Gods at Little Bar

Your mother always told you not to play with your food, but she wasn’t talking about creating objects d’art from a pre-cooked canned meat product. Spam, it turns out, is really, really fun to play with (imagine pig flavored play dough!). So much so that the Little Bar in Goodland has made playing with this infamously sketchy snack an integral part of its annual end of season bash, Spammy Jammy.

Before closing down for the remainder of the summer, on Saturday, July 7th Little Bar will welcome approximately 300 Southwest Floridians to a hurricane preparedness party, live concert and spam art competition. Spammy Jammy is dedicated to honoring the Atlantic basin hurricane goddesses and asking them to spare the tiny island of Goodland and its favorite watering hole for another stormy season. Apparently the goddesses like lots and lots of Spam.

Photo by LEXEY SWALL

Billy Oliver, right, records his comments when judging "Kelly-The SPAMerican Idol", left, during Spammy Jammy event at the Little Bar Restaurant in Goodland.

“The requirements are you come in your pajamas and you make a dish that’s edible or art or architecture out of spam,” said Little Bar manager Jenni Peters, who already had her outfit ready more than five days ahead of schedule.

While pjs (or lingerie if you dare) are the uniform, Spam is the party’s decidedly pink centerpiece. Peters said she expects between 25 and 35 entries in this year’s amateur Spam art competition, while at least five restaurants will be competing in the professional category. Winners are handsomely rewarded for their creativity and skill with Little Bar gift certificates, but when it comes to Spam sculptures it’s really more about the pride than the prizes.

Many contestants have been participating in Spammy Jammy for years, Peters said. “They have been studying the art of the use of spam. They would have doctorates if they were in college.”

So what does a degree in spam-i-crafts translate to? Past years’ have seen the likes of a voluptuous Spamela Anderson, the spam mammogram and the Spamiami Trail.

Then there was Spongebob Spam Pants. “Someone actually used food coloring and made Spongebob out of Spam,” Peters recalled laughing.

As if a spam art show wasn’t awesome enough, Spammy Jammy is made of more than meat decorations and processed pork snacks.

Photo by Lisa Krantz

John Hakes of Naples carries a styrofoam pig into the Little Bar that he covered with Spam with the help of Lisa Bauman for Spammy Jammy in Goodland.

Little Bar’s favorite musical guest and Southwest Florida legend, Raiford Starke, will also be performing, taking the stage around 9 p.m.

“He’s the only guy I know that’s named after two prisons,” said Peters, who also promised that Starke would be unleashing his famed original song, “Girl from Immokalee.”

“Well you’re damn right he’s going to be singing ‘Girl from Immokalee,’” Peters said. “It’s one on my favorite songs.” She’s also been known to join Starke for a song or two on occasion.

Forget the winter seafood festivals and art fairs. When summer hits Goodland it’s all about Spam, Starke and wearing your pajamas to the bar. It’s all about Spammy Jammy.

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