About Razor Clams and our Family

“Digging Clams Together, is a Link to Our Past, and a Bridge to Our Future”

razorclamming.comGrant Howard

Adults and Kids Love Digging Clams, Read About Razor Clams And Our Family
Ken Axt Jake Axt Henry Axt
Ken Axt Sr., Henry Axt, Jake Axt, Astoria, OR

It all started on a spring morning in 1964, Seaside Oregon. My grandfather rustled us kids out of bed at dawn. We made our way over the grassy dunes and down to the ocean shore. Dressed in his fishing waiters,  with a clamming shovel in one hand and a bag in the other, he slowly walked along the water’s edge, pounding the sand with the butt of a shovel — and then it happened — a small hole appeared in the wet sand and in a matter of seconds, he had dug and scooped up an Oregon Coast delicacy. There he knelt on one knee, showing us for the first time a big, beautiful, water squirting — Razor clam! We were hooked after that, and spent the many years to come, with friends and family, clamming, the Pacific Northwest.

Nate Axt Age 8
Nate Axt Age 8

Many decades have passed now but those fond memories remain, as if they were yesterday. Now, I find myself waking the kids up early in the morning and taking them over those same dunes, on our way down to the morning shore; shovel in hand, all the youngsters in tow, in excited pursuit of those beautiful “Razors”, as grandpa used to call them. That’s not all we are out here for though: we are here to spend time together as a family. They don’t know it yet but when they have grown and have families of their own, they too will look back on these memories with the joy I do. And I think that’s what all this clamming business is all about: spending time with your loved ones…..

Ken Axt, About Razor Clams and our Family. Circa 1999