…a new roof in progress! All that and more (as they say) at this Sunday’s Music Vespers service at the Oysterville Church! As always, Father’s Day marks the first of the twelve summer vesper programs at the historic church. In addition, it will herald the beginning of our fortieth vesper season here in Oysterville!
Forty years! “Quite a many!” as my mother, Dale Espy Little, would have said. I wonder if she realized, when she and dad first conceived the vespers idea, that those services would become synonymous with summer Sunday afternoons in the village.
That vespers keep the ecumenical use of the church alive; that vespers would bring in a good portion of the money needed to maintain the old building; that musicians and audiences would be overjoyed at the acoustics in the little structure – all these things were what mom and dad hoped for. They would be so pleased that their vision has continued all this time.
I think they would also be pleased about the new roof in progress. Never mind that it probably won’t be completed by Sunday! Just the fact that the Oysterville Restoration Foundation was awarded a $15,000 grant by the Kinsman Foundation of Oregon would delight them. And I have no doubt that they would already be planning a fundraiser to make up for the $5,000 shortfall that seems likely!
Meanwhile, I know for a fact that Sunday’s ‘headliners’ – composer and renowned piano and voice teacher Barbara Poulshock, interdenominational minister, author and pianist Barbara Bate, and Oysterville School alumnus Larry Freshley – would more than “fill the bill” for the opening service in the eyes of my folks. And, they would heartily approve of the mysterious (yet, for Barbara Poulshock ‘traditional’) program note, “Barbara and Friends,” that tempts speculation right up until the service begins.
Most of all, how pleased they would be that the entire vespers idea and its yearly planning has taken on a life of its own. This marks year three that Carol Wachsmuth (bless her!) is doing all the scheduling. The Espy family is finally out of the church loop – “as God intended” say I! Vespers at the beginning of its 40th year has definitely come of age. It has taken a village… and will continue to do so! On behalf of R.H. Espy — who had the church built back in 1892 — and on behalf of all his descendants who kept it going, I for one couldn’t be happier!