An Oysterville Moment with Jean Stamper

On Sunday, it was our neighbor Jean Smith Stamper who did the “Oysterville Moment” – a regular feature of Vespers that involves a member of the Oysterville Restoration Foundation welcoming and introducing the participants and then sharing a memory about Oysterville. It also involves a considerable amount of behind-the-scenes activity like sweeping the church, setting out the hymnals, doing the flower arrangements. Like many memorable “moments” there is always more to it than meets the eye.

Flowers by Jean

Jean’s flowers were spectacular. Most of them came from her place in Portland – except for the sunflowers which she said she purchased on her way to Oysterville to “brighten” her bouquets. Jean is an artist and there is a flair to everything she puts her hand to. She has done a series of lovely watercolors featuring the buildings of Oysterville (for sale at the Oysterville Store and at Adelaide’s in Ocean Park, among other places.) And, if you ever have an occasion to invite her to a potluck… OMG! She’ll bring melt-in-your-mouth artwork from her kitchen!

Greeting Card by Jean Stamper

She chose to read two poems for her Oysterville Moment. They were written by one of her thirteen grandchildren – grandson Alex Wyman who just graduated from Puget Sound University. One poem was a tribute to his great-grandmother, Jean’s mom, who purchased the cabin Jean and husband Wayne now have as their Oysterville home. Alex was seven when his great-grandma died but he honored her with words that made all us listeners a bit teary,

The second poem was an ode to Oysterville – to the flat gray water of the bay, the “moors” as he called the meadows and salt marshes, to the quiet magic all of us Oystervillians love and appreciate. What a wonderful choice Jean made – to share her family and their love of this place. All I could think of as she read was “and thankfully, the beat goes on!”