Oysterville Church Vestibule
There’s something new at the Oysterville Church! It’s on the wall directly in front of you as you step into the little vestibule. In a small (4” x 6”) black frame is an attractive looking icon-thingy called a “Q-R Code” which is a specific type of barcode that works by… magic.
All I know is that you can access the scan app on your smart phone or other mobile device, point it at this artistic looking pattern, click, and… voila! You have now captured the Oysterville walking tour. Just like that! The large folded brochure expensive-to-print version (still available on the nearby table) is now all but obsolete and visitors can stroll the village reading about the National Historic District practically unencumbered…
Oysterville Walking Tour
Apparently, such techno-magic has been around for some time – since 1994 when it was developed for use in the automobile manufacturing industry. Nowadays, Q-Rs are used in museums and art galleries and all sorts of places, including right here in Greater Downtown Oysterville.
It took a new Board Member – younger and more savvy than the rest of us – to introduce this cutting-edge (to us old ducks) technology to Oysterville. Amy Wachsmuth, Tucker’s daughter-in-law, was elected to the Oysterville Restoration Foundation Board in May. She is fast connecting our historic village with the world beyond and with the 21st century! Hooray!
Amy Turner Wachsmuth Plays Oysterville Whiffle Golf
Besides serving as our secretary, Amy is now the one who has charge of our technology interface with the public. That includes our website www.oysterville.org and a new presence on Facebook at “Oysterville Restoration Foundation.” In the planning stages is an ORF Newsletter!
So next time you are in Oysterville (maybe this very weekend for Sunday Vespers with Casey Killingsworth, our former Singing Postmaster), bring your portable computing platform of choice and capture the Oysterville Walking Tour to use at your leisure! Whoo! Hoo!
Having a young one who “gets” technology is so handy! Don’t know what I’d do without my grandchildren.
Nice! Good thing I have a copy of the “soon to be obsolete” brochure for my personal Oysterville memorabilia here at home in Portland 🙂
Glad I’ve gone a copy, too, Jenny. I only have a “smart enough” cell phone–it takes calls, and it makes calls. That’s about it.
You are way ahead of me, Kathleen. The only phone I have is attached to an old-fashioned land line!
Not to worry, Jenny. The paper version of the Walking Tour will be around for a long time. We are about to revise it again to reflect the recent ‘building boom’ in Oysterville. However, we hope that with the Q-R available, we’ll be using fewer of the “old fashioned” type. In the past we’ve gone through 10,000 every two or three years. It gets spendy!