Behind the Church

One of the greatest pleasures of living in a small (make that ‘tiny’) community is that you know all the players. Even if you don’t know them on a daily-visit basis, you know them to say “hello” to and you see them at town get-togethers and you have a sense of their biases and sensibilities.

In the case of newer, younger residents (make that a growing number), an energy and fresh point of view also becomes part of the mix. Our storekeeper, Greg, is the quintessential example. His eagerness to capture Oysterville’s essence and reinterpret it to give the store new life is an ever-unfolding adventure… for all of us!

On Main Street

But unlike the lamentable folks who move into a place – and I’m not talking just Oysterville or even just the Peninsula here – and immediately seek to change it, Greg has been diligent in his search for the history of the village and how it has come to be what it is. He has poured over historic photographs, talked with the older residents at length, and engaged the long-time visitors to Oysterville (who invariably make a pilgrimage to the store) in conversation. He’s deeply interested in ‘how it was’ – so reassuring when one considers that Greg and his generation will soon be shaping what Oysterville will become.

On Merchant Street

Even to me, these seem like deep thoughts for an early Sunday morning in January. They are prompted, I suppose, because Nyel and I will be going to the schoolhouse this afternoon for a Design Review Board (ODRB) meeting and Greg – Bless him! – is the newest member to sit on that Board. The ODRB has been meeting more regularly than we ever remember as they engage the community creating in an update of the Oysterville Design Review Guidelines.

We have not attended the meetings since Nyel’s surgery in early September and although Chairman Anne Kepner and other neighbors have kindly kept us apprised of their progress, we are eager to be there in person and, possibly, weigh in ourselves. It should be the perfect forum for Old Age to meet New Age on something near and dear to all our hearts – the future of Oysterville!