Jazz and Oysters 2010

     For the first time in twenty-six years, this particular August weekend will be quiet in Oysterville.  No tents going up in the schoolyard.  No truck loads of oysters coming through town.  No dancing on the grass.  No Jazz and Oysters.
     Since the announcement was made some weeks ago that the J&O venue was changing to Wilson Field, the indignation among Oysterville residents has continued to fester.  And the rumors as to why we’ve been abandoned continue to make the rounds.  The most persistent one is that one of the ‘part-timers,’ who is here only two or three weekends a summer, complained about the streets being clotted with cars on that Sunday.  Apparently, he was here the wrong weekend – at least from my perspective.
       I remember the day well.  My cousin had been married down by the bay the previous day and on Sunday morning there was a big breakfast for the bride and groom at the Red House, a few blocks north.  I walked up there mid-morning and came back later in the day, stopping by the schoolyard to listen to the music and schmooze with the barbecue crew on my way home.
     There were, indeed, cars parked on both sides of the Territory Road.  But contrary to the “reasons” for shutting down the venue, traffic was moving by in both directions.  No traffic jams.  No problems (that I saw) getting through town.  I remember thinking, as I always did on Jazz and Oysters day, “Wow!  Hard to believe our little village can accommodate so many people!”
     Well, I guess it was one of those glass-half-empty or glass-half-full things.  At least one person thought we could not accommodate so many and that one complaint changed the event, probably forever.  I try to see it from the other point of view.  If I had a home in Oysterville that I could only visit occasionally, and if I had the desire to go there to ‘get away from it all’ in the big city, would I feel the same way about closing down a festival that had been going on since way before I’d ever even heard of Oysterville?  I don’t know.  And I don’t want to walk in those moccasins to find out…
    To be fair, perhaps the complaint was made in the desire to find a solution to the perceived “problem” — like maybe offer parking outside of town and a shuttle service to and from the event.  It’s been done before.  I’m not aware that any such alternatives were explored but, like this weekend, itself, quiet concerning this year’s J&O has prevailed.  In fact, it will be interesting to see how much traffic we actually get tomorrow from folks who haven’t heard about the change in location.  Maybe the weekend won’t be so quiet after all!