In Oysterville

Mid-August already!  Unbelievable!  And it’s raining to beat its record.  The question isn’t where did summer go.  More to the point is, when will it arrive.

For me, the weeks have been marked by the Music Vesper services at the church.  Not so much the actual Sunday afternoon worship hours, themselves, but more the week-ahead preparation for them.  Each Friday this summer, I’ve tried to submit an article to the paper regarding the up-coming service.

That, of course, means gathering the information and, if possible a few photographs, two weeks to ten days ahead of time in order to make the deadline for our weekly come-out-on-Wednesdays newspaper.  When I run into folks who ask me about what’s coming up the current week, I’m invariably confused.  Which minister?  Which musicians?  Who from the Oysterville Restoration Foundation will be presenting the ‘Oysterville Moment?’  The weeks become a blur.

In past years, my attempts to write up something about each of the weekly services have been spotty at best, but the effort always seems worthwhile.  Even though an announcement appears faithfully in the Community Calendar (thanks Marlene!), experience has shown us that attendance soars if there are actually a few inches of copy and a photo or two about the up-coming Sunday program.

The Reverend Don Maddux

So as soon as one Sunday service is over, I start contacting the participants for two weeks down the line.  Thank goodness for email!  Not only are ministers and musicians difficult to track down, they often don’t have their plans fine-tuned quite so early.  Giving them a heads-up about my Friday deadline a few days in advance seems to be helpful.

Today I’m working on the article for the August 25^th program.  It should appear in the Chinook Observer on Wednesday, August 21^st.  It seems impossible that after this there will only be one more 2013 Vesper article to write this year.  And after the 25^th, only one more Vesper service to attend!

Meanwhile though, this coming Sunday it will be the Bayside Singers and Father Don Maddux; next Sunday, Bradley Huson and the Reverend Irene Martin.  And the final Sunday?  If it’s Labor Day weekend, it must be Brian O’Connor and Dr. Barbara Bate…  Whew!  Don’t ask me again.