At Oysterville’s Annual Picnic

       For thirty-five years – ever since Oysterville became a National Historic District — Memorial Day Weekend has been the time when the townspeople gather together to assess the year just past and talk about future needs and plans.  We call it “Annual Meeting Weekend.”
     This weekend’s festivities began with a bang on Friday night when the Oysterville Design Review Board met to take a look at two upcoming building projects.  The meeting was fairly well attended and somewhat contentious, so it was with a bit of trepidation that many of us went to Saturday’s morning meetings held, as usual, at the church.
     The Oysterville Water Works (OWW) came first.  Their annual report to members caught us up on water usage, testing concerns, improvements to the water system and plans for the future.  OWW includes property owners beyond the boundaries of the National Historic District, primarily those who live to the west of the village up on Douglas Drive.
     For the most part, the meeting was purely informative and non-controversial, although there were a few questions raised as to the equity of water payments by “full-time” and “part-time” residents – an ongoing point of discussion which seems unsolvable without going to monthly meter readings and billing which most of us consider too much for a small, volunteer utility.
     Next came the Oysterville Restoration Foundation (ORF) annual meeting.  ORF involves only village residents and was lightly attended this year, several of the “usuals” being out of town right now.  The meeting was informal, chatty, and pleasant.  I was particularly pleased to get some positive feed-back on my (gestating) idea to expand our ecumenical vespers services to include other, non-Christian faiths beginning in 2012.
     We adjourned to a picnic at ORF President Tucker and Carol Wachsmuth’s place.  Despite the dire predictions of the weatherman, skies were blue and sunny and the wind was not yet in full force.  The food, as is always true in Oysterville, was fabulous!  I have to confess that Nyel and I were still replete when dinner time came and skipped our evening meal altogether.
     Today we take flowers to the cemetery in preparation for the final Big Day of the weekend tomorrow – an early morning graveside service to be followed by a Bayside Singers’ concert at the church and a coffee cake breakfast at the schoolhouse.  As always, it will be an Oysterville Annual Meeting Weekend to remember!