We've spent a great deal of time on the telephone talking about the Oyster Festival. We still feel it is an event worth saving.

We see it as a great way that middle class America works for the betterment of middle class America.

We see it as a great way for Oyster Bay to show how well it works for the common good.

We see it as the way many people find Oyster Bay as the place it is to live, shop, eat, work and play.

We think the glitches can be fixed.

We think the festival could use a few more great ideas and a bit of dressing up. We have taken the Oyster Festival for granted.

It is a major Long Island food festival that people enjoy coming to. We think it is worth saving for the good of the community.

Consider that it has run for 17 years and attracted crowds in the hundred thousands to come and visit the hamlet. They bring in tourist dollars that have fueled local non-profit groups.

There was a saying we like: for a true compromise, both parties should hurt a little. We think the Oyster Festival should be reconsidered. In all honesty, there may be some compromises needed.

Maybe it should spread out into Theodore Roosevelt Park. Maybe the non-profits should appoint members to help create a better festival. Maybe faced with the demise of their Golden Goose, the restaurants and delis will cut back on their Oyster Festival expectations. Less may be more if they are to let the goose lay another golden egg.

Our hope: let's get together and talk. This is after all a decision that affects more than just the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce members who voted to put a hold on Oyster Festival 2001.

Once you stop the momentum it will be harder to start again. Also, there is the concern that the beer distributors will find a way to open the door to their prime weekend in Oyster Bay. If we take charge of the festival, we can control it. If we lose hold of it, it could become a new kind of nightmare.

DFK