Another great Oyster Festival has come and gone. We will remember this one fondly. The festival committee expanded the festival to Friday, with a great waterfront gala, great fireworks and best of all, the western waterfront is getting to look better and better.

Rob Crafa, Oyster Festival Waterfront Vice Chairman said he has already received calls from three vendors who are signing up for next year. One that was at this year's festival and the other two who came to witness it and said, "Wow, I've got to be there!"

People from the "ghost ship" the HMS Bounty people were happy to say they had over 1,500 visitors. The Kalmar Nyckel had lots more visitors since they weren't charging a fee. They gave educational tours.

The music at the waterfront and in fact everywhere, was great. We loved the Billy Joel legacy band, Big Shot on Saturday. The Jimmy Buffet tribute band, Parrotville was another favorite.

This year we tried something new: taking the LIRR to the festival. It was a great experience. On Saturday, we had gone down early by car and found parking spots. On Sunday, we had a later arrival planned and the sight of cars streaming into Oyster Bay at around noon, convinced us this was a great time to try the train.

We parked at the Locust Valley train station and bought two round trip senior citizen tickets for $3.

Rob Crafa told us that cars on Route 106 were backed up to Jericho Turnpike around 1 to 2 p.m. on Sunday, and people kept coming.

It is hard to get out the message that the train is a great way to get into the heart of the festival. The LIRR conductor told us there were crowds in the morning coming in and on the evening trains leaving the festival.

We also enjoyed the tram from Old Bethpage and the trolley at the festival. They were a great way to get from place to place and gave the event a truly festive feeling.

We are glad the Rotary of Oyster Bay decided to take over the Oyster Festival, to expand it, and improve it. What a great legacy we have in the festival. Long may it wave, and take the LIRR next year: just leave one parking space for us! -DFK