Excitement is building up for the Oyster Festival. Some of the excitement has a good reason, the arrival of the 150 foot lightship the Nantucket in Oyster Bay harbor and (as far as we are concerned) some of it is just the normal nervousness centered around running a giant festival. Some merchants are upset that the festival has moved to the waterfront and some are glad they will have the streets open for business.

The good excitement came as people were calling the Waterfront Center last week and asking about the giant red ship that appeared in the harbor overnight. "It's big. It's 150 feet long and it's red. It came in during the middle of the night: Thursday night at midnight," said Jennifer Sappell of the WFC.

Betty Tiska reported that, Bill Shepherd, Sr., a longtime Christeen volunteer, helped bring the lightship Nantucket into Oyster Bay Thursday in time for the Oyster Festival. The Nantucket arrived at the Western Waterfront from Staten Island where it has been undergoing renovations. The ship was towed from Staten Island from near the future home of the National Lighthouse Museum. The ship will undergo continued restoration by volunteers at the Waterfront Center while it is berthed here until February of 2004.

The National Lighthouse Museum calls the Lightship Nantucket (WLV 534) - the largest lightship ever built. The WLV-534 is one of a series of lightships to stand guard on the shoals at Nantucket, but has distinctions that make her one of the most historically important lightships still afloat. She was built in 1936 after the RMS Olympic, sister ship to the Titanic rammed and sank the lightship standing watch on the Nantucket shoals lightship station. During World War II she was taken off station, painted gray, outfitted with guns, and assigned duty as a harbor entrance patrol vessel for the port of Portland, Maine.

After the war she was returned to the Nantucket station and in 1954 was damaged by Hurricane Edna. The storm produced winds of 110 mph and sustained seas of 70 feet. The massive waves nearly ripped the pilothouse from the vessel, and blew out nearly all of her pilothouse portholes.

In 1959 the ship was converted from steam to diesel - the configuration she has today, and the diesel engines are still operable. In 1975 the 534 was replaced by two smaller lightships, which took turns maintaining the station.

As the Nantucket survived the winds of Hurricane Edna, the Oyster Festival will survive the latest furor. There is a dynamic energy that flows around the festival and sends everyone reeling.

The merchants have always been on the street competing with the non-profit groups and there have always been enough visitors to satisfy each with their preference. During the festivals we have eaten at Taby's and Canterbury Ales as well as eaten foods served by the non-profits.

We are going to see a new festival. It's always dynamic. It's always fun. There's always some controversy, but that's what proves that Oyster Bay is small town America. It's a good thing.