Between 170,000 to 175,000 people came to enjoy Oyster Festival 2003. They came over the two-day period to look at the Oyster Bay waterfront and to eat a variety of foods served by local nonprofit groups. Many came by car, but many took advantage of the LIRR suggestion to ride to the festival. Len Rothberg, festival promoter said those tickets bought in Jamaica and beyond entitled riders to a coupon for three free oysters and a free tour of the tall ships, that cost visitors another $3. "About 1,000 people took advantage of the coupons. They were not available at nearby stations," he said. The trains coming from Mineola were full of visitors. Leaving the festival one man said the festival was very well organized this year.

Daryl Ranaldo, of the Oyster Bay Fire Co. No. 1 drill team was pleased with the event. He was standing by the fire company booth where they were selling crab cakes, chicken wraps and turkey legs to benefit their drill team, the Teddy's Boys. He expressed what most of Oyster Bay seems to believe. "It's great they moved the Oyster Festival to the waterfront. We get to show off to everyone outside the community what we're all about."

On Sunday night, in the command center trailer, Debra Goyena, president of Rotary put it all together: "The people who came loved it. They said it was easier to walk around and to congregate with friends." As she was talking, it was almost 7 p.m. and they were closing up the festival. The tents were deserted and the sweeper trucks were circling the area cleaning up any left over debris.

While the festival organizers were happy with the weekend events, several local food and beverage merchants were unhappy about the new festival location. When she heard that, she commented that it appeared that after the festival closed at 6 p.m. some people were heading to the downtown area. She said, "I thought, as people left the festival, they would see the downtown area without all the garbage left on the streets as in past festivals." That was always a complaint expressed by critics of the event. "We consolidated things here and that saved us money in security and cleanup. It also showcased our waterfront community this year," said Ms. Goyena.

She said a major part of the success of the festival was due to the work of the Rotary members. "We facilitated the non-profits. Our glory is serving the community." Getting people to volunteer for the festival became a problem in the last few years when the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce was running the event.

It was a different event to restaurateur John Caravaggio of Café Al Dente who said, "It was murder for us. They had the streets closed off. We did nothing in the day and the evenings were very bad. Actually, Saturday night wasn't too bad but Sunday was a disaster. The Oyster Festival was supposed to be designed to help the local merchants," he said.

Mark Fox of Canterbury Ales said people came in saying the food lines were too long. He said he walked down and at times there were 150 to 200 people on several lines. He asked, "Is that successful? I call that a failure to serve people who drive all the way here to the festival. Previously the restaurants and the delis could serve the overflow. There is plenty for everyone. Everyone can work together and everyone can benefit."

The Olive Branch Deli, the Homestead Deli and Verrelli's Market all experienced the same dearth of business and closed early both days.

Len Rothberg, festival promoter answered the complaints of the merchants who are upset by the absence of the festival in front of their businesses by saying "They seem to have a sense of entitlement about the festival. If they wanted to be a part of it they could have been sponsors of the festival." The non-profits pay a fee for their tent locations that includes the cost of electricity, water, garbage hauling (remember it goes off Island in trucks), shuttle buses, signage, the work to get sponsors, advertising and promotion.

In the past many restaurants and delicatessens were not members of the chamber and did not "sponsor" the festival. Marshall Chiropractic is an exception in that it has regularly paid for its sponsor booth on the festival grounds, and they were there again this year, as was Gutter Helmets, a new local business.

While controversy kept conversations going, there was a lot going on to make people proud of the event. NYS Secretary of State Randy Daniels, came to the festival. He spoke from the main stage just before the oyster shucking and eating contests. He said New York State was helping revitalize towns across the state by helping restore their waterfront areas and said the work done on the Oyster Bay waterfront cost the state $10 million. The waterfront area looked wonderful. The landscaped areas were protected with wire fencing, and the paved walkway curving along the waterfront from the Theodore Roosevelt Park to the tall ships pier gave a sense of how lovely things will be next year as the plants take hold.

The Oyster Shucking Contest was won by David Mahnken of Long Beach with 32 oysters shucked making him a winner for the third time. His record to date is 35, 36, 32 shucked. Bob Pimental of Massapequa came in second with 18 shucked.

In the Oyster Eating Contest Mike Chodkowski of Hicksville won with 168 eaten. This is the fifth time he has won the title. His records are: 252, 191, 120, 132 and now 168. (The consensus was that the oysters were small in 1999 when he ate 252 oysters.) He was followed by David Israel of Glen Cove with 156 eaten for second place.

On Sunday night the four raffle winners were drawn. The big prize, the car, boat or $20,000 in cash went to Tommy Morra of Glen Cove. He is still deciding which to take. There were three travel prizes. The third prize was a pearl necklace from Oyster Bay Pearl Company went to Anton Sommer of Commack. The second prize, eight days and seven nights on a Florida Cruise Vacation from Perfect Places, went to Robert Thorp of Seaford. The first prize for eight days and seven nights cruise from Perfect Places including air fair round trip from South West Airlines went to Ken Corey of Mill Neck.

"The feedback about the festival was excellent," said Ms. Goyena. There are a few things we will change. The aisles will be bigger in the Arts & Crafts tents - they were a little crowded - and there will be more porta-potties."

She said of the new location, "This year the sponsors were overwhelmingly happy. Visitors kept saying how much they loved the location." A local resident put things into perspective. He said, "If the people running the event weren't trying something new, that would be a problem. If it didn't work it's not a big deal. It's one festival. I encourage change. It's the thing that keeps people coming back. Before people saw the business area of Oyster Bay, this year they saw a new view. It keeps it from becoming boring."

The service organization will have its next Oyster Festival Committee meeting on Nov. 6.