The organizers of the 22nd Annual Oyster Festival held a press conference at the flagpole area at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park. Co-chairs of the event, Tom Reardon and Lance Elder were there with members of EGC Group, who are publicizing the event.

Once again local groups will be serving food to festival attendees. They include the Oyster Bay Rotary Club, the Oyster Bay High School Interact Club, the Oyster Bay Cooperative Preschool, Friends of Locomotive 35, the Oyster Bay Lions Club, the Doubleday Babcock Senior Center, the Mill River Rod and Gun Club, the North Oyster Bay Baymen's Association, the Hispanic Cultural Center of Oyster Bay, the Italian-American Citizens Club, the OB-EN Soccer Club, VFW Post 8033, the Italian-American Ladies Auxiliary, the St. Dominic High School Parents Club, Boy Scout Troop 253, the Oyster Bay Fire Company #1, the American Legion and the HPS Network.

There is a great deal that goes on to create the festival. We are looking forward to telling the stories of the groups that participate as the weeks bring us closer to the event.

The Oyster Festival is an integral part of Oyster Bay and there are many unsung heroes of the event, known more to the local groups that take part than the visiting public. We celebrate the commitment of the community to this great event.

Write down the dates in your calendar, Saturday, Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. We'll see you there, come rain or come shine in the midst of all the fun, including an exotic petting zoo, interactive pirate treasure hunt, tall ships and watching wood carver Fred Steffen create a replica of the H.M.S. Bounty.

It's going to be a fun event for those involved as well as those attending.

- DFK