While every year, there is some issue that arises in regard to the annual Oyster Festival, the economic advantages of the event outweigh the possible inconveniences and invite co-operation between all the groups involved. The Oyster Bay Charitable Foundation said that when they look at the total dollars the nonprofits raise one year at the Oyster Festival, and the dollars that come from the sponsors, they estimate the festival has an economic impact of $2.4 million a year on the local community.

The Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce will again welcome Oyster Festival visitors to the hamlet in a move, they envision as making the area a festive conduit to the Waterfront Oyster Festival being presented by the Oyster Bay Charitable Foundation. The fact that they are not planning to close South Street was revealed at the Tuesday, Sept. 13 town board meeting as local businessman Tim Archdeacon brought up the issue of closing South Street during the Oyster Festival. He had spoken to the town board on Jan. 4, 2005 asking that this year the town ensure that South Street would not be closed during the Oct. 14 and 15 festival. Town Supervisor John Venditto assured him that this year only Audrey Avenue will be closed to traffic.

Mr. Archdeacon said he was skeptical since last year a resolution was passed after the festival. Mr. Venditto explained that last year things were done quickly, and the resolution was passed nunc pro tunc (done after the fact) and that this year he said, he hoped to have the whole community on board. Steven Marx special counsel to the supervisor is working on the project. Mr. Archdeacon also asked for detour signs to be put up.

"In my opinion they can't close South Street for 12 hours, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. And not cause delays," added Mr. Archdeacon.

Supervisor Venditto said the decision to close Audrey Avenue would be made in a resolution and he asked Mr. Marx to alert Mr. Archdeacon to the day the item would be on the calendar so that he would have sufficient notice to attend and make any comments he wished. The resolution will say that the town is closing Spring Street and the entire length of Audrey Avenue, said a town spokesperson.

"We are making sure everything happens smoothly," said Mr. Marx.

The Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce has been arranging their participation in Oyster Festival 2005 and in doing so have been talking to the town. They have arranged with the Town of Oyster Bay to close Audrey Avenue from South Street to the Oyster Bay Railroad Station. "We envision the area being a conduit to the waterfront area where the Oyster Bay Charitable Foundation (OBCF) is holding their Oyster Festival," said Toni Junjulas, OBCC executive director. "There will be vendors and entertainment set up in the area. The OBCF is inviting local businesses, retail or restaurants, to set up on Audrey Avenue for the same fee they charge their groups.

Acknowledging that they will be a conduit to the Oyster Festival which is being run by the Oyster Bay Charitable Foundation, Ms. Junjulas said, "We hope this new format will work for everyone."

She said there will be a classic car show, antique vendors and music located along Audrey Avenue and Spring Street. South Street will remain open for traffic.

Festival goers will be able to stroll down to Upper Audrey Avenue, where the Oyster Bay Railroad station will be open for Oyster Festival weekend, Oct. 15 and 16.

John Specce, OBCC secretary and a board member of the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum said, "We will have the station open for the Oyster Festival weekend. There will be displays, merchandise for sale and Long Island Live Steamers will be there. They build scale locomotives and rolling stock and will have them on display. They are capable of pulling cars that can seat adults and children. The Long Island Rail Road Museum of Long Island, located in Riverhead, will also be there."

The Oyster Bay Historical Society is the parent organization of the Oyster Bay Rail Road Museum. The museum has two satellite organizations: the Friends of Locomotive 35 and the Station Restoration Committee.

The Oyster Bay Charitable Fund, the organizers of the Oyster Festival, known for its enormous food court, invited their 22 participating nonprofit organizations to attend a unique seminar on how to run a profitable food booth on Sept. 14. Their guest speaker was Bill Cupo, vice president of Aramark Food Service and general manager of concessions at the Nassau Coliseum and Westbury Music Fair. For many nonprofits, the selling of food at this festival is their primary fundraiser...but how does a nonprofit go from helping those in need to running a profitable "lemonade stand" he asked and answered.

The attendees learned: how to price food products, the importance of portion control, effective sales tracking techniques, staffing challenges, customer traffic control and security concerns.

Cindy Smith with The EGC Group who are promoting the Oyster Fest said, "About 15 nonprofit vendors went. It made them look at what they were doing with new eyes, learning how to make additional monies and how to work better with their third party vendors and how to increase their profitability."