The Oyster Festival has a life of its own. Each year there is a new twist provided either by the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce or some other group. This year it was the beer companies. They arrived in Oyster Bay with signs for everyone. If there was a beer - there was a sign.

The beer distributors have taken advantage of the festival. At the Matinecock Lodge, the Masons said the beer companies call it their biggest day of the year. They hired a beer truck and used their back parking lot as an Oktoberfest beer garden. They obtained a temporary beer license to allow them to sell beer, although this has been something the chamber thought they stopped - having non-profits sell alcohol.

There were other new wrinkles. J.D.'s American Bistro brought in a beer truck and had a band. The Italian-American Club opened their doors (they have a bar inside) and had a band playing outside in their parking lot.

This year Fiddleheads hired a band, put up a tent with tables and chairs and sold mixed drinks, for $6, in give-away plastic glasses. (We bought a blue frozen Margarita in a plastic glass with a green lizard on it. The music was great!)

Al Dente came out on the street with tables and chairs. (We love their antipasto.) Unfortunately they had someone with a bull-horn hawking cold beer and wine. It seemed unnecessary to shout the obvious, except that they had their supplies inside their back tent.

Two new entrants this year were the Oyster Bay General Store that applied for a permanent liquor license and sold beer at the festival and the East Main Street Bar.

The regulars were there too, Railz - who closed early, the Homestead, Canterbury Ales, the Book Mark Cafe, and the delis too, and Oyster Bay Beverage.

Of the restaurants in town, only The Homestead (who had a gated party in their courtyard), the Book Mark Cafe and Canterbury Ales are members of the chamber. They are paying back in part - for the work the chamber does in bringing the crowds to town. The Homestead even hired porta-potties.

The way things happened this year, wasn't the plan for the festival. It is supposed to make the town look worth coming back to visit. By next year, the Oyster Festival committee will have come up with some new ways to keep the festival something to be proud of - something that will sell the quality of life in Oyster Bay.

Unfortunately, the beer distributors have seen a marketing opportunity and jumped right in. When the festival allowed a beer sponsor, they made money to help run the event - to cover the nitty gritty costs like porta-potties and cleanup by the town, which the chamber foots at a cost of about $6,295 a year, to haul away the refuse which includes the cost for garbage bags and for people to sweep the street with blowers afterwards.

The non-profits contribute to the cleanup in that they help pay for some of the costs of the festival. The beer companies are adding to the refuse being carted away - the use of the porta-potties - and advertising on the streets of Oyster Bay, and all without paying a cent for advertising the event or helping it run. The beer companies took over the sky in Oyster Bay - on their own - as if they were sponsoring the event and not just profiting from it.

What the Oyster Festival needs is more help from the community to help run the festival before and during the event. The festival needs more people, from either the non-profits or from the school district - to help run the complex festival.

This year, when the Ernestina arrived at the Oyster Bay Marine Center we realized there was no fanfare. That could have been provided by the Oyster Bay High School Band or the Vernon School Band. Actually, when this newspaper printed the first article about a marine education vessel coming to Oyster Bay, we made a point of including material about their programs. They work with school districts and the children can build a replica Ernestina.

It would have been wonderful for the young people to really take hold of the excitement of having the ship here. But, we take the blame. We should have called the school district when the article appeared and asked if it could be included in the year's work. If you have a good idea you should try to sell it and not expect others to intuit it from you. Apologies.

Actually, we had a good time at the festival. There was a wonderful wooden ship event going on at the Oyster Bay Marine Center. There is a whole sub-culture of people who visit the festival by boat, and just love it.

There are also the people on motorcycles. They have a great time sitting around, eating, enjoying the festival and then leaving, as they said, "down the white line in the middle of the road."

The festival costs the chamber $120,000 to run. It takes a great deal of commitment and produces great results for the non-profits and now all the restaurants and "wanna-be" bars in town. The Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce hasn't had their closing event with the non-profits so there is still more of the story to tell.

Hopefully you noticed the pages featuring this year's Oyster Festival. The headline is from the song Alice's Restaurant. Do you remember the words - "you can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant." That is the message we want to convey to you. You can find whatever you want at the festival - great free kids rides - a way to support the non-profits; terrific crafts; a day on the water in Oyster Bay; a chance to hear great music free; a great day to stroll around town eating; a great day to meet old friends.

This year, the festival was spread out over a greater section of town. The crowds appeared the same. Considering the number of people who attend, it's a pretty peaceful scene.

At the Oyster Shucking Contest a young man proposed to his girlfriend. It happened a few years ago during the 5-K race. Maybe there are more young people who popped the question here - there's more going on than most of us can comprehend.

All we can say is wherever we go and mention Oyster Bay - people say - they want to go to the Oyster Festival next year. We must be doing something right. - DFK