The pig roast and beach opening party brought out over 200 residents to our beach on June 7th. I think this is a record turnout for our Community!
There is a lot of background to the event that I think is worth sharing. For many years the Community held a fairly informal beach opening event each Memorial Day. This was typically a pig roast, where the pig was either buried in the sand, cooked on a large temporary grill or roasted on a spit. Some people in the neighborhood remember this event happening as far back as the late 1950’s. In all cases, the pig was cooked overnight on the beach and a small contingent kept watch over it, replete with libations.
The goal for this event was to recreate some of that tradition. Preparation started weeks in advance and the volunteers who pulled this off did an incredible job! A number of Community residents came by during the night the pig was cooked, and some stayed until about 3am, when the pig was finally left to cook on its own. At 8am, I checked the pig and the sand it was buried in was still very hot. The pig was pulled out about 11am, and cleaned off the party. It was delicious!
I think the volunteers had quite a good time pulling it all together. I can tell you first hand, that they put a huge amount of work into the event. Their efforts not only made for a great party, but kept the party costs down so low, that I doubt we could have purchased hot dogs and hamburgers for the same price.
Not to be outdone by the first event, our Social Committee is looking to have more events this year. Crabs, Oysters, and Chili are on the list, along with music and beach volleyball. The Friday night happy hours have also been a hit. Our Social Committee has managed a food truck for a couple of the Fridays. Please check the social events calendar for dates and themes.
I’d like to give special thanks to everyone who worked together to make this event happen, and who are working on the next ones! You have made Oyster Harbor an even better place to live.
This year has been a good year for Community maintenance. We have successfully done a number of repairs to Community property. More work on the piers is underway at Fishing Creek.
You may notice some young people walking the neighborhood taking photos. We are in the midst of performing a Community Condition Assessment. This is a survey of every property easement, and all Community property to determine the condition and timing for future maintenance. The surveyors are young people in our Community who wanted to learn what about how we plan for maintenance. We have a civil engineering intern who is leading this and he will be out in late June or early July to survey Washington Drive for low areas affected by flooding and teach a couple of our young residents how surveying is done.
On the note of young people, I would like to welcome Pam Demske as our new Kid’s Activities Chair. We look forward to her ideas and guidance for events for the children in the Community.
We are also looking into having one of our own residents, Tom Cagle, teach a boating safety class on the beach. This class would provide the necessary certification for Maryland residents born after 1972, to operate a boat on Maryland waters. If you are interested in possibly attending, please email Nick (manager@oysterharbor.org) so we can get an idea of the interest level. The course is open to residents 12 years old and above, and will have a fee associated with it.
I’d like to remind everyone of three keys things this summer: 1) Please drive safely as children will be out of school soon, and our Community has many more young children in it than last year. 2) Please boat safely and watch out for kayaks and small craft. We have a significant increase in paddle boards and kayaks in the Community. 3) Check our Facebook page, website and beach bulletin board for Community events.
We wish everyone in Oyster Harbor a safe and happy summer!
