42 Spring 2017 T Tricia Kenny doesn’t usually buy raffle tickets. But somehow the chance to win a trip to the original Oyster Festival in Galway, Ireland seemed within the realm of possibility. On the night of the drawing, her family ate at St. James’s Gate, where the idea for our local Oyster Fest was born, and she found that the trip just happened to be scheduled during her wedding anniversary on September 26th . With tickets sales capped at 100, she had a decent chance to win. Still, Kenny went home and didn’t think about the raffle again until her phone rang at 10:30 p.m. with Kitty Nguyen instructing her to get to the pub pronto. Her name had just been called and she had 10 minutes to appear. Kenny jumped in her car, flannel pajamas notwithstanding, and claimed her prize. Three months later, Tricia and husband, Pat, were on their way to Galway, Ireland to experience the Oyster Festival. Although this celebration may not be well known in America, it has grown to be a fixture in Ireland. Originating in 1954, the Galway Oyster Festival was conceived by Brian Collins, hotelier at the Great Southern Galway, as a way to extend the tourist season into September. First attended by just 34 people, the event is now sponsored by Guinness and has developed into one of Ireland’s most celebrated festivals, dropping two million euros into the local economy. John Meade, owner of St. James’s Gate in Maplewood Village, had been to the Oyster Festival in Galway some 20 years ago, courtesy of Guinness back when he was a General Sales Manager for a beer distributor. Now that he had his own pub, he dreamed of having an Oyster Fest that could support a local cause. When Bob Miller died in 2014 of melanoma, Meade, who knew the family from their many dinners at the pub, gently broached the subject with Bob’s widow, Grace. She readily agreed, as she “wanted to do something to honor Bob’s memory and raise awareness for this disease that is highly treatable if caught early.” In short order, John put a team together, and the first Robert J. Miller Oyster Fest was held in September 2015. Attended by more than 1,000 people, it featured plenty of food, beverages, games and music. The event netted $60,000, donated to melanoma awareness and to some local families facing difficulties. The theme “Get Naked in the Woods,” seen on lawn signs throughout Maplewood and South Orange, referred to the melanoma screenings that took place at The Woodland during the event. One hundred screenings were done and two possible melanoma cases flagged. By 2016, Oyster Fest was functioning as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and attendance had doubled from the previous year; it was also the first time the committee ran a raffle, again Meade’s idea. For the Kennys, it yielded the trip of a lifetime. Flying into Shannon, they boarded a bus for a two-hour ride to Galway. Accommodations for their three-day weekend were at the Glenlo Abbey, a gothic 18th -century estate offering a lakeside golf course, fishing, falconry and more. Friday night featured the opening of the Oyster Festival with a masquerade ball parade through town ending at a pier, the site of the venue. A huge tent enclosed the festival, which included mounds of oysters and fish and no shortage of drinks. The celebration continued through Saturday, ending with kid-friendly activities on Sunday. Meade and his Oysterfest committee plan on offering a raffle again this year, with the drawing taking place at St. James’s Gate on June 14. One lucky ticket will be drawn. Will it be yours? For more information, please visit bobmilleroysterfest.com. The Luckiest Ticket Taking a chance on Oysterfest BY ELLEN DONKER Above: The Kennys with the Mayor of Galway; Signs for the Bob Miller Oysterfest seen around town. Bottom, left to right: Dinner at Oysterfest; Glenlo Abbey where the Kennys stayed; A parade kicks off the Galway Oyster Festival. EADERS L Serving South Orange, Maplewood & Beyond o 973-762-5400 f 973-762-5401 | 181 Maplewood Avenue, Maplewood, NJ Each office independently owned and operated MidTownDirectRealty.com Keller Williams Mid-Town Direct Realty * Information provided by BrokerMetrics/GSMLS. Area of Focus: Maplewood and South Orange (01/01/2017 – 03/02/2017). VANESSA POLLOCK REALTOR FRANCINE LICHTMAN BROKER ASSOCIATETE MAGGIE AXELROD-CALISTER REALTOR RANDY RABNEY REALTOR REED KEAN OPERATING PARTNER REALTOR THOMAS “TOM” MCCAULEY REALTOR MARK MATTHEISS REALTOR MARK SLADE REALTOR DARIA KNARVIK REALTOR LISA DANBROT REALTOR CARLA LaBIANCA REALTOR VALARIE TART-WILLIAMS REALTOR SUSIE ADAMSON REALTOR SONIA QUINTERO REALTOR COLLETTE ANDREWS REALTOR SOMA’s ALLISON ZIEFERT REALTOR OCTAVIO MENDES BROKER OF RECORD BARBARA LAWRENCE REALTOR CAROLINE FARNSWORTH REALTOR CAROL V. 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