Coastal Breeze RV Resort, Rockport, Texas
So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. ~ Genesis 41:14 I imagine everything Pharaoh asked for was done quickly. But Joseph first had to be prepared to be in his presence. He had to be made presentable. Ancient Egyptians (both men and women) were always clean-shaven, including their heads and every other place hair grew on them. Sources say it was to prevent lice and other diseases. Which is probably why it was imperative that Joseph be shaved. And having been in prison for so long, I imagine his clothing was less than presentable, and they feared contamination that way as well. How do we come before our King? Most importantly, how do we leave the presence of our King? Are we clean? Have we cleansed our hearts and minds?
I think oysters are one of those things that you either love or hate to eat. We both happen to love them. But never raw!
Here in Rockport/Fulton (the towns seem to be twisted together in a way we’ve not been able to figure out), there’s an annual Oysterfest that’s been held by the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department for the past 43 years. It was begun in 1979 as a fundraiser for the VFD. It’s been said in several places that they host “the largest arts and crafts show in the State”.
When I inquired about it in the campground office, one of the women informed me that 400-500 THOUSAND people attend! (I discovered later that she added a couple of zeros – it’s 40 to 50 thousand. 😊) And that vendors come from all of the US. She said we could eat raw or fried oysters, but that there would be other food booths as well, that are also fundraisers for their organization or school. She said that if we didn’t get there early enough, the food would sell out. She said there was a carnival and live music. She also said that she had a booth this year and would be selling decorative indoor-outdoor lights.
I decided to look at the Oysterfest website and found the following:
In 2019, the festival went through 400 kegs of beer and more than 60,000 oysters from Copano and Aransas Bay. (These places are local, but because the powers that be closed oystering early this year – 2022, they had to import some from Louisiana). Each year the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department sponsors Oysterfest, a salute to the tasty bi-valve found in our local waters. Oysterfest features carnival rides, games, food, an oyster eating contest, live music, unique vendor booths and most of all – FUN!
Cody Morales, captain of the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department says every cent made from the festival allows them to operate the volunteer fire department’s million-dollar station.
“If it wasn’t for this festival, we wouldn’t be standing in this station, we wouldn’t have the equipment,” Morales said.
This year, the festival will help pay for an unexpected expense.
“We had to refurbish one of our trucks, and that was about a $450,000 expense,” Morales said.
In the past, Oysterfest has raised up to $250,000 for the department. They hope to surpass that figure this year.
“Buying a beer, buying oysters, that’s what buys it,” Morales said.
Then there will be events like a decorated oyster contest and raw oyster-eating challenge, along with carnival rides and even a parade.
Once the event is over, organizers will start planning for next year’s Oysterfest.
We made our contribution to the fire department on Thursday – right on time for their opening. No raw ones for us, but after strolling along looking things over, we bought fried oysters and an order of fries from the VFD, along with lemonade from the high school seniors (we decided it was watered down Country Time, but hey, it was for a good cause, right?). Our dinner didn’t fill us up, so we bought a pulled pork sandwich from the local Lions Club, and for dessert, deep fried Oreos from a Catholic church.
and let me tell you, they didn’t open the gates early, even though a long line was forming.
We weren’t the first people there, we were second and had a nice chat with the Minnesota people in front of us.
When we sat down, there weren’t too many people in the gigantic tent, but by the time we were finished, all those seats were practically full! And the music had begun before we even arrived at the tent.
The shuckers are all the way at the other end, on the right.
We watched them for a few minutes. It’s not easy to get those shells open!
And they stood there and did it for hours on end!
We walked through the “largest arts and crafts show in the State”. It was good sized, but as Blaine so humorously commented, “They’ve obviously never seen the Stark County Fair.” (That’s in NE Ohio, in case you’re not from that area.)
We had planned on being there from 5pm until the fireworks at 8, but we ran out of things to do. We tried listening to music, but the band that played after the dinner hour was so loud we couldn’t stay. We’ll never figure out why bands think their music should break the sound barrier. You can’t understand the lyrics, nor make sense of the tune. So we left, through the carnival ride section, and endured the game people’s encouragements to take our chances. (I was going to say ‘accosted’ but that’s too harsh. They were polite about it.)
We were able to watch the fireworks from the comfort of our motorhome. And there was to be a parade on Saturday, which we didn’t attend. Guess we’ve officially become members of the Ye Old Fuddy Duddy Club.
As for the oyster-eating contest, contestants have to eat as many raw oysters as possible in five minutes. I found an article online (on Monday morning) that said this year’s winner was first-time contestant Eric Mendez who scarfed down 91! That’s roughly an oyster sliding down his gullet and into his gut every three seconds! Wonder how he felt after? Maybe the $200 prize helped.
The report didn’t mention the winner of the women’s contest.
I’m glad they do well with their fundraiser, it’s a lot of work for four days straight!
Oh!! I almost forgot to tell you!! When we re-entered the food/music tent, I noticed a woman standing with a small group of people. She was holding a tray full of a dozen huge raw oysters. I told Blaine, “You better leave, I’m fixin’ to embarrass you.” He left. I walked up to the woman who was now stepping away from the group. “Excuse me, ma’am.” “Yes.” “I’m from Ohio and we don’t have oysterfests there.” “No you don’t!”, she said good naturedly. “Would you mind if I took a picture of your tray of oysters?” “Of course not!” As I proceeded to do just that, she even said, “Tilt your phone up so you can see the guys shucking up there.” “I already took their picture.” “That’s good. Welcome to Texas!” “Thank you sooo much!” And we parted ways.
Would you have been embarrassed? I know my mom wouldn’t have been.
Who do you think I learned it from? 😊
