Planning an event on the Oregon Coast

Putting on an event here on the Oregon Coast takes quite a bit of time. As the chair of the Wine, Beer, Seafood & Music Festival - Confluence 2007, I have spent countless hours working with vendors, local merchants, the Reedsport/Winchester Bay Chamber of Commerce staff, advertisers, and committee members.

This is the first year we've held this event. Taking place in Gardiner next weekend (February 17 & 18), this festival could someday equal in size to the Newport Seafood Festival, which is the largest in the Pacific Northwest. The groundwork is being laid with various entities to make this a success. Because alcohol will be served, we can only admit those 21 years or older.

The towns of Reedsport, Winchester Bay, and Gardiner are gearing up for what they expect will be 300 people per day. While that may seem like a small number to many of you out there, it is equal to the total of Gardiner's and Winchester Bay's population.

While visitors are here, we hope they will explore much of what Coastal Douglas County has to offer. There is Reedsport's Umpqua Discovery Center with its award winning exhibit, fishing on the Umpqua River, charter fishing in Winchester Bay, clamming and crabbing, and riding ATVs on the tallest dunes in Oregon.

It's been fun participating in the coordination of this event. As a volunteer, each committee member has made sacrifices. We are fortunate to have such dedicated people in our communities.