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NORWALK, Conn. For Diane Mulvehill, the Norwalk Oyster Festival is truly a family affair. She and her husband, Urban, have been part of the annual event since its inception 34 years ago. And her son, daughter and son-in-law are all volunteers.
Diane is currently co-chair of the welcome gates committee, responsible for collecting admission from the thousands of festivalgoers who descend on Veterans Memorial Park each September. Mulvehill remembers the early years when organizers just went around collecting donations. "We said it was the best time you could get for a buck," she says of when the first formal admission was charged.
Although the admission fee has gone up like everything else, Mulvehill says it's necessary. "A lot of people think the festival is a town event, that their taxes pay for it," she says. "They don't realize that a nonprofit group, the Norwalk Seaport Association, is responsible for bearing a cost of almost a million dollars."
Those costs, for park rental, police and other items, happen no matter what. So weather can be a huge factor in determining the financial success of the festival. "We've been lucky for the most part, but there have been years where we were wading in ankle-deep mud," she says.
The biggest challenge is getting enough volunteers to work from 5:30 Friday evening to 8 p.m. Sunday. "It's a big time commitment," she says. "But once you do it, there's a huge sense of pride when it's over. That's something you can't convey to new people; they have to experience it."
Mulvehill's gate workers function as "a well-oiled machine. We've pretty much got things worked out. But it's nice having fresh eyes from new volunteers to look and suggest ways to improve it."
Recently, the festival has been keeping better tabs on the demographics of its attendees, as well as offering new ticket options, such as a family pack and a three-hour rides-only admission Sunday afternoon.
Mulvehill plans to continue supervising the welcome gates "as long as I'm able," she says. "The festival has afforded me such a great group of friends. It's truly something that I love to do."
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