There were many events that occurred last weekend that attracted people all across Southern Maryland such as political events for the upcoming election and the open house at World Gym; but none of these events attracted more people than the Oyster Festival. Every year the Oyster Festival is held in Fairgrounds, Maryland and every year there is a great turnout. People all across the state go to support local businesses, compete in oyster related events, and of course eat oysters. This year was yet another successful one as the traffic through Leonardtown was constantly as thick as rush hour on the Beltway. Also, oysters weren’t the only things at the festival that generated excitement.

As everyone knows, there is an election coming up that may be the most important election in a very long time. However, when voters head to the polls November 6 they will not only vote for Obama or Romney, but they will vote in other people as well. Voters will make key decisions on people such as Tim Davis who are running for smaller positions such as on the St. Mary’s County Board of Education. Tim Davis said in regards to the benefits of the Oyster Festival for campaigns, “While there are a lot of people that are informed mainly because of the importance of the election, there are still people who don’t know what’s going on and this is a great way to meet with those people face to face and inform them on issues.” While there is a gentlemens agreement not to make the Oyster Festival a political event it is never actually obeyed.

A number of contests were held at the Oyster Festival such as the shucking contest and contests that friends had with each other to see who could eat the most oysters in a set amount of time. The oyster shucking contest is the most popular one and attracts a crowd outside the area to see who will win. The competition is to see who can shuck the most oysters in a set amount of time and the winner is crowned as King Oyster. The competition is always fierce and is usually decided by just a few oysters. This year was no exception as there was a crowd at the contest area that expanded all through the festival and it was a bitter contest to the very end. The eventual winner was David Mahnken of Melville, Maryland.

The Oyster Festival has always been a great way for someone to advertise their business and this year was a great year for local businesses. There were many companies that were promoting themselves and many of which were unknown by most of the people and they were very popular by the end of the day. There were also people supporting causes such as the political causes and people spreading breast cancer awareness. Most of the average Marylanders went to the Oyster Festival and went home with a number of businesses that impressed them and they will likely pay a visit to and with increased knowledge on local issues.