Dear Editor:
First and foremost, on behalf of The Passion Group, the organization elected by
the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce to produce the Asbury Park Oysterfest, I
would like to thank The City of Asbury Park, the Asbury Park Police Department,
DPW, EMS, Fire Department and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County for
helping with another successful Asbury Park Oysterfest. I would also like to
thank the local businesses who "Bought In" and utilized the Oysterfest not only
as a point of sale but also as a marketing tool to promote their businesses.
From all the positive feedback we received, we are very happy it worked out
well for you. I would also like to thank Madison Marquette for their continued
support of The Passion Group and Oysterfest and for always going above and
beyond to ensure our success. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to
thank the residents of Asbury Park and Ocean Grove, along with the thousands of
attendees from far and wide who visited Asbury Park over the weekend setting
record breaking crowds. We take great pride in producing the Oysterfest and
other festivals where we always provide a platform, free of charge, for the
many local non-profits who participate such as Make-A-Wish Foundation, ReVision
Theater, ArtsCap, and many others.
The reason for this correspondence is because we were not asked to comment last
week when two articles about the Asbury Park Oysterfest appeared in the
September 15th issue of The Coaster, so we would like to take this opportunity
to clarify a few of the points the paper highlighted.
Pedestrians Upset Over $3 Fee Charged to Cross the Foot Bridge:
We apologize to the residents of Ocean Grove (and Neptune Township) for any
misunderstanding regarding crossing the bridge leading into Oysterfest. We
tried to be proactive and had numerous signs, along with staff and volunteers,
on the Ocean Grove side of the bridge to inform pedestrians that once they
crossed into Asbury Park, there was a small fee to enter the Oysterfest event
itself. Through the course of the weekend, we walked hundreds of people across
the bridge to Heck Street at no fee, while at the same time there was
unobstructed access from the boardwalk and west-end footbridge. It was never
our intention to cause any inconvenience nor was it our intention to charge
people who weren't attending Oysterfest. As part of our learning experience,
we have already planned to make improvements to alleviate any inconvenience in
2012.
Although the reporter did not directly address the $3 weekend admission pass,
Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jackie Pappas chose to and
we would like to add some clarification. As stated on all Oysterfest
advertising, a portion of the $3 weekend admission pass was being donated to
support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County. This initiative raised
thousands of dollars for this worthy organization. Additionally, the Asbury
Park Chamber of Commerce will be receiving $18,000 that the Chamber required
from The Passion Group in order to allow us to produce the event.
Thousands attend Oysterfest on Lake Avenue but some want it moved to Cookman:
The Passion Group is continually evaluating the locations to host the Asbury
Park Oysterfest event as well as continually seeking to improve the event
experience for visitors and residents/business owners alike. As the production
company hired by the Chamber to produce the event, our role is confined to
evaluating the event logistics and making recommendations to the APCC. As Ms.
Pappas stated, 20 local merchants responding to a survey from the Chamber
stated that they would like the event on Cookman because they feel it would
increase their business sales. Anecdotally, we heard feedback from local
merchants that Oysterfest visitors to Lake Avenue, who could be easily spotted
because of their white wristbands, were very visible on Cookman Avenue and in
the City's downtown area throughout the weekend.
The location of any festival involves many issues, including:
The impact from closing the street, park or other location for the
duration of any event: In this case would have meant Lake Avenue versus
Cookman Avenue from Main Street to Grand along with all the cross streets for a
period of 4 days.
The negative or positive impact the event will have on local businesses
(i.e., parking, deliveries, traffic patterns, valet service, etc.): This year,
the only businesses directly affected were Moonstruck and Ivan & Andy's valet
parking situation where arrangements were made for vehicle access to their
businesses.
Sanitation, including odor, ease of access to clean and remove refuse:
This year's Oysterfest filled four 30-yard dumpsters with food waste and also
used 15 portable restrooms over three days which did not impact the local
businesses.
Interruption of public: Cookman Avenue's bus and shuttle service
would have been interrupted; unlike Lake Avenue which has no public
transportation.
Impact on residents and ease of communication: Wesley Grove has a
home owners association, so we can directly communicate with all of them
through a single email. Communicating with all residents on Cookman Avenue
would be a lot tougher.
Consumer parking: The existing event was centrally located between
Downtown and the Boardwalk so we could utilize the entire town for parking
including the parking garage on Bangs Avenue, which was paid for by Oysterfest
funding.
Food Vendor Set-Up: Food Vendors need room for refrigerated trucks
near their set-up where the back of their cooking station is properly secured
from pedestrian traffic as it relates to smell, generators, oil, grease, etc.
Food vendors at Oysterfest 2011 were moved to a location along Wesley Lake
where they didn't negatively impact the quality of life for any business or
residents whereas it would not have been conducive for the businesses in town
to have cooking stations adjacent to the curb line; incurring risk management
issues securing pedestrian traffic.
Control alcohol issues: if the event was held on Cookman Ave, there
would have been no way to prevent violations from underage consumption of
non-Oysterfest sold beverages within the festival. Lake Avenue Is the one area
that can be successfully secured in order to permit the sale of alcohol because
it has natural boundaries that limit access.
We can appreciate the feelings of downtown business owners. Ultimately, it
would be in the best interest of The Passion Group to stage the event in front
of our own Cookman Avenue location, but it is our obligation to impartially
review the logistics and based on those findings, make our recommendations to
the APCC who then ultimately give us final direction as to where they want to
host the event.
In closing, as a fellow Asbury Park business, we appreciate everything The
Coaster does to further the success of Asbury Park. Thank you for allowing us
the space to share our side of the story.
Once again, thanks to everyone for a successful Asbury Park Oysterfest. See
you at the Neptune Riverfest, October 1st!
Richard Tarzian
President
The Passion Group
(Please direct all questions or comments to mi...@thepassiongroup.com )
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
asburypark-dig...@yahoogroups.com
asburypark-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
asburypark-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
