by Larry Chowning –
The Urbanna Oyster Festival Foundation has named former Southside Sentinel editor Tom Hardin of Saluda grand marshal of the 63rd annual Urbanna Oyster Festival. Due to the pandemic, it won’t be a traditional version of the festival, but the scaled back version does offer some festival events and an online presence for it.
Since 1966 when Lt. General Burwell “Chesty” Puller was named the first grand marshal of the festival, oyster festival fathers have been honoring outstanding citizens as grand marshals.
“We selected Tom (Hardin) grand marshal for all the things he has done for our community — as editor of the Sentinel and all the things he has done as a person,” said Joe Heyman, chairman of the festival.
“As editor of the Sentinel, Tom was always there for the festival,” said Heyman. “Anything we needed we just called Tom and it happened. There was never any hesitation.
“We also wanted to honor him for all he has done for the community. Tom founded the Middlesex County Youth Basketball League in the 1970s and under his guidance that program provided so much positive interaction for so many youth of the county,” said Heyman. “We are extremely honored to name Tom our grand marshal.”
Fresh out of Hampden-Sydney College, Hardin moved to Middlesex in 1975 after marrying county native Bev (Anderton) Hardin. He brought with him a love of writing and of sports.
After short teaching stints at Christchurch School and Middlesex High School, in 1976 he became the first full-time Sentinel reporter and was named managing editor in 1981.
“I have not missed an oyster festival since I moved to the county in 1975,” said Hardin. “It is an amazing event and a testimony to generations of dedicated volunteers who have put their hearts and souls into keeping it going.
“The one thing I’ve noticed every year about the festival is that everyone seems to be so happy,” he said. “It is a feel good event. It lifts everybody’s spirits.
“It’s like an annual homecoming when friends and families all come together and we all meet on the streets of Urbanna,” he said. “My children, Bailey and Molley, grew up with the festival and had their friends come. It is a day that is always marked on our calendar.
“I think the festival is a gift to the entire state of Virginia and it has played a major role in showcasing Urbanna and Middlesex County,” he said. “People who have never been to Middlesex before come to the festival, look around and say, ‘this is a place I’d like to live some day.’ It has been very good for the local economy.”
Hardin, a Saluda resident, praised the foundation for establishing community row, the queen competition and providing an annual opportunity for non-profits to raise funds through their food booths.
Community row
The festival grew out of Urbanna Days that was started in 1958. Urbanna Days was created to showcase the town’s businesses and to give church groups, Boy Scouts, nonprofit organizations and local artists and craftsmen an opportunity to participate in fundraising events.
As the festival grew and vendor fees kept going up, the creation of community row in 1999 was an effort by the foundation to make sure local artists, craftsmen and non-profit organizations could continue to afford to be apart of the festival.
“Bev has sold her jewelry on community row for 15 years and the festival is her best event of the year,” he said. “There are many small non-profits that have booths on community row where they raise money or use the exposure to promote their cause,” said Hardin.
“I think part of the success of the festival has been that the foundation has never forgotten its roots,” he said. “It started as a local festival and community row is an effort to keep that part of the festival’s heritage alive.”
Queen competition
Since before the oyster festival, Miss Middlesex and Miss Urbanna beauty contest competitions were offered in the county. Early on, the festival sponsored beauty pageants as part of the festival.
The Oyster Festival queen competition took on a new meaning in 1996 as contestants were judged on different areas including community service. The name was changed to “Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen Scholarship” and some of the largest local scholarships are awarded to college-bound county students who go to become winners of the competition.
“I’ve been impressed with how the queen competition has become,” said Hardin. “I’m amazed at how hard the girls work on their community service projects and how much money they take in to help charities. They take in thousands of dollars for our community and it has become a very important part of the festival.”
Volunteers
“The strength of the festival comes from foundation volunteers and the volunteers of all the nonprofit groups that participate in the festival,” said Hardin.
“When I was at the Sentinel, the one thing I looked forward to every year was my Lions Club oyster fritter,” he said. “Every year I covered some portion of the festival and I loved to go stand in line, buy my fritter, come back to my office and eat my lunch. It was my personal festival tradition.
“It takes dedicated volunteers to run a food booth and dedicated volunteers to put on a festival,” he said. “The Urbanna Oyster Festival is a symbol of what a strong volunteer commitment can accomplish.”
Hardin said he was surprised when he was told he had been named festival grand marshal. “I have not been a volunteer in the festival and when I think of all the people who have given countless hours to putting on the festival, I think some of them are more deserving than I.
“I do want to thank the foundation board for this honor,” he said. “I’m sorry the (traditional format) festival has been canceled this year and it will be missed!”
Along with next year’s grand marshal and captain, Hardin and festival captains Chip and Jock Collamore are scheduled to be a part of next year’s festival — assuming the pandemic is controlled — and ride in parades and participate in other festival events.
