TOGA Volunteer Party Set for March 18, 2023
Freeshade Community Center, 1544 Regent Road, Syringa, VA 23169-2314
1PM – 4PM
The tenth annual TOGA Volunteer Appreciation Party will be Saturday, March 18, at the Freeshade Community Center. If you have volunteered to help TOGA in the past, or if you are planning to volunteer in any way to help get more oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, we hope you will join us for some delicious food and great camaraderie! This year, as in the past 9 years, TOGA will supply plenty of local and delicious unshucked and shucked oysters for your enjoyment. We ask you to bring the fixings for your favorite oyster dish, and you can prepare them for others to share at the party. There are stoves and ovens at the facility. If you don't have a favorite oyster dish, please bring a side dish or desert to share with your TOGA volunteer friends. TOGA will also provide soft drinks and wine donated by our sponsor SeaGlass wineries. You are welcome to bring your own adult beverage. We'll have lots to discuss with fellow oyster gardeners in a relaxed atmosphere.
The party will start at 1:00 and end about 4:00. Mark your calendar now to attend this terrific party. Please RSVP to Terry Lewis no later than March 11 so he has time to acquire appropriate supplies. His email is lewistmn@msn.com or call 804-693-2687. This is an all you can eat oyster extravaganza. As in the past, we’ve hired a cook who makes some of the best fried oysters in the whole MidAtlantic Region! This is TOGA's way of expressing our appreciation to our many volunteers who make this such a successful organization. I look forward to seeing you there! -Terry Lewis, TOGA President Emeritus
Photos of volunteer party from December 2022 below
Recap: Volunteer Party: December 10th
Another Successful Early Holiday Party
~Terry Lewis, (MOG) Past President
The 9th annual TOGA Volunteer Appreciation Party was held Saturday, December 10 at the Freeshade Community Center near Topping, VA. TOGA members volunteered this past year in many ways to help. They built oyster floats and cages in the many float building workshops. They were on hand to answer questions posed by visitors at several market day exhibit booths and community festivals throughout the Northern Neck and Tidewater area. And they volunteered in many different ways to support TOGA in its efforts to spread the word about oyster gardening. It was fitting, therefore, that TOGA treated our valuable (and very valued) volunteers to some delicious food and great camaraderie at our annual Volunteer Party.
TOGA supplied a plentiful supply of delicious local un-shucked and shucked oysters for their enjoyment. Party goers brought the fixings for their favorite oyster dishes and brought side dishes and desserts to share, while TOGA provided soft drinks. Fortunately, Stacey was on hand to prepare some of the best fried oysters on the East coast, and she also made some delicious gluten-free fried oysters.
There was lively discussion among fellow oyster gardeners in the relaxed atmosphere of this new venue – the Freeshade Community Center in Topping.
The annual volunteer party is TOGA's way to show our appreciation to the many great volunteers who make this such a successful organization. Again, thank you all.