Community Connection Through the Gift of Music
By Russell Clepper • Photos by Kevin Foy
We’re celebrating 15 years,” said Cynthia Mason. “Can you believe it?” For the President of the Board for the Oak Harbor Music Festival (OHMF), this Labor Day weekend tradition is “all about connection.” It’s the connection between the musicians and the audience, between audience members themselves, and between all the volunteers who collectively give more than 3,500 hours of their time each year to make it all happen. For Board Member Larry Mason, Cynthia’s husband and director of music for the festival, there is a good reason why the connection occurs. It’s right there in the slogan for the festival—music inspires.
“Music is often called the international language,” he said. “A way for people to communicate beyond race, gender, or creed. In times like these, it can be difficult to find common ground, but music gives us a place where we can meet. It has a way of bringing people together, creating a shared space where we can connect and simply enjoy being human.”
We’re celebrating 15 years,” said Cynthia Mason. “Can you believe it?” For the President of the Board for the Oak Harbor Music Festival (OHMF), this Labor Day weekend tradition is “all about connection.” It’s the connection between the musicians and the audience, between audience members themselves, and between all the volunteers who collectively give more than 3,500 hours of their time each year to make it all happen. For Board Member Larry Mason, Cynthia’s husband and director of music for the festival, there is a good reason why the connection occurs. It’s right there in the slogan for the festival—music inspires.
“Music is often called the international language,” he said. “A way for people to communicate beyond race, gender, or creed. In times like these, it can be difficult to find common ground, but music gives us a place where we can meet. It has a way of bringing people together, creating a shared space where we can connect and simply enjoy being human.”
Each year, Larry books the 30 or so bands that will grace the stage, bringing in past acts such as Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Larkin Poe, LeRoy Bell and His Only Friends, and Jamestown Revival, just to name a few of the headliners. Local groups have also played, including Nathaniel Talbot, Andre Feriante, and The Hot Club of Troy. (Full disclosure: the author of this piece plays in Porch Brothers & Co, which also played there last year.)
Booking the event, which is free to the public, is a tremendous task—a labor of love, with emphasis on labor and on love. Larry himself is an accomplished, highly experienced musician who has performed in a number of bands in the Seattle area. Two of his groups, The Halyards and Broken Banjo, have performed on the OHMF stage. But his music has taken him far beyond the Pacific Northwest.
“As a lifelong musician who has traveled the world, I’ve always been amazed by the hospitality shown to musicians and to music itself,” said Larry. “In the late 1980s, I had the opportunity to travel behind the Iron Curtain. I remember sharing meals with families who had never met an American before, yet treated us like old friends, simply because we brought music with us. Experiences like those [evoke] the power music has to unite us. It breaks down barriers, opens doors, and helps us see one another not as strangers, but as neighbors.”
“Music has a unique ability to dissolve barriers, doesn’t ask where you’re from, how long you’ve lived here, or what you do for a living. It simply invites participation.”
Larry graduated from Oak Harbor High School where he studied under then band director Ed Bridges, who had an enormous influence on his protégés, many of whom continue their involvement with music in various capacities throughout the region. That’s why very early on in OHMF history, Larry and others established the Ed Bridges Scholarship, which is awarded to local high school music students each year with funds raised via the festival. It’s another form of building community; helping homegrown, young musicians pursue their passion.
Cynthia agrees. “Music has a unique ability to dissolve barriers,” she said. “Shared musical experience creates something powerful. It’s a sense that this is ours. [Music] doesn’t ask where you’re from, how long you’ve lived here, or what you do for a living. It simply invites participation. When thousands of people gather in one place, whether they’re lifelong residents of Oak Harbor or from across Whidbey Island and beyond, and respond to the same rhythm, there is a collective identity that forms in real time. That experience lingers long after the stages come down. But that sense of belonging doesn’t happen by accident. It takes an extraordinary team.”
And it requires countless hours of hard work by many dozens of dedicated volunteers, small business owners, and community members who work throughout the year to make this possible. The very act of organizing and presenting an event of this scale intrinsically builds community. “Everyone involved,” said Cynthia, “understands that this is more than a concert. It is a gift to the community. That clarity of mission attracts people who want to contribute their time, talent, and resources. It also requires trust. Over the years, we’ve developed strong partnerships with local businesses, service organizations, civic leaders, and public safety teams. Each brings expertise—logistics, permitting, staging, sound engineering, fundraising, hospitality, marketing, and financial stewardship. No single individual could ever produce an event of this scale alone. It truly is a collective effort.”
A “collective effort” that will be on full display again in September. Visit the OHMF website at oakharborfestival.com for this year’s lineup and other information about this truly community-focused event.
