In light of a low turnout at the Wareham Oyster Festival Gala on Friday night, the Wareham Village Association hopes to revamp the fundraiser next year.

“I'm grateful for all that came,” said Tracy McGraw, president of the association. “Last year it was elbow to elbow. My sights on the future are a little bit different.”

The gala event, hosted at the Rosebrook Event Center, included a silent auction, drinks and a chance to mingle. But at $40 a head and around 30 attendees, McGraw thinks the gala needs to be more accessible to residents.

“The fundraisers we have need to rocking and rolling,” said McGraw. “We want people to be involved.”

The association is a non-profit and all-volunteer organization founded in 1997 and dedicated to enhancing the vitality of downtown Wareham's business district.

For the past three years, they've hosted the Wareham Oyster Festival and its related programs: the Oyster Festival 5K held before the festival, the Wareham Oyster Trail and the Oyster Festival Speaker Series.

Since the expenses for the festival need to be balanced with fundraising, the gala is one of a few pivotal fundraising events that the association hosts throughout the year. Those that attended felt the event was a success overall.

“Everyone ate more, drank more, and were more involved,” said Linda Burke from A.D. Makepeace and volunteer on the association.

Town Moderator Claire Smith, who attended the event with her husband Howard Smith, thought that the festival and its events so far have: “just gotten better every year.”