OKTOBERFEST RETURNS

JEREMY WALTNER – EDITOR & PUBLISHER

For those who enjoy this type of thing, last week’s Oktoberfest in Menno was a good-news, bad-news situation. The good news was that the longstanding celebration of German-Russian heritage was back after a Covid-related two-year hiatus.

The bad news? A city/school auditorium that had been set up to accommodate a full house was half empty at best.

“We are so disappointed in the turnout,” said Vi Ranney, who has long been associated with the  SoDak Stamm organziation — the Germans from Russia Heritage Society — and was a chief organizer of the Saturday evening, Oct. 22 event. “It’s such a nice day we thought more people would be coming to the door.”

Ranney said there was a wedding in town, “and I don’t know if USD’s homecoming made a difference. And she noted that, in years past, Sodak Stamm enthusiast and event host Gary Jerke of Tripp had worked hard to sell tickets in person ahead of time, but Jerke passed away in June at the age of 74, “and we didn’t get that done this year without our beloved Gary.”

Still, that Oktoberfest returned to Menno this fall is encouraging for an event that dates back three decades, and those who did attend enjoyed the German-Russian-themed celebration — and the food of which there plenty.

There were five roasters full of hot German potato salad, 170 lbs. of sausage from the Kaylor locker, eight gallons of sauerkraut, slightly sweetened, fruit salad, 20 dozen buns and 72 kuchen prepared by seven women, “and all of a sudden three plates of liver sausage showed up,” Ranney said. “I don’t know if Mr. Conrad over at the locker just brought that along with the sausage or not. We’re kind of suspecting he did.”

There was also a silent auction featuring antique items — “I bid on the juice glasses,” Ranney said — and entertainment was provided by the Leo Lonnie Big Band Orchestra, a nine-piece ensemble that plays a variety of big band/polka music.

Behind it all was the work of Ranney and Donna Zeeb, who teamed up to spearhead the organization and planning of the event, the rest of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society board of directors and an army of volunteers who helped with the food and the staffing of the event.

“It just comes together,” said Ranney. “What we need is the personal outreach — we learned that this year and we know what we need to do.

“I can say we can do it again next year, but we’ve got to get out and sell those tickets ahead of time. Therein lies the success.”