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Oregon The 42nd Annual
German-American Festival was held Friday, August 24, through Sunday, August
26 at Oak Shade Grove, in Oregon, Ohio. Around 30,000 attendees visited the
festival this past weekend. Crowds were larger then years' past despite
storms thatthreatened the area Friday night. You can't ruin a good summer
Festival tradition! Festival-goers enjoyed themselves and had plenty of
great food and entertainmentthroughout the weekend.
The German-language Worship Service on Sunday morning had around 300 people
in attendance - the festival's largest service ever. Performing at the
service with special music were Teutonia Männerchor & Damenchor, Toledo
Swiss Singers and seventy singers from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The amount of food and beverages consumed at this year's Festival, ranked
among the one of the highest amounts in festival's history. Over 50,000
hand-made potato pancakes, 7,800 pretzels, 1-1/2 tons of hand-cut Pommes
Frites (French Fries), 10,000 Bratwursts, 350 gallons of Sauerkraut, 500
ponds of Sauerkraut balls, 2,500 slices of hand made cakes and 750 pounds of
roasted almonds were consumed, not to mention the amount of beverages that
were served. Did I forget anything? BEER!
St
Louis Helping Hands soup kitchen benefited from the food that was not
consumed.On Monday the Festival donated almost a truck load of perishable
items to help with feeding the homeless and low income families. This
donation will help keep Father Armstrong's mission alive anyone who is
hungry can be served."
The German-American Festival is the oldest and largest ethnic festival in
the Toledo-area, as well as one of the largest in this part of the United
States. The festival would not have been possible without the help of over
3,000 volunteers who contributed so much of their time and effort. The
Festival committee is so grateful to all volunteers and the neighbors in the
area for their patience and help throughout this past weekend. A special
thanks goes out to the New Harvest Christian Church which is located next to
Oak Shade Grove, for their help with sheltering festival goers during the
storm that rolled through the area on Friday evening.
Who said luck does not pay off? Alocal Northwood, OH resident who purchased
a festival entrance ticket was the winner of the new Volkswagen Beetle
Convertible.
New Shuttle Bus service in 2007 was a realconvenience for festivalgoers,
helping transport crowds from four locations in and around the city. Not
only did itelevate parking issues but it was a safe alternative way to
travel to and from the Festival.
Revenue from the Festival allows for the continued support of a wide variety
of scholarships. Through these scholarships, the German-American Society
recognizes young German scholars who have shown great enthusiasm and
dedication in studying the German language and culture, along with athletic
and other philanthropic programs in the Toledo area.
According to festival chairman, Tim Pecsenye the committee feels they have
not only met but exceeded their goals for the 2007 Festival and they are
already starting to plan 2008. |
