It Has Begun !!

By Mary

Oktoberfest 2006 has begun!! Our day began when we picked up Chad and went to the Barrel Inn to play in the weekly “Texas Hold’Em” tournament. The buy in is $20 and you get $800 in tournament chips to play with. We started out with 11 players and two tables. Of the three of us, Rex did the best - he ended up placing 4th. Of course only the top three are in the money. It was a fun way to spend some time with my son, Chad, doing something he really enjoys.

From poker to the Southside Fest Grounds to see the parade that accompanied the “Golden Keg” from the brewery to the fest grounds. The “tapping” of the “Golden Keg” is the traditional beginning of the fest. The fest grounds were very crowded and everyone seemed to be having a very good time.

Next on our list was a trip to the grocery store to buy 5 dozen brats. That is our contribution to the food for the parade. Maybe I should explain how things work at the Oktoberfest Maple Leaf Parade. People actually rope off areas of the boulevard, set up chairs, pop ups, people cook all kinds of food, and some even arrange for a “port-a-potty” on their area. Most businesses that are on the parade route have trailers set up for their friends to stand or sit on to watch the parade. It is really something. Oh I should mention, this parade is about 4 hours long.

Next it is back to camp to cook the brats on the Big gASS Grill. Rex is so good and he really loves doing this. I am really thankful that he does and is so good natured about it. So then we had to pack the truck with everything we will need to take to the parade. We are planning to take that stuff there at 5 AM. If we wait much later than that we will not be able to drive to the spot reserved to watch the parade and would have to walk a long distance and try to carry all the stuff we need including two large coolers, the Big gASS Grill , bag chairs, ..actually it would be impossible. Anyway it is going to be a really long day tomorrow!!