In the Oktoberfest mood

For years I’ve driven by the yellow banner announcing the annual Oktoberfest celebration at the Our Lady of Sorrows Church at 2552 Gillham Road — and then missed the shindig. But last weekend, I decided to finally celebrate the German festival — on historic Dutch Hill — and see what I had been missing. In culinary terms, not so much. But my friends Bob and Linda drank German beer and sang along with the performer, above, who didn’t seem to have a lot of German songs in his repertoire but, damn, his knowledge of Top 40 hits from the 1970s was pretty fabulous. 

The tickets were ten bucks and for that, we got a lukewarm bratwurst on a bun, a generous scoop of German potato salad, stewed apples in a thick cinnamon-sugar syrup and a choice of pastry from the dessert table. “It’s just like a church picnic,” said Linda. We watched the Balloon Man make a parasol, a Spiderman and a hat out of long balloons and then, overwhelmed with festivity, we left. 

Later that night, I received an e-mail from a high school friend now living in Munich, Germany. He had just returned from celebrating Oktoberfest. He ate, pretty much, the same meal I did, proving that even in Germany, Oktoberfest is something better than wurst.