The Last Prost!

Oktoberfest has come and gone for another year. What started for us high atop Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho has ended on a blustery Monday afternoon in Redmond. We put several miles on the Polka Van travelling to and fro across the Northwest in our continuing mission to provide the region with good polka music. A few of the highlights:

• Two weekends in Leavenworth for their Oktoberfest. It's a great event and we had a lot of fun!

• Oktoberfest at Reed College in Portland. That group of students was very lively and open to the new musical experience. That's what polkas need.

• The Scandinavian Heritage Festival in Puyallup. It's fun to play for the Scandinavians amidst a big group of German gigs.

• Deutschesfest in Odessa, WA. It's a storybook small town in the middle of wheat country and they really know how to party!

One of the more interesting cultural experiences of the Oktoberfest season was ordering a bratwurst at one of the food booths in Leavenworth. Since it's in Eastern Washington, which is primarily agricultural, many of the hospitality workers speak Spanish as a primary language. I went up to the hostess and asked, in my best German, "Ein bratwurst, bitte?" only to be met with a look of utter confusion. One of the other workers came over and told me that the one I was dealing with didn't speak German and only spoke Spanish. After thinking for a few seconds I replied with "Uno bratwurst, por favor."

Overall it was a fun and exciting two months of playing music. I look forward to doing some more work on the "nuts and bolts" of the band operation over the winter and then it's back to more playing in the Spring!