Some come for the music, some
for the food. For many it's tradition, part of their
heritage, and for others it's the cold beer and the
brats.
Mater Dei High School graduates stage impromptu
reunions, and West Siders swap stories with their
friends and neighbors.
And almost everybody would agree with Linda Holder:
People go to the annual Germania Maennerchor because
"it's happy, it's upbeat. Good food. Good music.
It's fun."
The annual celebration of Evansville's German
heritage opened at 11 a.m. Thursday with people coming
to feast on such treats as pigs' feet, bratwurst,
buttery mashed potatoes, German potato salad, sauerkraut
and plenty of cold beer.
The food was the main attraction for most people
during the daytime, when families could come for lunch.
After 4 p.m., no one under 21 is admitted.
Helen Higdon, 76, sat at a table with her daughter
and son-in-law and four grandchildren, including Stacie
Rupp Quintero, 35, of Atlanta, who came home just for
the festival.
"It's like a big high school reunion," the
Mater Dei High School graduate. "We come every
night and you see everybody."
Looking down at her plate, she added, "This is
the only time I eat German food."
Higdon's daughter, Tina Rupp, 45, brought her
daughter, Melissa, 24, and her nieces, 11-year-old twins
Kayla and Kendyl Niemeier, for lunch with grandma.
Higdon has been coming to the Volkfest for more than
50 years. She recalled the years when "they used to
let the children dance upstairs. They loved it."
Stricter enforcement of the "no drinking by
minors" rule has eliminated that aspect,
maennerchor officials said. Years ago, children could
sit at tables even if their parents had beer.
Three retired men, all with sailing boats on Kentucky
Lake, came for lunch as they have for years.
Don Johan, 70, a retired baker, J.D. Perkins, 77, a
retired railroader, and Art Wolfinger, 68, a retired
trunker, were filling up on brats, pig's knuckles,
potatoes and sauerkraut.
They have, Johan said, found a perfect retirement
plan: "We play four days a week at the lake and
come back here three days to mow the lawn and work
around the house."
For most people, it's the brats that are the
attraction, but not John Kassenbrock, 31, who brought
his grandmother, Mildred Schultheis, 82, for lunch.
"I come here for lunch and then I come in the
evening for cold beer," Kassenbrock said.
"It's the pig knuckles that I like. I can get a
brat anytime."
His grandmother comes for "the atmosphere. I
like the music and the singing. And the food."
The food is definitely not why Elizabeth Otto comes.
She doesn't eat bratwurst and wrinkles her nose at the
very thought of pig's knuckles.
"I came because he (husband, Tim) wanted
brats," she said, quite content with a turkey
sandwich available for a nonlover of German food.
The couple planned to be back in the evenings for the
beer and the music.
It was definitely a new cultural experience for
Hassan Abbel, an Egyptian who works at a Henderson, Ky.,
firm.
Co-workers Matt Calvert and Lee McClellan brought
Abbel to the fest to let him experience a Southern
Indiana festival.
Abbel passed on bratwurst and pig's knuckle and beer
- as a Muslim he doesn't eat pork or drink alcohol - but
he enjoyed the turkey sandwich, the potatoes and the
atmosphere.
He's going to be in for another cultural outing in
October. His buddies are taking him to the West Side Nut
Club's Fall Festival.
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©
2001 The E.W. Scripps Co.
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