Oktoberfest

A friend Ken in the running club sent out mail about the German-American Society in Casselberry's Oktoberfest celebration. I can't really say I imagined Casselberry (an Orlando suburb) or Florida having a German-American population or that ethnic group, but apparently 14% of Casselberry's residents claim German ancestry. I figured it would be fun to show up.. I lived in Germany for 3 years in the early 80's, and was even in Munich for Oktoberfest in 1997!

Also, a good number of fellow running club members would attend since the little secret about them is quite a few really love to drink beer. I'm not sure what it is - after biking everybody wants to sit around and have coffee or healthy smoothies, while the running group likes to eat barbecue and have a beer. ;)

I got there and found a packed venue of at least 500 or more people crammed into the German-American society's clubhouse and picnic grounds. As expected there was beer on sale, plus various German dishes: goulash, wurst, red cabbage, sauerkraut, potato salad, desserts (apfel strudel, but unfortunately that was all gone), and some almond snacks. I had trouble finding the group and decided the best bet was to position myself near the food ticket area and search there. This was also near the restrooms and the beer line - and behold, who did I find at the very closest table? Yes, my friends in the running club had staked out that prime location already!

In the middle of the picnic area was a covered dance floor where where society members wore traditional costumes and did dance demonstrations. I forgot to bring my camera but found a website with pictures of what those looked like: check the "Halb Tracht" section of this page.