MANCHESTER – Who says an Oktoberfest has to be held in October? Certainly not the parishioners of Redeemer Lutheran Church who saw their fourth annual event return in September.
Actually, there is nothing unusual about an Oktoberfest being held this month, Reverend Dan Berteau, the senior pastor, said. In Germany, the season for these events begins on September 15 and runs into October. Here, the event was packed with attendees. There was plenty of food, beverages, entertainment, parking space and most of all fellowship to go around.
Berteau noted that this event, which couldn’t be held last year due to the COVID-19 health crisis, was “a way to of giving back to our community by providing an opportunity to connect together and celebrate life with our neighbors.”
“God has created people with the gift of joy and happiness so we should enable one another to do just that, together as God’s family,” he added. He noted that it all began in 2017 with a very special anniversary.
“It was the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and the reformation so we wanted to do something special for that. We said let’s have an Oktoberfest and celebrate our German heritage. Every single year the Lord has blessed it to get to where we are today,” he said.
He added, “as a church we looked for a way to reach out to the community and get to know folks and have a welcoming friendly place to come to and have fellowship together. There is nothing our community needs more than to get out and be together and just relax and celebrate together.”
The pastor said he was pleasantly surprised to see so many come out for the day’s fun. He was expecting about 200 people but “we are way over 300, I’d say 400 probably. It is hard to say but every single chair we own in the church and every single table was brought out there.”
A $5 admission ticket provided an abundance of food that included plenty of bratwurst, hot dogs, red cabbage, German potato salad and many other offerings. It wasn’t catered – it was provided by the church’s congregation. “Roast by roast, brat by brat in their homes and brought here and finished off in our kitchen,” Reverend Berteau said.
He noted there was a lot happening behind the scenes “and we have a lot of great cooks here. We have about 30% of our church helping out and actively involved in making it happen.”
Among them are Brenda Hunt and Peggy Anslinger who were the chief coordinators in the kitchen.
“We have 214 hotdogs and 200-plus brats and our congregation members made some large pork shoulders and German-style pulled pork that is delicious,” Hunt said.
This year’s event has a bittersweet side to it. Hunt gave a shout out to one particular parishioner, Richard Cope, who along with his wife Esther were big supporters of the Oktoberfest. “We lost Rich Monday to COVID. It is a sad thing for all of us. Richard and Esther did a lot of the shopping. He had been struggling for several weeks. We should call it the Richard Cope Oktoberfest from now on,” she said.
Anslinger said she enjoys the German music that this year was a four-piece German polka band provided by the band Chris and Ronnie.
“I had a little dream that it would be this big,” Sharon Gorawski said noting the public’s desire to do outdoor activities after being cooped up for months by the pandemic. “If we had known it was going to be so big we would definitely would have gotten a lot more (food).”
There was Oktoberfest beer on tap and when it came to dessert, there were two styles of apple strudel. One attendee who provided some, is a bit of an expert. Paul Hoffman could be called the Strudelmeister of that sweet treat.
Hoffman shared the secret of making great strudel. “Eighty years of experience,” he answered. He’s sold his strudel as part of a number of businesses over the years. “The real secret is the preparation of the puff pastry made from scratch.”
Those seeking more information on the church’s services, bible study meetings, school and programs can call 732-657-2828 or visit redeemermanchester.org.
