48 years of fun and merriment with good friends and family are now firmly stored in the way-back machine out at the end of the internet.
Yes, we’ve now completed week 9 of 9! The weekend was billed as the 48th Annual Oktoberfest Encore. On the main stage to help us wrap up the year were our old friends, The Express Band, and Big Bear’s own Kleine Bär Tänzer (The Little Bear Dancers). I’m not sure what the expectations were for how big a gate this added weekend would bring but I think it’s fair to say it was probably better than expected. To give you some perspective here’s a panorama I took from the stage around 6:20 pm during one of the log-sawing finals. If you click on the image you’ll get a larger version to view.
And let me sneak in two more videos of a new game they were trying out for possible inclusion in 2019. It’s called Pretzel Toss and I’ve included videos of both the Women’s contest (0:55) and the Men’s (1:10).
And now here’s the last batch of pictures for the year. I kind of held off publishing this last batch because, while Oktoberfest has concluded for this 48th edition, the work still goes on for some people. Toward the end of the pictures I’ve added a couple showing a pile of dirndls and a chicken (!) awaiting a wash and any mending necessary before next year. It’s never really done but that’s a start. I’ve also taken the liberty of adding a picture of the photographer at the request of a sister-in-law (I’m looking at you, Lillian). And, lastly, a couple close-up pictures of my hat and some of the pins I’ve added over the years (most from Big Bear’s Oktoberfest).
Feel free to click on any picture to start with and use the arrow keys to navigate through them or select the slideshow option and watch them on cruise control.
